Tennessee school boards weigh in on four-day week, fiscal independence
As part of a legislative survey to guide its advocacy, the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) is asking school board members across the state to indicate if they would be in favor of changes in Tennessee law to implement four-day school days by lengthening the school day to about eight hours, the Kingsport Times-News reports. Five states within the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), of which Tennessee is a member, allow four-day school weeks. But currently only two states have schools on that type of schedule—Kentucky and Louisiana. TSBA Assistant Executive Director Stephen Smith explained that the main advantage would be savings in transportation and utility costs. But a recent SREB study on the subject revealed several pros and cons for school leaders to consider before making such a scheduling change, he said. “The obvious pro would be the financial savings—fuel, cafeteria food, utilities, and you may have some hourly workers that you could cut back,” Smith said. “Some of the school districts took that savings and used the money to provide specialized attention to those students that have increased needs. They also said that there were increased attendance rates for students and teachers, there were declines in student discipline problems, and fewer hours spent commuting and longer blocks of instruction time for classes such as science labs.” Mr. Smith said one of the cons is that the length of the school day can be a problem for younger children and can affect students’ ability to maintain focus. Child care, nutrition programs and child supervision were also concerns. The four-day week had a negative impact on extracurricular activities such as after-school sports and caused problems for students with after-school jobs. He also noted that public perception is a problem for the four-day week scenario. “The public perception is we’re giving them a day off,” Smith said. “The public may perceive going to a four-day school week as cutting back on instructional time.”
Another question on the TSBA legislative survey asks board members if they support legislation permitting existing school districts to convert to a “special school district” through a private legislative act. That would give school districts the power to operate independently of a county commission or city council, but its school tax rate would be approved by the General Assembly. Mr. Smith said one advantage to that system is elimination of funding battles that often occur between school boards and local governing bodies. “The public is generally much more supportive of a tax increase if they know that every penny of that is going to education, which is how it works with a special school district,” he said. The third survey question is more controversial, he acknowledged. It asks board members if they believe districts should be fiscally independent with taxing authority. Tennessee is one of only 11 states that don’t allow school boards the authority to implement taxes. “I think the biggest pro to this is a clear line of accountability,” Mr. Smith said. “The school board is charged with developing the goals and objectives of the school system, and currently the money to meet those goals and objectives has to be approved by another body.” He added, “Often you see a school board pointing fingers at the county commission saying they’re not funding us right, and you have a county commission pointing fingers at the school board and saying they’re not using their money wisely—and the public doesn’t know which body is accountable. This removes unproductive battles between school boards and county commissions or city councils.” Mr. Smith said one potential con would be changing the focus of school board elections from educational programs to taxes. There’s also a concern that giving another board authority to tax would result in higher overall taxes.
Source: Kingsport Times-News, 9/8/08, By Jeff Bobo
[Editor’s Note: More coverage of the four-day week issue, including the SREB report, is available on BoardBuzz, below.]
NSBA BoardBuzz on four day week