Washington CSD eyes year-round school option

WASHINGTON — Members of Washington’s school board have put their research into four-day school weeks on pause as the district considers a new schedule approach they hope will reduce burnout and improve performance. The idea: year-round classes.

Students would still have breaks throughout the year, according to Superintendent Willie Stone who said two-week pauses between each term could replace much of the traditional summer vacation which might be shortened to a six-week break.

“That, academically, makes more sense to me than a four-day school week,” Stone said. “I think we have to look at both, and make a decision that, ‘This is the way we want to look at going,’ and then dive into that more deeply.”

Much like the long-debated four-day week, there’s no shortage of logistical issues to consider. The list includes impacts on child care, student and staff members’ summertime employability, taxpayer costs and scheduling specifics.

While the school board hasn’t abandoned its inquiries into a four-day week model entirely, decision-makers said they should temporarily put such efforts on pause to gather info about year-round school, including what such a schedule might look like, what staff think of it, and how it might impact academic performance.

Washington decision-makers have long mulled a potential switch to four-day school weeks, which smaller districts nearby have implemented to great success, but few schools of Washington’s size have put into practice. Washington’s board voted against the proposal in February, but promised to revisit it later in 2025 after gathering more data. There are no plans to change the schools’ 2025-26 academic calendar.

Stone, however, said he couldn’t pursue in-depth information on both a four-day week and year-round school at the same time. Board members directed the superintendent to present a sample year-round school calendar at their meeting next month, moving four-day considerations to the back burner.

“I know how much time it took to do the four-day (research) that we already did,” Stone said. “I can do it, but stuff’s going to trickle in slower if I’m trying to run both games.”

And unlike with four-day weeks, year-round school has never been implemented district-wide in Iowa.

Until earlier this month, the model was impractical for most districts across the state, with Iowa allowing year-round class only up through eighth grade. That changed with the passage of a bill signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds May 6, allowing the setup in high schools as well.

“Studies show that a year-round school calendar is best for students academically, and teachers who have taught in them have been quoted as saying that more breaks throughout the year benefit them mentally and in the classroom,” said Heather Hora — Washington’s representative in the state house and author of the bill — shortly after its passage.

The recency of that reform could make information-gathering difficult. Washington’s approach to four-day weeks involved largely informal communication with familiar nearby districts, and occasional superintendent trips to other schools to see the model in practice. Contacting and driving to districts in other states, in comparison, may prove more tedious.

As far as Iowa school districts go, Washington would be treading in uncharted waters.

“As far as we know, we’re the only district in Iowa looking at it,” school board Member Troy Suchan.

A schedule change of any kind is still not guaranteed in Washington.

While school officials continue looking into four-day weeks and year-round classes, school board Member Diana Rich said she remained interested in other potential solutions to reported burnout in students and staff.

“Are there other things we should be doing as a school district and as a community to support the educators, have we exhausted all our options?” she asked at a board meeting May 14. “Sometimes, I think we jump to, ‘If we change to a four-day school week, or we change to this, then we’d be happier,’ but maybe there are other, little things that could be done.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com