Can You Imagine Your Kids Going to School 4 Days a Week?

Jennifer Lance — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:30:53 +0000

In the summer, our school district’s central office moves to a 4-10 work week (4 days a week for 10 hours) to save energy and give employees longer weekends, an idea that originated during the 1970’s energy crisis. Some schools have tried a similar schedule during the school year, in which children go to school four days a week instead of five days. As a parent and a teacher, I like this idea in order to give familes personal time. As an environmentalist, it makes sense to cut down on energy use and transportation costs with such an alternative schedule.

Approximately 100 rural schools in the United States have adopted a four day a week school schedule, mostly to save fuel costs where buses travel up to 100 miles a day. Districts are reporting up to a ten percent savings on fuel and four percent savings on facilities energy use. I know from personal experience on our district’s budget committee that transportation is the largest expenditure in the entire budget (more than teacher’s salaries, etc.)

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Can You Imagine Your Kids Going to School 4 Days a Week?