A school district in Florida is considering a four-day school week to address the district's teacher shortage.
Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa currently has 300 teacher vacancies, down from 600 at the beginning of the school year, Fox 13 reported. The school district superintendent, Addison Davis, said last week that the district will consider “creative ideas to compete with surrounding districts.”
“I know this is a really radical surgical suggestion, potentially looking at a four-day week for the school year,” Davis reportedly said. “This is a way for us to become competitive when you have four days, and then, you have an extended weekend or you have the fifth day to be engaged in professional learning.”
Davis added that the four-day school week proposal has not been officially proposed to the school board and comes with “a lot of engagement” with the school community and staff.
Rob Kriet, the president of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, told Fox 13 that they have to be “as creative as possible” and “find every possible way to needs” of teachers and students.
“If that means changing the scheduling and traditionally how we do the work that we do, we’re all for it,” Kriet said. “We’re open to it.”
Fox 13 noted that they are receiving “mixed reactions” from parents.
Teacher shortages, as Townhall reported, is an issue that has plagued school districts all over the nation and contributed to a teacher strike in Kent, Washington. A recent report from The Salt Lake Tribune explained that the shortage of teachers in Utah is making it “incredibly challenging to operate” and staff are asked to take on extra duties, which leads to higher resignation rates and worsens the problem.
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In April, Townhall reported how a Texas school district decided to switch to a four-day school week because of its teacher shortage. Board members voted unanimously for the four-day week and to offer a retention bonus and staff.
John Seybold, superintendent of the Jasper Independent School District, told Good Morning America that teacher burnout and community and staff surveys also prompted the decision.
"Teacher burnout has been an issue for a long time, but since COVID, it has seemed to expand, and it's becoming more and more of an issue," Seybold said. "The four-day week kind of makes it a little more manageable for them because there's so much pressure placed on our teachers."
"As a school district, ultimately the best thing we can do for kids is put the best possible teacher in front of them every day,” he added. The teachers will use Fridays as “professional development days.”
Teachers in other school districts around the country have gone on strike as a result of teacher shortages. However, the government allocated COVID-19 relief funds to help this issue. This was outlined in guidance released by the U.S. Department of Education.
In the guidance, the Department of Education recommended that Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) be used to rehire public sector workers up to pre-pandemic levels and provide assistance to “disproportionately impacted schools,” such as school districts with high rates of poverty, or used to expand early learning services and practices that address different social, emotional and academic needs for students.
In a letter, Education Secretary Miguel Cardone urged school districts to act with “urgency” to use the COVID-19 relief funds to retain teachers and hire more staff.
“The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is committed to supporting districts and schools across this country in addressing teacher and staff shortages, minimizing disruption to in-person learning, and meeting student needs. That is why we are urging you to use resources from the $122 billion made available through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund and a portion of the $350 billion made available through the ARP’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to ensure that students have access to the teachers and other critical staff they need to support their success during this critical period,” Cardone said in a letter. “This includes moving quickly to implement short-term strategies while also considering longer-term investments.”
“ARP provides vital resources to hire additional educators and school staff and to improve compensation to recruit and retain educators and school staff. School districts should act with urgency to keep schools open for in-person learning and ensure they do not waste this opportunity to make critical investments,” the letter added.
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