Havre stays with five-day school week

Editor's note: This version corrects that Montana State University-Northern Professor Kevin Johnson has retired and correct the position of Sunnyside Intermediate School librarian and teacher .

At a special meeting Monday, the Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees voted five to three to implement a five-day week with an earlier start time for the upcoming school year despite the overwhelming opposition of attendees to the meeting, nearly all of them teachers.

Teachers at this meeting, as well as the last one where the possibility of a four-day week was discussed, universally spoke in favor of implementing the modified schedule that they argue will be better for students, with longer class periods and more total instructional time, and for teacher's who can use Friday for things like professional development, paper grading and recuperating from their substantial workload.

The proposed school years included two versions of a four-day week, one with some Fridays used for instruction, and two five-day weeks, one similar to what has been used and the one with an earlier start time.

The year approved has a five-day week with classroom instruction starting Aug. 15, with trustees Curtis Smeby, Cindy Erickson, Lorraine Larson, Theresa Miller and Garrit Ophus voting in favor.

Trustees Jacob Ingram, Tim Scheele and Brittnee' Loch voted against that five-day week proposal.

Arguments for and against a four-day week

Before the board began discussion of the issue, HPS Superintendent Craig Mueller recommended the board approve the schedule with school starting Aug. 15 and the first semester wrapping up before Christmas break and students graduating in mid-May, one of the schedule's merit Mueller said.

He said he believes this schedule is the most beneficial to the district, with better placement of vacation days and most beneficial to students taking dual-credit courses as well.

Scheele said the four-day option teachers are in favor of is more consistent than any other schedule and adds a substantial number of educational hours.

Loch agreed, saying that the community survey and teachers survey conducted by the calendar committee that put these schedules together indicated significant support for the idea, returning almost 74 percent and just under 90 percent respectively.

Ingram also argued in favor of the four-day week, also citing the survey results, and saying teachers would not support the move if they thought it would have an adverse effect on students.

He also reiterated a consistent argument among supporters of the four-day week, that the biggest indicator of student success is a great teacher, and the new schedule will help retain and recruit teachers.

Those who weren't in favor of the modified schedule included Board Vice-Chair Theresa Miller who said she understands the perspective of teachers, especially when it comes to their mental health, which has been another argument made in favor of the four-day week, but she's concerned about getting all bargaining groups in line in time for a smooth transition.

"If we're going to go into a four-day week, I want to do it the best that we can," Miller said.

She also said she's concerned with how a four-day week would set students up for college and with non-teaching staff, particularly bus drivers, losing a day of income.

"I see people shaking their heads and I'm sorry, but I guess I'm a pre-planner," she said.

These arguments were pushed back on by Scheele and the teachers present.

Scheele said the calendar committee did everything it was asked to do in the timeframes they were expected to, and asked why, if this was a concern, it is only being brought up now.

He also said the bus drivers had a representative on the committee who indicated to them that the four-day week could benefit many of them as well, freeing them up to drive activity buses to the sporting events that often take place Fridays.

One of the biggest arguments made by supporters of the four-day week is that it would cut down sports-related absences, but Scheele said it would also allow the teams to attend more events with more drivers available.

Miller and other opponents of the four-day week said it is an option that could be looked at for the 2023-2024 school year when they have more time, but Scheele said it seems unlikely that the unions will be thrilled about negotiating for a possible four-day week two years away, especially after the board makes them angry by rejecting the four-day week this year, which many of them want to see.

Board Chair Smeby also argued against the four-day week saying those that aren't at the meeting should have more of a chance to be heard.

He said everyone at the meeting was privileged and the underprivileged are not there to plead there case.

Scheele, as well as many teachers, also pushed back against that notion, saying that the people who aren't there shouldn't be spoken for.

"We can't keep holding everybody hostage on what we believe more people would say if they came and talked to us, they are not coming to talk to us and when I reach out to people I get the same feedback, that they would like the four-day week," he said.

He also pushed back on the argument made by some that the positive testimony and data from other schools that have used a four-day week is irrelevant to Havre because the schools that they're coming from are smaller.

