WMU four-day school week includes benefits and challenges

The following article is part of an ongoing monthly series detailing the upcoming four-day school week for Winfield-Mt. Union Community School District and the potential changes families and community members may encounter.

WINFIELD — While there are still some challenges for families to overcome, such as nutritional assistance, the Winfield-Mt. Union school district is already benefiting from the announcement of the upcoming four-day school week for the 2023-24 school year.

In a news release dated Jan. 15, the W-MU administration announced the approval of the four-day school week, approved at the Jan. 10 school board meeting. According to the news release, the district approved the shift from the typical Monday-Friday school week for several reasons, especially teacher recruitment and retention.

According to administration and IowaWorks.gov, the site the school utilizes for advertising employment opportunities, only two teaching positions remain open in the district; high school physical sciences teacher and K-12 vocal music teacher. Both positions have been open for the past two years. All other available teaching positions at W-MU have been filled since the announcement of the upcoming four-day school week.

“We are very hopeful these positions will get filled for next year,” said Karinda Wahls, elementary principal and K-12 curriculum director.

While the upcoming schedule change has already had a positive impact on the district’s staff recruitment, the news release noted, “The District recognizes this will be a significant change and will impact parents/guardians, staff, students, and community members.”

One of the upcoming challenges for some families and students in the district may be how to compensate for the nutritional care families received from the school on Mondays, which will soon be eliminated from the school week when the district moves to their Tuesday-Friday schedule next year.

According to the Department of Education’s website, 47.2% of enrolled students at W-MU are at or below the federal poverty level and are participating in the free/reduced priced breakfast and lunches from the school during the week.

Available resources for families in the district include the Winfield Food Pantry (formerly known as MOPS), the Backpack Program, Fellowship Cup, and Community Action. Calls to area churches all made referrals back to the Winfield Food Pantry and the Backpack Program.

There is no current income requirement for families to enroll in the Backpack program, and enrollment paperwork is available by contacting Brooke McArtor at the school.

“We don’t have an income requirement, because we understand that everyone has the potential to be in crisis. It could be for a week, a month, or longer or they could simply be having financial issues,” McArtor said. “I’ve had people participate in the program for a little bit, get back on their feet and then call to let me know they no longer have the same need.”

The program currently serves 23 families in the district, feeding roughly 40 students through backpacks of food available for participants to take home over the weekends.

“We are looking at funding to add more food for the additional days next year,” McArtor said. “Donations are always welcome to help the families.”

To use the Winfield Food Pantry, parents would need to fill out a form, available at the pantry located currently in the basement of the Methodist church. There is a weekly list of available food for families to pick from as well as a “Blessings table” with bread items and extras from Casey’s.

“For working parents who aren't able to make it to the pantry, I text the food list to them and they fill it out and return text it to me,” Linda Mullen said. “We fill it and have it ready for them to pick up when they stop by. We also will definitely work with them as far as pick up time if that is an issue because of work.”

The Ad Hoc committee working with the district also discussed the possibility of the school having breakfast and lunches available to students on Mondays similar to the sack lunches available during the summer breaks. The committee, made up of community members, parents, teachers, non-certified staff, students, school board members, and administrators includes Mark Peck, Jason Remick, Lindsey Pogmore, Tyler Stevens, Matt Nelson, Rita Williams, Cally Schlee, Taylor Rodgers-Jennings, Adam Dickerson, Chad Venghaus, David Norcross, Mikayla Truitt, Gaige Gill, Taren Samuels, Josie Nelson, Pacey Schlee, and Karinda Wahls.

The committee will also track data points for the next three years and evaluate if the four-day school week is a positive change for the district. They will report their findings to the school board.

More information about the upcoming changes regarding the four-day school week will be available in a future edition of The Beacon.