Four-day school week supported by Broward parents and educators, survey finds

South Florida Sun Sentinel | By Scott Travis | February 13, 2024

Many parents and educators in Broward high schools like the idea of eliminating the school day on Friday and extending it the other four days a week, according to results from a new district survey.

The most lukewarm group in the survey to a potential four days week was students. Some voiced concern that they may struggle academically and would miss out on extra-curricular activities and time with friends if there was no school on Friday.

However, a slim majority of those who responded still liked the idea, compared to about two-thirds for parents and principals and 80% for teachers.

Pompano Beach High, the district’s most successful high school, already has a four-day week, and the School Board is considering trying the idea out at one or more additional schools starting in the 2025-26 school year. The proposal is part of a larger effort called “Redefining our schools,” where the district is looking to close or overhaul schools that have suffered from declining enrollment.

Pompano Beach High requires all students to apply and meet academic criteria to be admitted and stay in the school, so board members say its success won’t necessarily be duplicated at other schools.

Principal Lisa Spencer told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in December a four-day week doesn’t work for every student. She has a few students each year who leave. “It takes a highly motivated student who chooses this model,” she said. “There has to be excellent time management and self initiative, because the days are long.”

The School Board asked district administrators in December to conduct a survey to those affected to see if there was interest in expanding the four-day model to other schools. Most high school principals and half of the district’s high school teachers responded. The district also got responses from about 21,700 students, or about a third of those in high school, as well as 22,000 parents.

School Board members say they were surprised that the results showed a large majority of parents and teachers like the idea and believe it can benefit students academically.

“Students can focus on other responsibilities like sports, work and most importantly their mental health as they prepare to transition,” one parent responded.

But student views were more mixed.

“I am really concerned about going home later than usual, being stressed out due to the longer hours and still having to go to school even with an optional fifth day,” one student responded.

Some also had bad memories about learning at home during the pandemic and would prefer to be in school for the full five days, said Deputy Superintendent Howard Hepburn said.

One student quoted in the survey voiced enthusiasm about the idea.

“I think it would be beneficial to all students/staff having one day off, while the prior days longer, making us have more time and an optional fifth day to learn and study for tests/exams,” the student wrote.

One advantage some board members saw is the potential for students have more time to perform more community service and job training. However, district data showed Pompano Beach High students had no more service hours than high schools with traditional schedules.

Still, several board members said the survey results were convincing enough to start out with a pilot project at another school.

“The community gave their input. We had a lot of parents and a lot of teachers who would like to explore this. So for me, I would love to see us pilot this,” Board member Jeff Holness said.

Holness said he’d like see it tried out at a school with low-income students to see if it’s as successful as Pompano Beach High, where students on average come from more affluent backgrounds.

“We can tell whether or not the result is greater enrollment, greater student learning outcome and all these things that we’re looking for,” Holness said “If we don’t do it, we’re just guessing.”

But Board member Daniel Foganholi said he wants to see more data that this could lead to academic success. Most of the national research has been inconclusive. He said he’s worried if it fails, students will get further behind.

“Our kids are not going to be guinea pigs to fail or pass,” Foganholi said. “I want to make sure that we’re setting them up for success. If I see data that shows they’re gonna be successful, I’m all about it.”

School Board member Allen Zeman added, “I don’t see any evidence that this is some silver bullet for improved educational outcomes.”

But Zeman said he’d be open to trying it if a particular school expresses interest, similar to how schools decide whether to require uniforms. District policy now allows schools to decide through surveys and their School Advisory Council whether to have a more stringent dress code than required by district policy.

Board members said they’d ensure they get more parent student and educator feedback before trying this at a specific school. The idea could come back up again as Superintendent Licata develops a plan this spring on which schools to possibly close or overhaul for 2024-25.