JUDY WOODRUFF: It's back to school season around the country, which makes it a good
time to look at a trend under way in many school districts.
Many of them have switched from a five-day week to four days, particularly in Western
states.
In Colorado, for example, more than half of all districts now follow a four-day week,
in New Mexico, around 40 percent.
But officials in New Mexico have placed a moratorium on the practice because of their
concerns about the impact.
Special correspondent Kavitha Cardoza with our partner Education Week visited New Mexico
to see a school district that just completed its first year of the change for weekly segment
Making the Grade.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: Alexis Parela and Michael Lazano's reactions to the shortened week couldn't
be more different.
ALEXIS PARELA, Student: When I heard that this was moving from five to four, I was like,
yes!
MICHAEL LAZANO, STUDENT: I kind of don't like it a little bit, because I just really want
to learn about things.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: A year ago, Cobre Consolidated School District moved to a four-day week to
save money.
Now on Fridays, schools are closed.
Overall, students spend 22 fewer days in class, even though they have longer days and shortened
breaks.
Superintendent Robert Mendoza says 90 percent of parents agreed with the change.
ROBERT MENDOZA, Superintendent, Cobre Consolidated School District: Overall, it's been real positive.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: But Howie Morales, a former-teacher-turned-state-senator, has serious concerns about a four-day week.
HOWIE MORALES (D), New Mexico State Senator: What are the positives of going to a four-day
school week?
What are the negatives?
I want every single opportunity for my children and other children to have to learn.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: Georgia Heyward is a researcher with the University of Washington Bothell.
She says, while most districts shorten school weeks to save money, they don't save much.
GEORGIA HEYWARD, University of Washington Bothell: There's very little savings in the
four-day school week.
It might be 2 percent of the district's budget.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: Cobre school saved $71,000 the first year, far less than the $160,000
they projected.
But Mendoza there are other advantages.
It's such a geographically notch school district, it saves students time.
ROBERT MENDOZA: They ride a long time in the buses, an hour-and-a-half to come and an hour-and-a-half
to go back home.
So, that's three hours a day.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: Sixth-grade teacher Laura Brown says a big reason she moved to Cobre
schools, the four-day week.
LAURA BROWN, Teacher: I feel that extra day gave me that possible one day off to rest
and recover as well.
But it also -- it made my classroom and my teaching that much better, because my lesson
plans were better, more in-depth.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: It also meant she could start a district-wide drama club on Fridays.
LAURA BROWN: Hours and hours and hours went in on our days off to bring those kiddos in.
It was their day off too.
Not once did we have one kid missing.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: New Mexico has a teaching shortage.
Mendoza says that is particularly a problem in rural districts like this one, where there's
usually the only one educator for each grade who teaches all subjects.
ROBERT MENDOZA: Right before we went to this, we had a hard time filling.
We had vacancies.
And this year, we have none.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: Student Brianna Martinez's week is jampacked.
BRIANNA MARTINEZ, Student: I play volleyball, basketball, and softball.
And it's while I'm involved in National Honor Society, student council, and I'm a class
officer.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: But she was always stressed trying to juggle everything.
Not anymore.
BRIANNA MARTINEZ: A lot of our games are now scheduled on Friday, which is awesome for
but.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: Like many parents here, coach Randy Dominguez works at the copper mines.
RANDY DOMINGUEZ, Coach, Cobre High School: As a coach, it is beneficial just being that
we could bring in the girls and -- or the boys in on Fridays and get a little bit extra
work in.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: And as a father of three, it's tough to find child care.
His wife works full-time as well, so they have to rely on family.
RANDY DOMINGUEZ: There are times where we're like we don't know exactly what we're going
to do.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: At first, high school teacher Kathy Ryan didn't like the idea.
KATHY RYAN, Teacher: My first reservation had to be with, how am I going to teach everything
that I need to with one less day a week?
KAVITHA CARDOZA: Now she prefers the longer class periods and full days of professional
development.
Ryan also says more of her students show up.
KATHY RYAN: My absenteeism has diminished quite a bit.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: It's not just students.
Teacher attendance improved as well.
In fact, the district's biggest saving was from substitute teachers.
But does Ryan worry about what her students do on Fridays?
KATHY RYAN: Well, I teach high school, so I worry about what they do every day.
(LAUGHTER)
KAVITHA CARDOZA: There are concerns outside school.
SONYA DIXON, Bayard Public Library: I was dumbfounded.
Sonya Dixon runs the Bayard Public Library.
She beefed up programming on Fridays, but didn't see a big increase in attendance.
Also, she found parents were dropping off the kids for hours unattended while they worked,
so Dixon had to limit library time.
She's not in favor of the four-day week.
SONYA DIXON: It's great for teachers.
They love it.
And why wouldn't they?
But I see a lot of grandparents and relatives seemingly a little overwhelmed and burdened.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: New Mexico ranks last in the nation for child well-being, according
to the 2018 Kids Count Data Book.
It's Friday.
Volunteers are packing food supplies for almost 300 kids to take home for the traditional
two-day weekend at a neighboring school district.
John Conway, who runs the program, says he worries about what kids on three-day weekends
will eat.
JOHN CONWAY, Grant County Food Pantry: we have large percent of the population that
are below the poverty level.
They may be hungry and not getting enough to eat, particularly on the weekend.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: Athletic events are now held on Fridays.
Howie Morales, the state senator, says he is seeing a domino effect when larger urban
school districts also want to change to four-day weeks.
He's worked to temporarily stop the practice until he gets answers.
HOWIE MORALES: How are the students performing?
Is it really helping as far as financially in savings for the school district?
What's going to happen in an economic development and a jobs perspective when parents may have
to take Fridays off and care for their kids?
We have to get a handle of it to see if it's something that we should allow all school
districts to do, or this something that we need to put the brakes on?
KAVITHA CARDOZA: Research Georgia Heyward says there's no consensus on how four-day
weeks affect academics.
GEORGIA HEYWARD: There's been a bunch of different research, some of it rigorous, some not.
And, basically, we see kind of neutral impact.
So students over time do about the same as they did on the five-day school week.
KAVITHA CARDOZA: This year, Cobre schools saw an increase in reading and math test scores
overall, but it's unclear what the impact is on students who struggle academically and
might need more time in class.
The debate is far from over.
Even after a year, sixth-graders Michael and Alexis haven't changed their minds.
What would your reaction be if the school suddenly announced, you know what, we're going
to go back to five days?
MICHAEL LAZANO: I would be happy.
I love my teacher, and I love my friends, and I want to stay with them as long as I
can.
ALEXIS PARELA: I really -- I don't really like this.
I would be like, uh, I don't think I want to this no more.
(LAUGHTER)
KAVITHA CARDOZA: For the "PBS NewsHour" and Education Week, I'm Kavitha Cardoza in Bayard
County, New Mexico.