Cardinal school charting new course with four-day week

ELDON — Cardinal School District is diving head first into new waters this fall when the district will transition to a four-day week.

The idea of moving to a four-day week was something the school board considered a few years ago, but back then decided not to go through with the idea. On Monday, the board voted unanimously to move ahead with a four-day week beginning in the fall of 2022.

School board member Andy Noe said he is “super excited” for the change.

“I was fortunate enough to be on the committee four years ago when it didn’t get passed, and now I get to see the many positive things this can bring to our district,” Noe said.

The board members said this is not really an earth-shattering change for the district, which has made four-day weeks common in recent years.

“We have had a schedule with Mondays off every other week or every third week for the last three years, and everyone has found a way to overcome their challenges,” said Noe, adding that 95 percent of Cardinal’s staff stated on a survey they support the change.

Cardinal Superintendent Joel Pedersen said one of the main reasons for the move is to help retain teachers, and it’s already having an effect.

“We have already had teachers accept position due to the four-day week, and other teachers say they will not look at other jobs because of the four-day week, so that is exciting,” Pedersen said. “Change is hard and the unknown is scary. We will listen and help where needed. Every school I talked to said parents will not go back to a five-day week after trying the new schedule.”

School board member Tim Albert said the four-day week is a perk Cardinal can offer teachers that other districts are not.

“We don’t have big businesses and a big tax base to allow us to pay what they can in other communities, but I’m hoping we can offer something other places can’t, and that’s more time off,” Albert said. “We’re really concerned about our teachers’ mental health.”

Albert said the shortage of substitute teachers has meant teachers have to cover for their colleagues, which means they have to be in the classroom all day. That means they have to stay late to prepare for their own classes, which just leads to teacher burnout. Albert said that’s what he and the other board members are hoping to avoid by adopting this four-day week.

School board member Tom Drish said the school may save some money on transportation by not having to transport students as many days, although he and Albert said financial considerations were not the main driver of the move.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com