Washington school board puzzled over year-round school feedback

WASHINGTON — Administrators and elected decision-makers in Washington have all expressed profound interest in pivoting to a year-round academic calendar in the months since state lawmakers allowed the schedule for higher grade levels.

The school district’s staff, however, seem to disagree.

A survey shared with school employees last month, according to Superintendent Willie Stone, asked respondents whether they preferred the current calendar, or a four-day school week, or a year-round calendar with two- to three-week breaks between each term, a handful of four-day weekends and a shorter summer break of six to eight weeks. Each model was accompanied by a proposed schedule, showing an outline of next year’s academic calendar if it’s adopted.

Results were shared with the school board at its monthly meeting Sept. 10. The plurality of respondents — 46.8% — said they favored switching to a four-day school week, a move made by a handful of smaller districts in Southeast Iowa in recent years including Highland and Keota. Another 31.6% said they preferred the status quo, with five-day school weeks and a typical academic year, ending with a several-month summer break. Just over a fifth — 21.4% — voted for a year-round calendar.

“If you go out and look at data, the data is better for year-round school than for a four-day school week,” Stone said. “You don’t have a major loss because you don’t have 12 weeks off … every kids knows, ‘I have to work hard for a term, and then I have two weeks off.’”

The academic advantages reported in studies made year-round school a favorite for many district higher-ups, despite apparent misgivings from teachers and staff. Some decision-makers said they worried survey respondents weren’t aware of the potential benefits to student performance.

School board Member Mindi Rees noted that community members were heavily involved in dialogue about four-day school weeks over the last year. In contrast, no district in the state has ever implemented year-round school above elementary grade levels before, nor were they legally allowed to do so until the passage of a state bill in May of this year.

“The majority of those that voted, voted for the four-day, and I don’t want it to look like we didn’t like that answer so we’re just going to do our own thing,” she said. “They’re much more educated on four-day benefits, disadvantages, things like that, and they’re not, with the all-year calendar. So I would love to sit down with an auditorium of staff and talk about it … I’d love to educate everybody so we can have an informed vote.”

The uncertainty over respondents’ rationale delays a long-running debate about how to structure Washington’s 2026-27 academic year.

Washington’s board voted against a four-day school week proposal in February, but promised to revisit the issue later in 2025 after gathering more data. The sudden legislative clearance to hold year-round school threw a wrench in that conversation, shifting the board’s attention to a potential new strategy experts say could improve student and staff performance.

Complicating matters, schools in Iowa that adopt year-round schedules are limited to breaks lasting a maximum of six weeks under Iowa Code. While Washington hopes it can get a waiver and shoot for a slightly longer summer break, it has no guarantees so far. Stone said the schedule with a six-week summer off was “not as palatable as we would like.”

The clock is ticking to make a decision one way or the other, according to school board members.

“You ask for our direction, and we keep telling you the same thing, ‘Let’s look at everything,” school board Member Troy Suchan said to Stone at a meeting last week. “At some point, we’ve got to get rid of something … we have to make it where we’re actually moving ahead with two options, versus three.”

For now, it’s unclear which model will end up on the chopping block.

Board members at last week’s meeting directed Stone to get a hold of other districts with year-round models, to share testimonials with staff and administrators. The district may also seek feedback from survey respondents about why they opposed the year-round schedule.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com