A four-day school week? More Minnesota school districts are giving it a look.

Facing budget deficits, declining enrollment and challenges hiring teachers, some school districts in Minnesota have begun exploring a shift to a four-day school week.

Shortening the school week is an approach that has gained traction in recent years as a way to save money, boost student attendance and improve staff retention. In 2019, about 650 districts across the country used the schedule. Five years later, that number has risen to 900, according to the Associated Press.

In Minnesota, only seven districts operate on a four-day week, though in recent months several more in rural areas have assessed the possibility. School districts in Chatfield, St. Charles, Byron and Lewiston-Altura have all considered it — with mixed responses.

While some parents like the flexibility and extra family time the schedule offers, others have raised concerns about added child care expenses and developmental consequences of kids being out of school an extra day. State standards still require students on a four-day schedule to spend the same minimum number of hours in class.

The latest district to make the switch was Carlton public schools, near Cloquet, which adopted the schedule for the 2024-25 year. With about 300 students, the district has faced major headwinds in recent years, including declining enrollment and failed efforts to consolidate with a larger district.

Superintendent Donita Stepan said the dire situation had the district considering the change when earlier this year the Minnesota Department of Education resumed accepting applications from districts weighing a four-day week. As part of that process, the district put out a survey that found 78% of parents and 99% of teachers supported the switch.

“I really believe that we have to do something different in public education, or we’re not going to have teachers willing to do the work anymore,” Stepan said. “What we’re doing, I don’t believe is working for enough of our kids. Our teachers are overwhelmed, they’re getting burnt out. Something has to change.”

The early results, Stepan said, have been promising. While 40 students left the district through open enrollment at the start of the 2024-25 school year, another 45 transferred in, primarily because of the flexible schedule, she said.

Stepan has also been encouraged by how students are using their extra day off. While some students choose to stay home or work jobs, others are using it for extracurricular activities, open gym and homework help.

“The teachers are loving it because one of the things we know in school is when kids get behind, it’s difficult for them to find an opportunity to get caught up,” Stepan said. “So, our teachers are finding that kids are coming in on Fridays to get that extra help to get caught up on their assignments.”

Whether the schedule will boost student performance, however, remains to be seen. Studies so far are inconclusive, though a 2021 report by the RAND Corporation found student achievement either stayed the same or improved at a slower rate than schools with five-day schedules.

In St. Charles, Minn., about 25 minutes east of Rochester, the district pitched the idea to the community as a way to ease the burden on teachers this fall. More than 300 people showed up to an Oct. 28 meeting at the high school, expressing concerns about what a shortened week might mean for students who are struggling or parents who don’t have access to reliable child care.

In a survey after the meeting, more than two-thirds of respondents said they were opposed to the shorter week, so the district scrapped the plans.

“What do you do with the kids that maybe don’t have a great home environment and school is a safe place and now they’re home with an additional day? Obviously, as a district, we don’t have an easy answer for that,” Rob Routh, superintendent of St. Charles Public Schools, said in an interview.

The Lewiston-Altura Public School District, also in southeast Minnesota, raised the idea over the summer. Voters there recently said yes on two ballot questions, including an operating levy that jumped from $52 a student to $760 a student, as well as a $20 million bonding levy over 20 years.

After Byron Public Schools failed to win enough votes to pass a $1.9 million levy increase in November, the superintendent highlighted a four-day week as a cost-savings option. Reached Monday, however, the district said it was unlikely it would pursue the idea for now. Its board meets Dec. 2 to discuss budget cuts, which were in part brought on by a financial miscalculation discovered earlier this year.

Nearby in Chatfield, the four-day week remains under serious consideration as the district looks for ways to address a $300,000 deficit for the next school year. The district estimates the new schedule would save upwards of $150,000 annually, mostly by reducing costs for transportation and hourly employees.

Ed Harris, superintendent of Chatfield Public Schools, said while financial savings were the driving force for considering the switch, he also sees the potential benefits of improving the well-being of staff and students. The district will hold a public meeting on the proposal on Dec. 4, with a board vote expected in January.

“There’s more flexibility in how and where people are working, and how that influences their work-life balance and wellness,” Harris said. “And people are thinking, ‘that might be a thing for our kids, too.’”

Harris, who has been with Chatfield schools since 2010, has a unique vantage point to the four-day week. He was previously the superintendent of Ogilvie Public Schools when the district, facing financial distress, adopted a four-day week in 2009. The schedule, he said, has proved popular, with annual surveys showing more than 90% of parents, students and support staff in favor of it.

Still, Harris said the schedule is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

“There are upsides, downsides,” Harris said. “Even to the individual students and families, it will be a little different experience for all of them depending on what their situations are like. And that’s what makes this challenging.”