The hot topic of conversation in Mexico right now is whether or not the school district should change from a five-day week to a four-day week. On Tuesday, Jan. 10, a diverse crowd of current and former teachers and community members gathered at Central Office to have an open discussion about it before Mexico School Board members votes on the matter. Those wishing to speak were given three minutes. No one in favor of the four-day week got up to speak at the special session.

A veteran teacher gave her thoughts. "I am in the 9th year with the district. I represent the opinion of a mom with a special needs child. If we move to the four-days it will impact 330 special education students that receive physical and occupational therapy. The four-day week will create a conflict with scheduling. One less day at school will be detrimental," said Robin Fredrick.

A retired teacher from the district spoke out against the change. " I am a retired Mexico Middle   math teacher. I have also taught in a district with the four-day model. Kids should be a priority. Teachers will work harder in four days than five and it would cut out instructional minutes. To be precise, seventeen instructional days will be taken away with the four-day week," said Becky Schafer.

The Mexico Ledger reached out for a brief summary and thoughts about a four-day week from all seven Mexico School Board members.

"One of the things I thought about is 'Would I rather have my child in a class for 4 days a week with a good to great teacher, or 5 days a week with an average to below average teacher?', I would always choose 4 days with a good to great teacher.  In my mind that is the importance of a quality educator in the classroom," said Mexico School Board president Keith Louder.

"I'm still not 100% sure on my decision.  Our low academic scores scare me and I do not believe a transition will help this for quite some time.  No matter the outcome I feel we need to deep dive other issues and work on fixing those to get the MPS district back to an ideal place to want to work. Have more communication with teachers and staff to learn more about what their struggles are on a daily basis," said Scott Nichols.

"First and foremost our concern has to always be with providing the student’s with the best education possible. There are so many unknowns going to four-days. We need to be concerned with bringing in new teachers and providing them with an environment that makes them want to stay. I’m not sure a 4 day week is the solution to that problem. Then factor in the amount of classroom time that will be lost and that is at the students expense. I’m not saying that I think we will Never be able to get there but I’m just not sure we are completely prepared to transition at this time," said Kelli Teel.

"A four-day school week is something I have wanted to explore more since before being on the school board. I think it would be extremely beneficial for teacher retention as well as giving our educators the time that simply is not there for Professional Development in their buildings, collaborating on curriculum, and planning time that they do not have because they are drop subbing for different classes on their plan time now.

I think it could be extremely beneficial to our children as well because we know great educators’ leave a life long impression on us, and many of our students would use that day to recharge, catch up on school work, or even work.

Our surveys from the community were largely in favor of making this move to a four day school week, and every day I am talking with more and more of our steak-holders from all areas of our community.

I do have to think of all of our District children first and foremost and I know without a doubt this entire Board of Education has all of our children’s very best interests in mind and at heart," said Nicole Jahn.

"The special session on Tuesday was a great opportunity to hear many different opinions regarding four and five day school weeks. There is no doubt everyone wants the best for Mexico Public Schools.

At the core of my thoughts are the children. How do we put these children in the best situation to learn and develop the skills necessary to compete and survive in life? With teachers being a vital part of children's success, how do we stand behind these educators and show the support they deserve? Is the first answer to go to four days and allow more time for teachers to prepare and "re-fuel" or is it to remain at five days and explore other avenues of support?

This discussion on four day school weeks has greatly opened different thoughts about the education system. It is my hope that Mexico Public Schools continue to push forward and be a leader in the area," said Todd Yager.

"The board asked district leadership to look into a 4-day week at the November meeting.

Exit surveys for years have shown that people leave our district due to retirement or family reasons. However, our administrators are losing good candidates who interview and then choose a 4-day district over our district. The “why” in researching this is a benefit move for staff, understanding that the most important benefit for a student is high-quality teachers. When you do something that impacts teachers, you impact students. Personally I look at this as a mom, educator, and board member. Right now, all those roles are conflicting. I trust the board as a whole will make the best decision for Mexico," said Marci Orr.

"Moving to a four-day week holds many unknowns, the same as not moving to a four-day week. It is apparent that the main priority is the needs and best interests of the children- what holds a greater value of beneficence.

At this time, moving towards a four-day school week is not what I feel is in the best interest of the students. As a rural district we are still working to rebound from the barriers that COVID-19 placed upon our community, workforce, and academic progression.

We have a great population of students who utilize an IEP or 504 plan and participate in additional services such as speech and occupational therapy. These students will be negatively impacted as their hours will need to be adjusted, plans revised, and the fear of inaccessible care during the off day.

State-approved gifted programs, such as SEAGUL, are required to provide a minimum of 150 minutes per week of direct instructional time under the instruction of a certified teacher of gifted education. This will ultimately hinder the amount of regular classroom hours that gifted students are in attendance of.

Educators will be pressed more to teach the curriculum to students in fewer days. This could impact the retention of basic educational instruction for students.  As a district, we are already below the threshold in many academic areas.

There is potential for an increase in behaviors and juvenile crime rates outside of school due to the risk of unsupervised children. I think a key to determining this potential would be to analyze the occurrences of major and minor behaviors in the school district. Educators are with our children for at least 30 hours a week and serve as role models and are often looked to for guidance that they may lack at home.

Socioeconomic reasons also serve as a deciding factor for a four-day school week versus a five-day school week. Audrain County is a rural area in which the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reports that 27% of children are in poverty, 25% live in a single parent household, and food insecurity is reported at 14%.

While students are the top priority in determining what is best for the school district, teacher retention is impactful. We need to collect and analyze what drives our educators to work within our district and what is leading others to leave for other districts. An ideal scenario is to provide the best educators for our students to thrive in a rich and safe learning environment," said Kara Clovis.