It’s a Monday in September, but with schools closed, the three children in the Pruente household have nowhere to be. Callahan, 13, contorts herself into a backbend as 7-year-old Hudson fiddles with a balloon and 10-year-old Keegan plays the piano.
Like a growing number of students around the U.S, the Pruente children are on a four-day school schedule, a change instituted this fall by their district in Independence, Missouri.
To the kids, it’s terrific. “I have a three-day break of school!” exclaimed Hudson.
But their mom, Brandi Pruente, who teaches French in a neighboring district in suburban Kansas City, is frustrated to find herself hunting for activities to keep her kids entertained and off electronics while she works five days a week.
Good, now give the parents 4 day work weeks (with the same pay) so they can spend more time with their kids.
Yeah, this is premature. We need 4 day work weeks to become the norm before this can be realistic for schools
Unfortunately the reasoning isn’t to improve school-life balance or give parents more time with their kids, it’s that schools in the US are criminally underfunded and cannot afford to operate 5 days a week.
On the other hand, if this puts on pressure to more quickly move to 4 day work weeks then I’m all for it. Actually, I’m all for it either way. I wish I had 4 day school weeks when I was a kid.
Absolutely. It would give parents a day off on weekdays to get errands done and relax without the kids.
With the amount of funding US schools get, they’re glorified daycare centers so making them 4 day weeks is a good way to keep the poorer parents reallll poor. This lady is lucky shes got a 13 year old, because you’re not leaving that 7 year old alone without fucking them up either mentally or physically.
What would they do for the hours after school finished normally or if work on weekends?
Sounds like a work / life balance problem. Companies will have to be made to change their working practices, allow more remote, flexible working hours and reduced time.
UK is, very, slowly starting to move to a 4 day week for work (reduced hours, not cramming in 4 days x 10 hours). The productivity increases along with recruitment make it worthwhile. My company isn’t there but 35 hours + 50 days holiday so not far.
That would solve the 4 day school day. Also allow for parents to educate their kids for 1/2 a day if needed.
I’ve seen articles like this before. The answer on why? Money. School districts are underfunded and can’t recruit teachers on a shoestring budget.
Hundreds of school systems around the country have adopted four-day weeks in recent years, mostly in rural and western parts of the U.S. Districts cite cost savings and advantages for teacher recruitment,
She has no interest in paying for the child care option the district is offering for $30 per day. Multiplied by several kids, it adds up.
Straight up just cutting services and charging people a surcharge that their taxes already pay for.
The district offers meals on Mondays, but not at every school. Starting in October, struggling students will be able to attend school on Mondays for extra help.
That just sounds like school with extra steps.
“You have to go back and look, you know, what do parents do during the summertime? What do they do over, you know, spring break or Christmas break?” he said, adding that schools already had weekdays off for occasions such as teacher conferences.
They fucking suffer? They pay for summer camp. Or daycare services which are $$$. Or like me in the 90s, you’re a latch-key kid. And you end up seriously lacerating yourself at 9yo because you shouldn’t leave kids unsupervised.
The change also provides another day to work on family farms
Child labor is coming back into fashion.
Yeah. Four day schools aren’t this great thing for kids, but ways to be shitty with education funding. I won’t be surprised if, in a decade, all high school classes in one district are taught full remote with the school just being a day care to watch the students.
This absolutely feels like they are trying to add micro transactions to schools to make them more profitable… Fuck that’s horrifying.
People really don’t want to have to pay a fair share towards be part of our small society when they have the bigger one they can play with stuff like this only exists to hurt and squeeze the commoner.
Why are schools cutting hours when we’re falling behind in basic math and reading nationally?
Because repuglicunts don’t believe in paying to educate kids so they become useful members of society. Easier to brainwash that way.
Because greed and self isolation are the roots of this country and money is sucking up into the hands of people who do nothing but hoard it and spend on frivolous stuff and not in the hands of people actually needing to get work done holding society together. It’s not just Republicans but they are certainly the ones who are happy to cut off the ends and let the limbs bleed out to save some weight.
Cutting costs. At this point teachers are expected to stock their own classrooms. There’s very little money for anything.
Also it’s recruitment for teachers. Extra day off = actual time to get things done/restore sanity. A lot of rural districts do this because they’d have no one otherwise.
What would they do for the hours after school finished normally or if work on weekends?
Afterschool programs, usually. Or latch-key kids which really isn’t ideal.
Or go outside and do things with their friends.