Scheele said there are plenty of schools outside Montana that have made the change that are much bigger than Havre Public Schools, and schools of comparable size in the state are getting in contact with Havre Assistant Superintendent Brad Moore, who's been at the forefront of creating the four-day week proposal, to see how it goes because they want to learn from them.

He said he thinks the staff of the schools deserve the chance to at least try the new schedule. He said students are always encouraged to try new things, it's an expectation, and the schools should be willing to do the same.

Loch agreed with many of Scheele's argument and said when representatives from schools that have four-day weeks came to a community forum last year they said most of the concerns expressed to them when they were considering it quickly became non-issues and it's now difficult to find anyone who wants to go back.

She said this, combined with the response to the surveys and the testimony at recent meetings, makes it hard for her to vote for continuing a five-day week.

Scheele also said the board should really be discussing what effects the shift may have on Havre's dropout rate, which he said he thinks will be helped by the change.

Smeby said dropout rates is a subject that should be discussed at another meeting and the board should move on to public comments.

Public comments

Public comments were dominated by teachers, all of whom argued in favor of the four-day week.

Sunnyside Intermediate School teacher Alyssa Jensen said she's known she wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl, but, like many, she's looking at other options right now.

Jensen said she's seeing students increasingly stressed out by the time Friday rolls around, with a significant amount of extreme behavior becoming more prevalent on those days.

She said the concerns raised by board members about losing a day of meals for students is understandable, but teachers are already giving students food they pay for out of their own pocket, and if the board really cares about that they should put the effort in and look at programs to address food insecurity.

Jensen also talked about burnout, which she said is becoming an increasingly serious problem.

Havre Middle School science teacher Katey Barber said she understands this is a difficult decision, but wonders when the board will be willing to implement the change if not now.

"What's our excuse gonna be next year," she said. "... That's what I'm most afraid of, that we're never going to try it at all."

Retired Montana State University-Northern Professor Kevin Johnson said a shift to a four-day school week can work with the right group of people, which is clear considering how many Montana schools have made the switch.

"If it was bad we would have heard about it by now," Johnson said.

He also said having the Friday free will allow teachers to do the things they don't have time to do during the day.

He said he always had to grade papers and assignments at home because there was never time to at school.

Johnson also expressed concern that rejecting a four-day week would alienate the people who worked so hard to make it possible, especially when they can find another position at a place that does have a four-day week.

Havre Education Association President Jessica Jones pushed back on the claim that there isn't enough time to negotiate with the unions in time for next year.

Jones said every representative from every bargaining unit has said that this can be worked out and Mueller and Moore have both indicated that salaries will not be cut for non-classified employees.

"This is not as complicated as it sounds," she said.

She said rejecting the four-day week after the committee did everything they were asked to do will create significant distrust among teachers, many of whom are looking at other options.

It says the district is willing to lose faculty, she said.

Carrie Gillen, a Sunnyside Intermediate School librarian and teacher, said the committee and the people who showed up worked hard and to be told now that all that work was for nothing because people that didn't show up might be opposed to it is wrong.

"Stop talking for the people that didn't show up," she said. "We showed up, we did the work, we did the research, we put in the time, and now you're going to say, 'Gosh, sorry, it just wasn't quite good enough.'"

Gillen, like most other speakers, asked that if the four-day week was not implemented that the board adopt the fourth calendar presented instead. The fourth proposed calendar is five-day week schedule with a more traditional start and end date for the year.

Teachers argued that mid-August is incredibly busy for agriculture families on top of the sweltering heat they would be teaching in and if the school board doesn't want things to change with the schedule then they should go for a more traditional approach.

This request was not considered by the board members, who voted on Mueller's recommendation, the third schedule, immediately after public comments ended.

During public comments, only one person spoke against the four-day week. Havre Public Schools Education Foundation President Kyle Leeds, who said he was speaking as a community member and not as president of the foundation, said that, with so much inflation, parents shouldn't be expected to pay for more food and child care during this difficult time.