The “Sunday Night Blues” – that feeling you get when you know tomorrow is Monday and the weekend is over – will not be plaguing students and staff in the Grundy R-5 School District anymore.
The R-5 Board of Education voted in February to adopt a four-day school week beginning with the 2021-22 school year, with students spending a little more time in class Tuesday through Friday, but not having classes on Monday.
The decision was made after surveying students, patrons and employees and, according to R-5 Superintendent Phil Fox, the response was overwhelmingly in favor of the change.
“The vast majority of those who responded were supportive or very supportive of it. I’d say in the high 80s,” he said. “Of course, we had some who disagreed and some had some good points, but overall they were very supportive of making the change to a four-day week.”
By losing the instructional time on Monday, they will have to make up for lost time the rest of the week. Classes will begin at 8 a.m. as they did in the 2020-21 school year but will not end until 3:30 for elementary students at Humphreys and 3:38 for students at the junior high-high school building in Galt. In the past, classes ended at 3:15 p.m.
The change was made primarily for two reasons, according to Fox: to improve teacher recruitment and retention and to save money. So far, the recruitment seems to be working well for the district, with Fox saying that all of their positions were filled relatively early this year. The district even had three applicats for an open math position, a historically difficult position in which to find applicants, especially for a small school such as Grundy R-5. Those interviewing for positions this year said the change to a four-day week was one of the reasons they were interested in joining the district.
The financial benefit of having a four-day week was another reason the board took the step to make the change.
“For us, the savings would be that we’re only running the buses four days a week; we’re only feeding kids four days a week,” said Fox, who noted that while teachers won’t be at the school on Mondays, the bookkeeper, janitors and likely one of the three district administrators will be present.
From a practical standpoint, there are school-related events that will have to occur on Mondays, such as sporting events. While state-wide the number of districts now offering a four-day week is closing in on 200 of the 540, there aren’t that many in north Missouri and only a handful in the HDC Conference, of which R-5 is a member. Fox said it does work well that Grundy R-5 and Newtown-Harris co-op in sports as Newtown-Harris already has a four-day week with Mondays off.
“Obviously with Newtown-Harris co-oping with us it’s a side benefit that our schedules will match up better,” he said.
It will be up to coaches if they want to schedule Monday practices but with only the Grundy R-5/Newtown-Harris co-op and Winston offering a four-day week in the HDC, there will be Monday athletic contests to be played.
Fox admits that students and staff might feel the effects of a longer school day when winter rolls around and the sun is down an hour after they get home, but overall he believes the change will be a positive one for all involved.
“We think it’s going to be a positive change, he said. “It’s going to be a morale booster and I think that will be good for the students and good for the staff.”
Classes in the Grundy R-5 District begin Tuesday, Aug. 24.
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