East Union approves four-day school week

AFTON - East Union students will be adjusting to a new school schedule next year.

Tuesday night, during the regular school board meeting, a four-day school week calendar for the 2024-25 school year was approved by the East Union board on a 3-2 vote. This decision comes after two months of public forums to gain community input.

School Board President Adam Tallmon, who voted against the approval, took a short time before the vote to reassure that the board and administration will support whatever schedule gets approved.

“I trust the board, you’ve done your research,” said Tallmon. “I think regardless of the outcome, we’ll make whatever work. I have full confidence in our administration and our staff to make five day, four day, work, whatever we tell them to do.”

Board members Sam McKnight, Amber Tate and Carol Eckels all voted for the school week. Tallmon and Jamie Buffington voted nay.

The new schedule will reduce the number of days classes will be held in the district, providing an extra day off on Mondays for an extended weekend. The daily time students are present in class will increase to make up for the lost day.

The approval comes after two public forums that introduced the idea to the community along with presenting one of the major reasons why the district is considering the change: preventing teacher burnout.

Testimonies from teachers were a highlight of the public forums, providing insight into the situation occurring in East Union. As teachers work to cover missing positions from a lack of available hires, they end up forgoing their prep periods to accommodate an increased workload. Teachers report becoming inevitably exhausted from this.

Jean Kinyon, a teacher who has worked at East Union since 1998, was one of the speakers at the second public forum. “Do you really want stressed and drained secondary staff covering and instructing our secondary students?” she asked.

A four-day school week would help solve this problem, as teachers would be able to use the extra day of the week to catch up with missed work, providing more stable programs for students. In addition, the change could also bring in new hires to fill open positions the school had struggled to fill in the past.

As the public forums continued, interest in the district from teachers looking for work increased, citing the potential four-day week as an enticing interest.

The school hopes relieving teachers with the four-day week will create a stronger education program, keeping their students on track and receiving the education they need.

An extra day will also give both teachers and students a day to schedule appointments for health or other reasons instead of taking class time away. Teachers will have at least two days for personal use and one day dedicated to professional development per month.

Data collected from public surveys helped show two major concerns from parents during previous public forums. The district will have to find ways to support parents in finding childcare and making sure meal plans are available for low-income students.

The district’s Early Childhood Center has already discussed programs and options available for parents, which will be developed during the transition.

Three proposed plans were given to the board. One was the four-day school week, which was recommended by East Union Superintendent Tim Kuehl and eventually approved by the school board. The second plan looked to keep the current schedule of a five-day week, and the third plan would have the four-day school week introduced a year later for the 2025-26 school year.

Kuehl also works as superintendent for Murray’s school district, which moved to a four-day school week last year. In previous public forums, he reported no complaints for the switch and cites an increase of interest in Murray as a positive for the district.

The change will go into effect for the 2024-25 school year, which is now approved to start Aug. 23.