BY MARCHELLE COLLINS

The Independence School District has officially changed to the four day instructional school week for the 2023-2024 school year, via vote. This decision occurred due to lack of staff, student attendance, school costs, and more. The four day week consists of school only occurring Tuesday through Friday between 7:10 AM- 2:55 PM, which means less school days in a week but longer school days everyday. The four day school week has forced all teachers, students, and even parents to adapt. Some adaptations are positive, while others are negative. 

The first problem comes when parents who have relied on an easy monday of free childcare, cannot do so any further. There are opportunities provided like free student clubs, if the student is not interested in any clubs the parent can then resort to kids safari, which is an enrichment program that is available Mon.-Fri. 6:30 AM-6:00 PM. Although, kids safari has a $30.00 Annual Registration Fee per child and first week’s fee prior to the start date. Therefore, for some, the four day school week made childcare more difficult of a process. Parents also have to deal with the responsibility of understanding some Mondays have school and some don’t. “It throws me off knowing some Mondays they have school and some don’t, because I already have so much to keep up with, the four day school just added another,” stated a parent of the ISD that chose to be anonymous. Inconveniences like this can lead to confusion which can also lead to poor student attendance. 

Furthermore, students of ISD have to comprehend these changes, despite the fact that it has been the same the majority of their lives, whether it being because they were taught the idea of school or went to school themselves. For some students, having an extra school day off benefits them, “Monday’s off give me the opportunity to take breaks in between my busy schedule,” stated a senior at Truman who chose to be anonymous. For others the minimal amount of days and no block day’s have made things more difficult to keep up; “Without the fifth day, or block days, there’s too much work and not enough time to finish it all.” Stated a freshman at Truman. Despite how many days are in a year there is still a curriculum to teach. Therefore, teachers have to force many assignments into short time periods, which can definitely be overwhelming for someone. 

Finally, teachers of ISD are also inhabiting changes that affect their source of income. Just like everyone else teachers have to deal with the longer school days. Although, for most this is not beneficial. “The longer school days don’t give me enough time to get to my second job,” and, “I have been working this job for six years on top of being a teacher, I have had to change the whole schedule for my second job.” Stated an elementary teacher of ISD. The later school days have caused some parts of people’s livelihood outside of school to overlap with teaching. Making it hard for teachers to balance other factors in their life with their work life. Some teachers even argue it has been made difficult for them to teach effectively without block days. Subjects that are more time consuming have not been given enough time to actually get things done the way they need to be. 

The four day instructional school week has affected each and everyone’s livelihood in both good and bad ways. As time passes and our society changes, we will be able to discover the flaws and successes of our education system, enabling us to improve our schools.