Peetz School to host open forum on potential switch to four-day school week

The Peetz Plateau School District is gathering information via an online survey and a community forum to discuss a potential four-day school week.

The online survey is available at the school's website, http://www.peetzschool.org, and the community forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, in the small gym. In addition to the survey, articles on the subject discussing both sides of the issue can be found on the school's website.

"We originally began looking at a four-day week for budget savings," said Superintendent Mark Collard.

However, Collard said they did not find as much savings as they thought. What they did find when researching the topic were other advantages. A study completed by Montana State University found that the academic performance of students was not compromised during a four-day schedule week. In fact, the data showed very strong evidence that math scores went up and some evidence that reading scores went up as well.

Collard said some see downfall to the potential change, such as lost wages for school employees, additional daycare costs for some families and the possible extension of the school year.