Education commissioner puts hammer down on four-day school

Following a strongly worded letter from the commissioner of the Florida Department of Education, the Franklin County Schools have said they will not be moving forward with a proposal to implement a four-day school week next fall.

On May 9. Superintendent Steve Lanier received a letter from Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. asking that he reconsider the four-day school week. Lanier, who had informed the department of the proposal in a March 24 letter, was in the process of drawing up a plan he planned to present to the school board in upcoming days for their decision whether or not to implement.

“As Commissioner of Education, I am requesting that you reconsider this proposal that would no doubt negatively impact student achievement levels in Franklin County,” Diaz wrote. “I expect a written response from you within five business days of the date of this letter. Govern yourself accordingly.”

In his letter to Lanier, the commissioner said he would convene an emergency meeting of the state board of education “if you persist in this effort to implement a four-day school week… in order for you to explain, in detail, how you plan to implement your experiment on students and just how you will ensure and guarantee the students and parents of your district, and the citizens of this state, that you are acting in the best interests of children and their families.”

Diaz wrote that “in 2020, Florida led the nation in ensuring that students and families were able to send their children to school five days a week because the data show that this is best for our students and their academic outcomes. 

“As leaders we must put the needs of our students and families first, with no exceptions. Our schools exist for our primary customers, the students and families. Not only am I concerned with the potentially detrimental impacts to student achievement as a result of a four-day school week, but I also have great concerns about how students will receive the services and support that they rely on at school such as meals and the structure of attending class,” he wrote. “As educators, we are all acutely aware of the struggles that many of our students face outside of the classroom, and how those struggles greatly impact their academic trajectory.”

Diaz cited research in an Education Next article authored by Matthew A. Kraft and Sarah Novicoff that “research shows that they rarely improve academic outcomes and often lead to decreases in performance.” He also cited a 2024 post by Jeanette Luna of The Fordham Institute that concluded “the findings provide even more reasons to be skeptical of the four-day school week. Combined with tons of research showing that these shorter schedules negatively impact student achievement, it’s hard for anyone to make a case for the policy. In a time of unprecedented learning loss and widespread chronic absenteeism, it’s indefensible.

“I strongly encourage you, as the superintendent and the person responsible for the success of the students of Franklin County, to heed the research that heavily disputes the decision to switch to a four-day school week,” Diaz wrote.

In contrast, at a recent series of town hall meetings, Lanier’s team of teachers and administrators provided research that reached a differing conclusion, citing the advantages of a four-day school week. They also cited the results of a local survey that they said indicated widespread support within the county by parents for the four-day school week.

Lanier said Monday that he had learned that Dr. Beth Barfield, of the Glades County School District, which was weighing a four-day school week for all its students, received a similar letter, as did the administration in Okaloosa County, which had planned to implement it next year at Destin High School, a public charter school.

On Monday, Lanier responded to Diaz’s letter, writing that he would not be presenting the proposal to the school board. He said he believed officials in Glades and Okaloosa counties also intended not to move forward with their proposals.

“We’re going to comply out of respect for the Florida Department of Education and the commissioner,” Lanier said. “He asked us to reconsider and because of our professional working relationship, that’s what we’re doing.”

Lanier said the district’s negotiating team has drafted a proposal and sent it to the teachers union that could lead to salary increases as high as $8,000 annually for teachers next year. Based on a decision by voters to switch ad valorem tax dollars from capital outlay to operation costs, this salary increase was expected, and could lead to the district going from the among the lowest paid in the state to among the Top 10.

Lanier thanked both the district staff and the community for considering the four-day school week, and said the discussion has led to a greater unity among the professional staff and a more thorough understanding by the public of the challenges the district faces in recruiting certified educators who teach within their fields of study.

“I appreciate the working group of teachers, principals and directors putting together hours and hours to make this happen, and I appreciate and thank everybody for coming out and giving their support for it,” he said. “Everybody has the right to have a say and we took that all into consideration.

“I don’t know if our board would have approved it or not,” Lanier said. “This was all an exploratory opportunity.”