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Indiana K-12 schools must meet new standards before seeking approval to implement a four-day school week.

The model, once favored by rural schools due to a shortage of bus drivers, is spreading nationwide to urban and suburban districts seeking to recruit teachers and students by extending the school day, so students and staff can take Fridays off.

Schools can apply for a flexibility waiver through the Indiana Department of Education to move to a four-day school week.

Now, schools must earn an 鈥淎鈥� grade through the state鈥檚 A-F accountability model to be considered for a four-day school week waiver.

That鈥檚 one of four minimum requirements outlined in House Enrolled Act , which took effect July 1.

The Indiana Department of Education recently issued guidance to schools about the new criteria ahead of the coming school year.

Schools must also offer transportation for students who choose to attend a school operating on a five-day schedule, meet the state鈥檚 $45,000-a-year minimum teacher salary threshold, and offer enrichment and remediation at no cost to parents the day school is not in session.

The State Board of Education must then grant approval before a school can transition to a four-day week.

Vinton Elementary pilots four-day week

Vinton Elementary School is entering its third and final year piloting a four-day school week.

The Lafayette-area school, with an enrollment of 408, is the sole school in Indiana operating on a four-day schedule through the state Department of Education鈥檚 flexibility waiver for innovation.

School starts at 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday, with dismissal delayed until 3:45 p.m. 鈥� a necessity to meet the required 54,000 minutes of instruction each year, which the school accomplishes in a mere 151 days compared to the typical 180 days.

Students attend class on Fridays only when a holiday falls on a Monday, so they don鈥檛 miss two days in one week.

The National Conference of State Legislatures 850 school districts operate on a four-day schedule, saving their budgets an average of 0.4% to 2.5% a year.

Principal Cindy Preston is impressed by the results she鈥檚 seen thus far: Student disciplinary referrals are down from 495 before the pilot started to 293 referrals last school year.

Staff absences declined from 656 to 398 a year.

Eighty-nine percent of third graders passed their spring assessments last year, up from 73% when the school still operated five days a week.

And a clear majority of parents and staff report they are satisfied with the four-day schedule, Preston said.

Yet she looks at the new criteria and wonders whether Vinton will qualify for another waiver once the pilot expires.

The school already meets two of the four minimum standards for teacher salaries and transportation.

Students are provided free busing to other elementary schools within the Lafayette School Corporation if parents wish to keep them on a five-day schedule.

The YMCA offers on-site daycare at Vinton on Fridays, but few students participate.

Preston said she is exploring options to provide free onsite enrichment and remedial programming on Fridays to qualify for another waiver, but an 鈥淎鈥� rating will be more difficult to achieve.

鈥淲e鈥檙e a high-poverty school,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e about 80-85% poverty, so hitting that mark is very hard. This will be my 15th year as principal here, and we鈥檝e never reached that.鈥�

A spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Education said waiver applications will formally open to other districts following the release of A-F grades later this school year.

The department prioritizes applications 鈥渢hat clearly center on student needs and include thoughtful engagement with families and school staff about the potential impacts,鈥� said Courtney Bearsch, chief communications officer for the department.

Moving forward

Preston said she鈥檚 hopeful lawmakers will either grandfather Vinton in or revise the standards so the school can continue its four-day routine, even if it doesn鈥檛 receive an 鈥淎鈥� rating this year.

The school applied for its initial flexibility waiver to make the district more attractive to families in neighboring districts.

While enrollment declined the first year, Preston said it rebounded the following year. Twenty-six percent of those new students transferred from a neighboring district, she said.

Initial staff concerns subsided as the year progressed, and the school no longer witnessed an influx of parents removing their child from school early for weekend trips, Preston said.

Teachers had time for deeper, uninterrupted instruction. The 90-minute reading block became 120 minutes, she said.

鈥淓ven though we鈥檙e squeezing five days (into four), teachers feel like they really do have a lot more wiggle room to do more hands-on, deeper dives into instruction instead of just hitting the surface.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: [email protected].

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