The Richland R-1 School District in Stoddard County is joining the 4-day school week starting next August due to teacher shortages.
STODDARD COUNTY, Mo. (WSIL)--- Some students in Stoddard County will soon be switching to four-day school weeks next August. Nearly 900 school districts operate on a four-day school week.
Now, The Richland R-1 School District in Stoddard County is joining them.
The Richland R-1 School Superintendent, Carrie Tripp, says it's due to a teacher shortage.
"In an effort to recruit and retain the teachers that we have. We need to do something different while our revenue isn't changing enough that we can offer some astronomical pay raise," Carrie Tripp.
Rita Herrion worries about how the new weekly structure will affect her daughter's senior year of High School.
"You know, what am I gonna do? What's she gonna do? Sit in the house all day on the computer? That's all they do," Rita Herrion says. "They need school for interaction with other kids and learning how to get along in the world."
However, her daughter Kylie likes the idea of having an extra day off.
"I don't think my education will be any different if it was a four-day or five-day course because you're still learning at the same pace," Kylie Herrion Dickson said.
Tripp says by adding 15 minutes to the current starting time and 31 minutes to the current dismissal time, they'll still meet the state's standards.
"One of the fears is that we would decrease. We don't have that fear," Tripp says. "We are going to meet the same minutes of instruction, the same teachers in the classroom. We're gonna be able to maintain that."
Carla Tilley has a kid at the elementary school. She says she supports the new weekly structure.
"One day during the week is no different than having a snow day. You still gotta provide that childcare," Tilley said.
Still, some parents might be worried about providing food and childcare.
"We're still developing, but we do have plans. We already have a backpack program where we send food home every weekend. So to cover that Monday, that program can be expanded," Tripp said.
As for some high schoolers, a graduating senior, Quinton Peery, said he would have used the time for his job.
"To give them an extra day in the weekdays where they can go to the doctor's appointments and go to scheduled things that they have to have done that are outside of school," Quinton Peery said.
A Missouri state professor estimated that 161 Missouri public schools are already using a four-day school week, including some school districts in Butler and Dunklin County.
