A four-day per week school schedule is coming to the Garfield School District in September.
Other districts with small 1-A high schools in the region have been considering the proposal since it was advanced in April by Principal Jim Glover of Valley High School in Kane County.A modification has been adopted by the Iron School District board for 41/2 days at the Parowan High School, a program that will be evaluated at the conclusion of the next school year.
The proposal was turned down for the Milford High School in Beaver County because of parent opposition, but some modification in the schedule is being considered.
A motion to table the proposed change at the Valley High School in Orderville, Kane County, was approved, while the Wayne District board of education decided not to make the change in Bicknell.
Those schools and three in Garfield County are in the same region.
The idea behind the change is to provide students with an uninterrupted workweek while allowing for a full schedule of sports and other extracurricular activities, said Garfield District Superintendent Philip Blais. Schools will be in session Mondays through Thursdays with most extracurricular activities on Fridays. Four days will be available during the year on Fridays to allow makeup for unexpected interruptions at the schools on scheduled classroom days.
The total number of hours that students and teachers will be in school won't be affected. Teachers who now work 1,260 hours in 180 days will work the same number of hours in 148 days. Teachers will work the four days each week as school hours are lengthened and 12 additional hours each month.
Classes will run from 8 a.m. to 3:24 p.m. in Panguitch. A 30-minute period following the regular school day will allow for specialized instruction. The school day will include one 36-minute break and a 30-minute lunch period.
At Bryce Valley and Escalante schools, the school day will run from 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A 30-minute special tutoring period will follow.
Lengths of each period will be approximately 55 minutes. Some teachers believe more can be accomplished during the longer periods.