The Fox C-6 School District plans to hold four meetings called Community Conversations to discuss the possibility of switching to a four-day school week in an effort to address a projected budget deficit
Superintendent Paul Fregeau said the district is holding the meetings to seek community input about the transition.
The first meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, at the Fox C-6 Service Center, 849 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold. Fregeau said a similar meeting will be held for staff members at 5:15 p.m. Monday.
During this past Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, board member Jim Chellew questioned whether it would be wise to change to a four-day school week, saying he was concerned about how it would impact student achievement.
Jon Turner, an associate professor of counseling, leadership and special education at Missouri State University in Springfield, has studied the impact of four-day school weeks and will discuss the topic for about 30 to 40 minutes at the start of Monday’s meeting, Fregeau said.
Attendees will be asked to fill out a form listing what they like about the idea of a four-day school week, what concerns they have and questions they have about the possible transition.
Fregeau previously said the Fox district might explore moving to a four-day school week to save money if the district was unable to get voter approval for a tax levy increase of 92.07 cents per $100 assessed valuation that appeared on the August 2023 ballot. Voters rejected the tax increase, called Proposition I (invest in our students, our school and our community), with 6,025 no votes (65.99 percent) and 3,105 yes votes (34.01 percent).
“I learned a lot during our tax levy (campaign),” Fregeau said during the Feb. 20 Board of Education meeting. “I learned a lot about this community and the information they require to make an informed decision. In reflection, I think the five buckets (a plan to reduce spending in five areas) become convoluted. It was difficult for our community to track what we were doing.
“I also learned this community definitely wants to be involved in the conversation before decisions are made. We rebooted our approach, and as we are looking at ways to right-size our budget moving forward. We are going to have some community conversations about different strategies. We will find out how our community feels about those, and we will plan accordingly.”
Fregeau said the district also plans to hold Community Conversation meetings about the potential of a four-day school week in March and April. Times, days and locations have not yet been set for those meetings.
At the March meeting, Independence School District Superintendent Dale Herl will discuss his district’s move to a four-day school week this school year. Independence, which has almost 14,000 students, is the largest of the 168 school districts in the state that has moved to a shorter school week.
In April, Fregeau said the district will hold two meetings to respond to questions and concerns. He also said the district will send a survey to staff members, parents and secondary students in April.