Rural schools try longer days, four-day weeks

The shortened week cuts down on student and teacher absences, and the fifth day is used for teacher training or personal appointments.

The Orofino district had hoped shutting down on Fridays would save $150,000. But after the first full semester, only $12,000 in savings had been accounted for so far.

In Oregon, where 25 school districts are currently on the four-day schedule, school officials have been similarly disappointed.

"In order to make the economics work it's really necessary that you be a widely disbursed operation with extreme climate swings, so that closing a building down for a day means something," says Bob Dunton, superintendent of the 620-student Corbett School District in Multnomah, County.

In the Saratoga, Ark., school district where the four-day week was tried for three years in the late 1990s, administrators finally decided the blow to class time outweighed monetary gains.

"It saved probably $25,000 to $30,000," says high school Principal Renee Parker. "But not enough to justify losing a morning of instruction.... It didn't do anything to help academics."

But in Dexter, Kan., a town with a population of 400, the four-day week has been working for more than 20 years. "[We decided] if test scores dropped we would drop it," say Jerry Golden, superintendent of the Unified School District 471. "Test scores did not drop and ... are well above the state average." The tiny district also boasts a 97.5 attendance record.

In Orofino, residents are still getting used to the idea - at school and at home.

"My mom is a cook at the high school and her paycheck has been cut a little bit for not having that extra day, says Jessi Graham, a senior at Orofino High School. "That's kind of detrimental to our family because we're not making as much income as we did last year."

The biggest problems so far have to do with long, tiring days in class, and finding day care for the children whose parents work outside the home. Some school officials hope community groups such as churches and scouting troops will take advantage of the free day and develop new programs.

"My kids are ... worn out," says Becky Jo Parris of Orofino who has been opposed to the idea all along. Unable to afford day care on Fridays for her two children, 7 and 10, she and her husband stagger their lunch hours and stay in touch with their children by phone.

Other Orofino families are enjoying more togetherness. "For us it works nice," says Kari Gering, the mother of a 5- and 6-year-old. "We're an outdoors family so it allows us to do things on a Friday."

And Jordan Damron doesn't mind rising a bit earlier each day if that means he can have Fridays to do as he pleases.

"I think it's pretty cool," he says. "I get to stay home and play video games."

• Kendra Nordin contributed to this report.

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