Lincoln schools to move to 4-day learning week

LINCOLN -- The school board for Lincoln Consolidated School District approved changing the 2023-24 school calendar to a four-day week at its March 13 meeting.

Lincoln will be the first district in Washington County to adopt a four-day school week.

According to Superintendent Mary Ann Spears, school will start in the middle of August and end in the middle of May, and will run from Tuesday through Friday, adding a total of 80 to 90 minutes to each day's schedule.

The school board voted 4-0 to approve the measure, with board member Ronnie Remington absent from the meeting. The school district will use Mondays for professional development and parent/teacher conferences.

The 2023-24 school year will begin Aug. 15 and end May 17, 2024, according to the approved calendar. Parent/teacher conferences will be held Monday, Oct. 16, and Monday, March 11, 2024.

"Our hope is that we can attract, recruit and retain quality teachers with us because we have a lot of teachers that drive in from Bentonville, Rogers area and all that," Spears said. "So this is one less day they have to travel and maybe they won't look for a job in a closer district."

There were no questions or comments from the public during the meeting. The school district hosted two well-attended community forums on March 3 and March 7 to make a presentation on a four-day week and allow parents and others to voice their opinions and ask questions.

Board member Julie McConnell said the forums had a good turnout and the district received good feedback from those at the meetings.

McConnell pointed out the biggest concern was childcare on Mondays for working parents and asked if the school would be able to help with that.

Spears said she is working with the elementary principal and staff on this concern and the district is prepared to offer childcare on Mondays, probably for kindergarten through sixth grade students. The plan is to have firm details by Aug. 1 so parents will know what the program would look like, Spears said.

The Monday childcare program will probably have a nominal cost for parents, with the amount dependent on the number of children and the staff to cover it. In the meantime, Spears said the district will look for grants to help with those costs.

McConnell asked Spears if she had received any feedback after the two forums and Spears responded she received 10-12 emails from people that were in favor of a four-day school week.

"That's the only feedback we've received since our two meetings," Spears said.

During the forums, Spears said teachers at all three schools showed support for a four-day week and staff preferred having Mondays as their day off.

Mondays make the most sense, Spears said, because students and teachers are absent the most on Mondays. In addition, having Mondays off would allow teachers and parents to schedule appointments, provide more family time and possibly provide more job opportunities for high school students.

Fridays are not as good, she said, because of ball games, special school activities, such as pep rallies, and because many doctors and dentists close their offices on Fridays for either part of the day or all day.

Lynn Kutter with the Enterprise-Leader contributed to this article.