Superintendent proposes four-day school week

At a series of town hall meetings throughout Franklin County next month, residents will have a chance to weigh in on what could next year become the most consequential change to the school district since the earliest days of its public schools in the 1860s.

After weighing a proposal brought to his desk by leaders within the teaching staff, Superintendent Steve Lanier has set a motion a process to provide school board members with the details, both pro and con, of a four-day school week that if approved, would be implemented for the next 2025-26 school year, set to begin July 1.

“I’m going to have to have an answer by the end of the school year,” said Lanier. “There’s a sense of urgency; we don’t have a year to waste.”

Lanier, now in his first year of a second term in office that he won handily in November, said he was approached about a month ago by two veteran teachers, Hilary Stanton, who represents the local teachers union, and Scott Collins, a dean at the Franklin County middle and high schools. The two asked that the superintendent look into the idea of having the school week run either from Monday through Thursday, or from Tuesday through Friday.

Lanier then created a working group that also included Human Resource Officer Jennifer Leach; Laura Raffield, director of curriculum development; and Tara Klink, assistant principal.

“I liked the idea but before we made a decision, I wanted to take a survey and form a working group,” he said. “Our goal now is to have a series of town hall meetings, and we’ll hear what the public has to say.”

Lanier said he floated the idea at a school board workshop and got the sense that the five members – Chairman Stacy Kirvin, and members Fonda Davis, Pam Marshall, Melonie Inzetta and Jared Mock – had open minds towards it.

“If three of the five had been set against it, I wouldn’t waste anybody’s time,” he said.

The district would be allowed under Florida law to implement the four-day week provided that it met the requirement that its schools average 1,500 minutes of instruction per week.

“Right now we’re at 1,740,” Lanier said. “We have days built into the schedule for storm days, and we’ve been averaging five a year for storm days.”

As it stands, the school day at the district’s two public schools, the Franklin County School and the Apalachicola Bay Charter School runs Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. ET.

One proposal is to have the four-day week have its days running from 7:45 a.m. to 3 or 3:15 p.m., Lanier said. “Or we could start at 8 a.m. and go to 3:30 p.m. This is all brand new.”

The change would likely put an end to all half-days, such as the Friday before the Florida Seafood Festival, or Estuary Day, and there would be fewer storm days built into the calculation, he said.

While the school board has yet to decide on the exact amount of pay raise that teachers would be earning next year, regardless of the length of the school week, Lanier has been proposing a roughly $8,000 to $10,000 pay hike, which would boost starting teacher pay from $44,600 and annually to as much as $52,000 to $54,000. 

This boost would come as a result of the passage last November, by a 2-to-1 margin among county voters, of a half-mill shift in property taxes, from capital outlay to operating costs, meaning monies earmarked solely for bricks-and-mortar can now be spent on salaries.

Lanier said the biggest issue regarding a school week change could be its effect on hourly wage earners, such as substitute teachers, food service workers, bus drivers, janitors and other staffers. School district administrative staff would continue to work a five-day week.

“Papaprofessionals, who don’t get benefits, they could do some tutoring,” he said. “Or food service workers could come in on Friday to clean the dining facility. You can do all sorts of things on Friday. 

“It’s all part of what the working group is discussing, he said. “I don’t want anybody to lose jobs.”

In terms of students and their families, Lanier said the change would have little or no impact on sports schedules and extracurriculars, other than that they would start later. This leaves the biggest concern as to what the effect would be on families and day care arrangements on the weekday in which students are off school.

“We’re going to talk to the Nest and see if there could be an expansion,” he said. “And there are other options.”

Lanier said he has spoken with ABC School Principal Elizabeth Kirvin about the proposal. “She said that if we do it, they’ll follow suit,” he said.

He noted that savings could be realized with transportation and utility costs, but that this is by no means an impetus for the change.

That impetus, he stressed, is all about attracting the best teachers to the school district, and boosting everyone’s morale, in a district that has wrestled with public perceptions that it lags behind in the new widespread school choice environment throughout the state.

“We’re competing for resources, we’re competing for students. We can sit back and do nothing and make an excuse,” Lanier said. “Or try to get highly qualified teachers and provide them a proper education environment. We’re not only giving big pay raises, we’ll be second only behind Walton (County), but we’re giving an extra day off. It’s about getting top quality teachers here. 

“We think it will prevent teacher burnout, it will free up students, it will help attendance,” he said. “Friday is the biggest absentee day. It will definitely be a big positive for our attendance.

“It will increase the graduation rate, we even think we’ll get more students to come to the school,” Lanier said. “It might get some home school kids back.

“It’s an opportunity for an off-day to spend more family time,” he said. “If they have a job it will allow them a full day to work.”

Lanier said that survey results so far “are treading on the positive,” but that he is eager to hear what families around the county have to say.

“I don’t see the bad outweighing the good,” he said. “Teacher burnout is a real thing, that stuff’s not made up. It’s time to change that narrative. What can I provide for my staff that’s going to recharge them, reinvigorate them? 

“They’re doing everything they can do for us,” Lanier said. “There’s a lot to be said knowing your boss supports you. We’re hoping it affects morale, that this is a great place to work, and change people’s disposition. There’s a lot of positives to it.”