John Yowan Hour 6
Mr. Painter
Persuasive paper
Four
day a week school
Yes
I believe that the USD 413 school district should go to the four days of school
a week because the school will save money. Students would be able to get better
grades and teachers will have much more time to grade papers.
The district would save money if we
don’t go to school one extra day of the week. One reason why the school would
save money is that less money would be spent on electricity because the
students would not be there. Heating
and air conditioning would cost less because the school would not need to have
them on an extra day. Another way money will be saved by the school is in it’s
transportation budget, busses would not have to run on the day that school was
closed and drivers would not have to be paid. School bus maintenance cost would
also be reduced. The one thousand one hundred-student district school in Granby
Colorado saved $206,000 in transportation because they had a four-day
week. The school would not need to pay
many of the employees like janitors, people who work in the cafeteria, office
workers and many other people. In one eight thousand seven hundred-student
district 3.7 million dollars was saved after changing to four days a week. With
the money that is saved by the school by changing to a four-day week, the
school could buy new books for the library, new and better textbooks, better
food, new computers, and many other needed supplies. The school would also have the option to have a wider selection
of classes if it chose to with the money saved. If USD 413 converted to a four
day a week school students would have more time available to study for tests
and they would be able to complete more homework. Teachers would also have more time with the students each class
because the classes would be longer. Another way the four-day a week plan has
helped students is it cuts student absences. In Saratoga, one of the school
districts that went to a four-day week, absences dropped about 20 percent. So
by making school only four days a week students were able to attend school more
often because they could do things like go to the dentist on the extra day off.
Also in Saratoga teacher absences fell more than 50 percent because staff now
had an extra day each week to take care of personal business. This would be
good for the students because they tend to not pay attention when a substitute
is teaching. Discipline referrals declined in Saratoga after it went to the
four-day school week. In the Beauregard Parish Schools (650 students) in
Deridder, La., the superintendent, contends that student achievement at those
schools is far better though no one has studied it yet. Joyce Ley, director of
the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory in Portland, Ore. says, "The
four-day school week was probably one of those few decisions made in education
in the name of money that actually ended up having educational benefits in
terms of the academic performance of students.” Additionally she stated “Schools
end up operating more efficiently and they can maintain their programs, even
when their resources have been reduced.”
If USD 413 converted to a four-day
week, schoolteachers would have more time to grade papers. Since teachers will
have more time to grade papers and they will be able to assign more papers to the students.
In
conclusion there are many reasons why changing to a four-day a week school
would help our school district. These reasons include the following: the school
will save money, students would be able to get better grades, it should cut
down on student absences and teachers will have much more time to grade papers.
This is just a short list of reasons that have been effective in other school
districts around the country and should seriously be considered by our school
district.