School just 4 days a week? Yep, it’s happening here in Ohio

What would you say to the idea of a four-day school week? One school district in Ohio is already doing it.

The North College Hill district in Hamilton County is using what they call a blended learning schedule. This will be the first school year using the new schedule.

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According to the district, students will spend every Monday at home doing self-directed work and go to in-person classes Tuesday through Friday.

The change allows more flexibility during the week but it also raises questions about child care and meals.

News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson reached out to schools in the Miami Valley to see if they would consider this and broke down what she learned during News Center 7 Daybreak.

Dayton Public Schools and Huber Heights City Schools said, at this time, they haven’t discussed the possibility of implementing a four-day week.

Vandalia-Butler City Schools also said they have no plans to transition to four days.

In Urbana, Superintendent Charles Thiel said they haven’t looked at making that change. He also said there is a concern over the “care and feeding of our students on the day that is eliminated.”

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That similar concern was brought up by Laurel Ely, a parent of four kids and an Electrical Trades teacher at Scarlet Oaks Career Center.

“A lot of schools serve breakfast, every school serves lunch. So some of those students that go to a lot of schools, that’s their – those may be their only two guaranteed meals they have during the school years,” Ely said.

Robertson turned to social media to get opinions from Miami Valley parents about the possibility of a four-day week.

Ashley Robertson said she thinks it would be good for kids’ mental health, but it would mean some parents who work would need to find a babysitter. On the other hand, Melissa Driver said that finding a babysitter would cause extra financial stress for some working parents.

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Ely said parents saw how this went down with parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, where students were on a hybrid school schedule.

“A lot of parents were struggling with that because, say they do have both families, both parents working and they don’t have grandparents or someone else that can watch their children when they’re not in school. So if you don’t have children old enough that they can stay at home during that time, then that’s a big concern,” Ely said.

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