Mar, Tulsa (7/9/2009 11:41:53 AM)

I think it is a good idea also, especially if it will save the schools money. I also think it is good for the students, there would probably be better attendance and even better attention by students in schools. The only downside is that parents would have to pay more for child care if they have to leave their children at day cares all day Friday or they would leave the child home alone on the 5th day which isn't always the best idea, depending on the child.

Personally I think 4 day work weeks are great. Or even shorter hours during work days. You would be surprised how much work can be accomplished when you have instead of 8 hours, you have 5 or 6 hours to do it in.

Few Clothes, Austin, TX (7/9/2009 10:28:46 AM)

Once I worked for a corporation that had summer hours in New York. They closed at noon on friday and saved millions because of shutting down the lights, AC, computers and unplugging other devices. In my opinion, this is a good call by the school system.

Few Clothes, Austin, TX (7/9/2009 1:31:16 PM)

Katie, how many people do you know that's living beyond their means in Prue?

born okay the 1st time, tulsa (7/9/2009 7:02:40 AM)

D Boone you're an idiot. These smaller districts don't get the funding bigger schools do and have to get creative. I don't see you offering up any suggestions. Do you live in prue? E en have schoolage kids? Doubtful . As to what those kids will be doing, it's called parenting.

owen, Tulsa (7/9/2009 2:33:54 PM)

Four days a week equals one week day to schedule Dr.'s appointments, dentists, eye check-ups, visits with noncustodial parents. These are all reasons for absences that parents have given me. Also, teachers will not have to have subs for their own personal and family medical appointments and personal business. Not all business waits until June to happen. Adoptions, buying a house, arranging care for a parent--all those would be easier to schedule if one knew they had a day for it. The entire time I taught, I longed for more time in a day to actually finish a lesson.

52favoriteteacher, Washburn--used to be Broken Arrow (7/9/2009 2:02:13 PM)

very smart move Prue

Southwest is looking hard at this very item to save 1/5.

missy,,,m, no thanks (7/9/2009 11:35:30 AM)

I guess Prue might be the place for all the smarts.

Oldfatdude, Shattrath (7/9/2009 8:21:27 AM)

I thought the the lottery and casinos helped support the school systems. Either it's not enought or the school system is wasting money.

Unsupervised kids with and extra day to play = a whole lot of problems for a whole lot of people.

I think it's a bad idea but apparently necessary in the Bush recovery years.

2ndjoyce, BA (7/8/2009 6:22:02 PM)

Great idea! Will this new schedule eliminate the need to interrupt the weekly schedule to accomodate Professional Days and Parent Teacher Conference days, too? I would think the district would be able to squeeze a few days from the overall classroom schedule by scheduling these on open Fridays. ? Appears to be an exciting option with room for overall savings for everybody involved.

Thunder196, Tulsa (7/8/2009 6:23:06 PM)

I guess only time will tell on this one.

spirit07, Tulsa (7/8/2009 6:14:27 PM)

I want to work for them

olddude, tulsa (7/9/2009 8:26:26 AM)

I agree with president Obama,the school year should be all year,the kids were let out after the depression to help gather the crops,this has not happened for 50 years.

edslame, (7/9/2009 10:30:13 PM)

what about the support personnel they won't be needed on the day off.

Dru, (7/9/2009 9:02:27 AM)

D.Boone...

I certainly hope you see the error in your math. 8am-3:45pm is 7.75 hours, but only 7.25 hours would count due to a 30 minute lunch period. The article states that schools must provide 1,050 hours of instruction. 1,050/7.25 = 144.83 days, so the teachers and students will be in class 145 days of the year.

I would like a 4 day system myself - I think most people would use that 5th day to take care of personal business such as doctor appointments, etc and so the 4 days *should* have better attendance than the current 5 day system. Since part of a school's funding is on ADA (Average Daily Attendance), this could potentially increase Prue's state funding while decreasing their overhead.

I will be interested to see how this situation works for them.

Smileforme, Prue (7/9/2009 7:30:21 PM)

They need to find out where the School board has spent all their money as to why they are unable to afford to pay their teachers.
Also, the only thing I have ever seen them teach the kids at Prue school is how to smoke dope and have sex down in the park.

bgs, (7/9/2009 9:47:46 PM)

I hear there have been 3 different superintendents there in the past year and that is what got them into trouble with money.It wasn't the board, they trusted the administration. But I also hear there is a new superintendent there and I have heard great things about him. Think you will see Prue turn around for the good!!!!!

North CA, (7/9/2009 10:45:43 AM)

Highschooljim2 is correct. Many rural areas of Colorado have 4-day school weeks. During winter, in high-elevation areas, kids don't have to traverse deep snow to get to school that fifth day. Communities adjust sports to accommodate the new school week. Colorado studies have shown no negative impact on the children's education and/or retention. It's a win-win, except that parents must find childcare. Most childcare agencies will add that extra day at a nominal cost. That extra day allows families some extra vacation time, too. How often would we like a extra day on the weekend to take a short trip camping?

California schools are cutting school budgets by billions, when they save billions simply by shortening the school week by one day. I hope this catches on.

CherokeeOK, Tulsa Area (7/9/2009 4:31:29 PM)

Wonderful thought = Four day school. When I was a principal that would have given the teachers an extra day to plan. Also, we could've used the day for training new concepts.

brittany87, broken arrow (7/9/2009 8:37:42 AM)

I am going to school right now to be a teacher. I truly feel this is a step in the right direction. Each child will have more time that day to focus on that days lesson, instead of running out of time, and having to pick back up the next day. It would give teachers more time to prepare without using up family time on the weekends. We would be able to plan on Fridays instead of using the one hour we get each day for a lesson plan. I really hope more school districts will adopt this system.

D.Boone, (7/9/2009 6:14:52 AM)

They should put pressure on the state to reduce the total hours so that the students would have to be in school maybe 2 to 3 days a week.Hey, when you got a good thing going ,why not shoot for the moon?
Bet the Teachers like this because now they will only show up for work about 65 days in a full year.4days a week x 4 weeks a month x 9 months.
Then in some places in this good country we provide total free school to illegals including summer school.
Now this should help in compete with the rest of the world because in some of those countrys students attend school only 12 months in 12 month year.
Seems we keep shooting ourselves in the foot, then wonder why we are just limping along.
I would liKe to know what these students are going to be doing with all this time off.
WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN? THE SHADOW KNOWS!!!

tulsan09, Tulsa (7/9/2009 9:23:09 AM)

There are many school districts across the country that do this. Personally, I think school should be year-round with smaller breaks throughout. Our current system is 100 years old. Times have changed. I think teachers could use extra time to collaborate and plan and students could use additional instructional time. Of course, adding to the day and/or the school year would require more money and most parents aren't willing to pay more for their day care.

katie, (7/9/2009 12:33:49 PM)

aj68: The school is not a babysitter altho that is what many think it is. If both parents are working they surely can afford to pay for a sitter one day a week,alot of teenage,responible girls are looking for a little extra cash.If you can't handle that,then perhaps you are living beyond your means(with two incomes)cut back and stay home with the kids you had!

highschooljim2, (7/9/2009 8:38:05 AM)

Most smaller districts in Colorado have been doing this for years, where I went to school it started in 2nd Grade we went from 8:15 to 4:15 Monday-Thursday. I worked for a year in a school up there and that district went Tuesday-Friday plus the parent teacher conferences and teacher in-services were all on Mondays. I see most of the smaller districts doing this, I doubt if Tulsa or Union does. Plus, in the smaller towns many of the high school kids still work on a farm, I spent most of my Fridays running a tractor or building fence when I was in high school.