KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After months of consideration, the Independence School District has voted to implement four-day instructional school weeks.
Tuesday night's vote passed by a 6-1 margin.
The lone no vote was cast by board member Anthony Mondaine.
The new schedule will take effect in the 2023-24 school year.
Board members thanked community members and those who packed the board room for their engagement on whether to move the district to a four-day week.
The ISD school board unanimously passed a measure to explore four-day weeks as an option during a board meeting back in August.
KSHB 41 talked to Dr. Dale Herl, superintendent at the Independence School District, that same month.
Herl told KSHB 41 that the district was exploring this option to recruit and retain teachers in the midst of a statewide shortage.
"This was brought on not as a cost savings measure, but as you look at what's going on in in the country regarding teacher shortages, bus driver shortages, even nutrition services, we want to be proactive and look at possible solutions for that," Herl said.
According to the district, it started tracking the number of applicants since announcing the potential transition. Herl says the numbers speak for themselves.
"So from Oct. 1 to Dec. 9, the number of teaching applications we’ve received has gone up almost 40%, and the applications overall have gone up more than 333%," Herl said.
The ISD school board approved both a five-day and four-day school week calendar for next school year during November’s board meeting.
The district held a community meeting at the end of November about four-day school weeks that included several speakers, including Herl and Warren County R-III School District Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith.
Warren County R-III School District is one of several districts in Missouri with a four-day school week.
“Teacher retention, that was our goal," Klinginsmith said. "We were able to increase our teacher retention by about 5%, we were at 83% prior to the four-day week."
The district sent out surveys to families, students and staff that were later made available to the public.
KSHB 41 talked to two parents ahead of Tuesday night's meeting about their thoughts and concerns.
Shawna Ferguson, a mother of two in the district, says she wants more time for transparency and due diligence. She has felt that the process toward a vote has been rushed since making the parents aware in August.
"I would like to know any discussions that happened between January and August. What was going on behind the scenes at Central office?" Ferguson said.
Ferguson says the new schedule would actually help her family, but it is the principle of the matter.
"What about the elementary kids, single parents, parents who are working, have weird schedules... It's a lot of stress to think about," she said.
She also worries that the additional 35 minutes per day will hinder productivity.
Meanwhile, another parent in the district, Brandi Pruente, is anxious about the missed day.
"That 40 minutes every day isn’t going to make up for a day missed the rest of the week. So I'm concerned that the academic performance, especially for the vulnerable families, will decrease," Pruente said.
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