4-day school weeks gain popularity

It was that or lay off 39 teachers the week before school started, said Superintendent Susan Clark.

“We’re treading water,’’ Clark said as she stood outside the headquarters of her seven-school district. “There was nothing else for us to do.’’

The results? Test scores went up.

So did attendance — for both students and teachers. The district is spending one-third of what it once did on substitute teachers, Clark said.

And the graduation rate probably will be more than 80 percent for the first time in years, Clark said.

The four days that students are in school are slightly longer and more crowded with classes and activities. After school, students can get tutoring in subjects where they’re struggling.

On their off day, students who don’t have other options attend “Monday care’’ at area churches and the local Boys & Girls Club, where tutors are also available to help with homework. The programs generally cost a few dollars a day per student.

Specialists say research is scant on the effect of a four-day school week on student performance. In fact, there is mostly just anecdotal evidence in reports on the trend with little scientific data to back up what many districts say, said University of Southern Maine researcher Christine Donis-Keller.

“The broadest conclusion you can draw is that it doesn’t hurt academics,’’ said Donis-Keller, who is with the university’s Center for Education Policy, Applied Research, and Evaluation.

Many districts that have the shortened schedule say they’ve seen students who are less tired and more focused, which has helped raise test scores and attendance. But others say that not only did they not save a substantial amount of money by closing an extra day, they also saw students struggle because they weren’t in class enough and didn’t have enough contact with teachers.

The school district in Marlow, Okla., is switching back to a five-day week after administrators decided students were not being served well by attending school only four days. The 440-student district tried the shorter week the spring semester this year to save $25,000 in operation costs.