Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Positives and negatives of a 4 day school week
Positives and negatives of a 4 day school week
Positives and negatives of a 4 day school week
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Positives and negatives of a 4 day school week
A One Day Difference “Three day weekend!”a line that brings music to a child 's ear when they realize their weekend has been extended one more day. What would you think of a three day weekend not just every once in awhile, but every school week? A blessing or a curse? It seems more and more school districts have changed or have considered a four-day week compared to a traditional five-day week. People often read about or see an issue in the news, but are not always informed about the topic, which causes them to judge too quickly. According to the 9news, the Florence-Penrose School District in Colorado announced that they were considering converting to a four day school week to help recruit and retain teachers. However, there are many other positive advantages for converting to a four-day week. In today’s society small school districts should convert to a four day school week because, they will thrive much more efficiently by decreasing budget costs, absenteeism, and engaging more students in class. Let’s face it, we all hate the word “budget”. A reminder that there is only a certain amount of money that can be spent, and figuring out how well to handle it can be exhausting. With a tight budget, it is very difficult for schools to operate well. However, with the shift to a four-day week small changes add up in the long run. For example, utilities such as …show more content…
The best answer always comes from a person who is truly informed about the issue. A four-day school week can seem challenging at first when really it is not. With a small school district like Florence-Penrose it makes sense that they would consider switching to a four-day week schedule. The benefits the district can gain are clear, they can reduce budget costs such as utilities, decrease absenteeism, and engage more students in a short week with less stress compared to a five- day
Family vacations, pool memberships, and corn de-tasseling; these have been the experiences of traditional Midwestern summers. For centuries young American children have attended school during the winter months, during farming off seasons when their families could afford to be without them. Families have grown accustomed to a traditional school calendar that provides time for bonding throughout the year. Students have grown accustomed to an eight week break during the summer months where they are allowed to refresh their minds before returning for a new school year. Unfortunately, these traditional experiences and practices are now in jeopardy. In today’s race to improve student achievement, traditional school calendars have become a point of contention. Today more and more school districts and parents alike have begun to debate the pros and cons of an alternative school calendar.
One of the primary motivations for adopting the four-day week is financial savings for the school district. Anticipated savings are in transportation, food and food service workers, hourly workers and utilities. Savings on school buses and long-term building wear and tear have also been reported. After analyzing Colorado schools operating on four-day school weeks, (Dam) reports that transportation costs can be reduced by 20%. He goes on to say that in order to realize that level of savings, schools must severely limit transportation for activities or programs not conducted on regular school days. The capital, insurance, maintenance, and administrative costs remain relatively constant. Fuel, oil, salaries, and supervisory costs can be reduced. Transportation employees will also have a reduction in net pay (Dam, 2006). In food service, (Dam) finds that if districts are funding their food service from the general fund, 20% of that subsidy may be saved since the program runs only four days. However, he does go on to say that certain fixed costs within this category will remain the same. Utility savings, he observes, may be comparable to those of a three-day weekend if the buildings are closed and actually placed on weekend cycle. However, he notes that most school buildings are left open for extra activities and the use of staff (Dam, 2006). (Hewitt and Denny) indicate savings achieved with a four-day school week vary greatly from district to district, depending on the constancy they adhere to cost saving measures. If the school facilities are completely shut down on the non-school day the saving will be greater than if buildings are left open for student and staff use. While financial savings are the main factor motivating the initi...
The United States has a long and proud history of providing public education to its citizen’s children. The fundamental idea behind the creation of this educational system was that it be available to all, regardless of geographical location or family status. In the era that this initiative was generated many of America’s families lived and worked on farms, and children were a vital part of this lifestyle. The founders of the United States’ public schools had to create a plan that included all children, even those who were expected to perform agricultural work in the harvest season. Thus, the nine-month school calendar was brought into use, allowing farming children a three month break from school in the summer to aid their families in the crop yield. In time, youth participation in farming became outdated and obsolete, and this arrangement slipped from necessity to simply being a tradition held on to through the years. In our modern era, a year-round school calendar would benefit the teachers, students, and finances of America’s public schools.
While growing up, I attended a traditional school. This is a schooling method many individuals are probably familiar with. A student attends school for nine months out of the year, and then has a three month break during the summer. However, in my immediate hometown surroundings, nearby traditional schools are assessing the idea of transforming into year-round schools. Year round schooling is one subject debated in high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools nationwide. Are schools that operate 365 days a year academically better than traditional schools? What are the cost differences between the two? How would a year-round school effect families? Changing the schooling technique from traditional to year-round has numerous variables that need to be taken into consideration before any grade school or secondary education institution fully commits. Year-round schooling schedules should not be implemented and traditional schooling calendars should be maintained.
