Reeds Spring Considers Move To Four Day School Week
February 13, 2020
Large Crowd Gathers For Public Meeting
Isaac Estes-Jones
Reeds Spring School District held a public forum last week, sharing some of the research the school has conducted into a four day school week switch. Between 70 and 100 parents, students, teachers and school board members attended the meeting on Thursday, February 6. The school has not yet decided whether to move ahead with the schedule. Last week’s meeting was designed to give the public some of the reasoning and also allow attendees to voice their opinions about the change, whether for it or against.
Throughout the event, Superintendent Dr. Cody Hirschi emphasized that the proposal to make this change did not come from him, a common refrain from the new superintendent as Reeds Spring School District undergoes a number of changes and strategic planning for the next five years. “This wasn’t even on my radar when I started working here. But, the four day school week came up repeatedly during our strategic planning and I was directed by the board to look into it,” Hirschi said.
“With strategic planning happening now, if we are going to switch, we should make that decision sooner rather than later. The way strategic plans are designed and implemented can look very different based on a four day week versus a traditional five day,” he said.
Hirschi then went through some of the research around a four day school week and how it might work for Reeds Spring Schools.
Several points were brought up as to why the school district would consider this move. According to a handout given to all attendees, the hope is the proposed change would “enhance the quality of student learning and engagement; attract, recruit, retain and hire world-class employees, which is a district strategic plan priority; and grow staff at a deeper level with intensive professional development,” among other reasons.
Should Reeds Spring adopt a four day school week, the district would be out most Mondays, with the school day lasting from 7:55 a.m. to 3:25 p.m., adding around 25 minutes to the end of each day.
All seven members of the school board attended the meeting. “We haven’t made up our minds one way or another,” said Matt Greenwalt, president of the school board. “We are here because we want to hear what the community wants. But, it has been coming up at every meeting and keeps coming up in strategic planning, so we are at a point we needed to consider it seriously.”
The public provided a lot of feedback at the event, with about equal numbers for and against the proposal, with multiple people urging the school board to take its time in coming to a decision.
After presstime for this story, the Reeds Spring School Board held a special meeting on Wednesday, February 12, to discuss what the next actions for Dr. Hirschi and the school will be.
Earlier in the evening, Dr. Hirschi said, for the change to take place for the 2020-2021 school year, the decision must be made and finalized by March 1. We will update this story once the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting is available.
Reeds Spring School District held a public forum last week, sharing some of the research the school has conducted into a four day school week switch. Between 70 and 100 parents, students, teachers and school board members attended the meeting on Thursday, February 6. The school has not yet decided whether to move ahead with the schedule. Last week’s meeting was designed to give the public some of the reasoning and also allow attendees to voice their opinions about the change, whether for it or against.
Throughout the event, Superintendent Dr. Cody Hirschi emphasized that the proposal to make this change did not come from him, a common refrain from the new superintendent as Reeds Spring School District undergoes a number of changes and strategic planning for the next five years. “This wasn’t even on my radar when I started working here. But, the four day school week came up repeatedly during our strategic planning and I was directed by the board to look into it,” Hirschi said.
“With strategic planning happening now, if we are going to switch, we should make that decision sooner rather than later. The way strategic plans are designed and implemented can look very different based on a four day week versus a traditional five day,” he said.
Hirschi then went through some of the research around a four day school week and how it might work for Reeds Spring Schools.
Several points were brought up as to why the school district would consider this move. According to a handout given to all attendees, the hope is the proposed change would “enhance the quality of student learning and engagement; attract, recruit, retain and hire world-class employees, which is a district strategic plan priority; and grow staff at a deeper level with intensive professional development,” among other reasons.
Should Reeds Spring adopt a four day school week, the district would be out most Mondays, with the school day lasting from 7:55 a.m. to 3:25 p.m., adding around 25 minutes to the end of each day.
All seven members of the school board attended the meeting. “We haven’t made up our minds one way or another,” said Matt Greenwalt, president of the school board. “We are here because we want to hear what the community wants. But, it has been coming up at every meeting and keeps coming up in strategic planning, so we are at a point we needed to consider it seriously.”
The public provided a lot of feedback at the event, with about equal numbers for and against the proposal, with multiple people urging the school board to take its time in coming to a decision.
After presstime for this story, the Reeds Spring School Board held a special meeting on Wednesday, February 12, to discuss what the next actions for Dr. Hirschi and the school will be.
Earlier in the evening, Dr. Hirschi said, for the change to take place for the 2020-2021 school year, the decision must be made and finalized by March 1. We will update this story once the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting is available.