An important part of the budget-balancing process is to analyze each potential cuts and evaluate them against the district's mission before implementing them into the strategic plan. These suggestions of privatizing the janitorial and food services, improving transpiration efficiency, maintaining and improving green efficiencies, renting out unused facilities and implementing a four-day work week are good suggestions that facilitates a long-term expenditure savings. These suggestions previously have allowed other school districts to meet their budget needs and find themselves in a better financial position. This concludes our findings and provides the final report of cost reduction recommendations. My staff and I are available to assist immediately in implementation planning and execution.
Back in the olden days, schools were originally put on a schedule in which students would spend the majority of the year in school, and 2-3 months off for summer break. The purpose of this was so that children could be home for the summer to help their parents run family farms. Today, due to progressive industrialization of farming, modernized farming equipment, and decrease in family farms, the need for children to be home during the summer to help run family farms is minute if not obsolete; because of this many schools across the United States have transitioned to year-round schooling (“Summer”). Contrary to belief, year round schooling does not usually mean more school days. Currently most year-round schools adhere to the 180 day school year. Instead of the traditional lengthy summer vacation, year-round schools distribute the 180 days throughout the entire year while allowing for shorter breaks. Common scheduling for year-round schools includes cycles of 2-3 months in school followed by 2-3 week breaks (“Research Spotlight...
A four day weekend gives everyone a day off, including most of the staff, which means that the school doesn’t have to pay certain staff one day, which means the school saves money. With one day without school, the district doesn't have to transport students to and from school, which saves money on gas. With one day times 32 weeks, that adds up to a
Students now have the opportunity to work another day to save for their future. The four-day school week also provides much more time for these children to spend and enjoy time with friends, and family, as well as enjoying extracurricular activities. There is a lovely environment for the children at the school and an extra day for the instructors to gain knowledge and a better understanding of their curriculum. The schools will be saving a varying amount of money that could be used in case of an emergency with money of any kind. Whether it is an emergency funding program, or money to fund an extracurricular activity. In conclusion, the four-day school week has proven itself to be a very effective form of education that Colby Public Schools most certainly should switch to within the coming
Students test scores are slipping because of 4-day school weeks.I believe we shouldn’t have a 4-day school week because studies have shown that schools with 4-day school weeks test scores have declined in 2012 and even more in 2013.Teachers from every school with 4-day school weeks say that kids don’t pay attention because they add 30 minutes to each class time during the 4-day school week.Courtney Fisher is a second grade teacher.She says that the students seem tired all the time and eat much more in class.
Back in the early ages, the idea of year-round school would be thought as completely insane, because the farming families depended on their children to be home during harvest time. Now in modern times, the term year-round school is becoming more and more common in the United States of America. Slowly the schools are changing the way they teach, from giving the students a long three month break to a shorter one month break during the summer. The change of America’s high schools to the year-round schedule benefits both the schools and the students because they still get breaks throughout the school year, the children are less likely to forget information, the children would have more time with the teachers to learn, and the parents would not have to pay for childcare during the long summer break.
Overall, schools with a four-day school week have major benefits dealing with all kind of problems. Not only will a four-day school week improve financial concerns, stress and attendance, but it will also encourage students to participate in extracurricular activities . School District 211 should consider all of these benefits and make the switch to a four day school
Silva, Elena. "Revising the Current School Calendar Has Many Implications." Year-Round Schools. Ed. Adriane Ruggiero. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. At Issue. Rpt. from "On the Clock: Rethinking the Way Schools Use Time." Education Sector Reports. 2007. 1-9. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 19 May 2014.
School should be four days a week with an extra hour added to each school day because it would save money for the school system, increase student motivation, stimulate the economy, and promote student achievement. There has been a decrease in education due to the small amount of resources, causing classrooms to be bigger and children not being able to extend their knowledge. Even though the economy has been falling, each school district has been working hard to promote student education, which could mean trading a traditional school schedule for a four-day school week. Replacing a normal school schedule for the four day school week can raise the school budget tremendously. (Hart, Demand Media).
Labor Day is not like many other U.S. holidays. It is a celebration without specific traditions, like family dinners or prayers. For most people, Labor Day just marks the last weekend of summer and the start of a new school year.
Long working hours continue to be one of the largest health concerns in the world. Currently, the world population has become so busy due to the pressure from harsh economic conditions. People are therefore spending long working hours in the workplace, which is an aspect that has negative impact on their health conditions. Statistics from Working Condition Survey indicates that approximately 30% of workers residing in European Union believe that their health is at risk due to the hours they spent in the workplace (Gurung, 2010:16)