There are many reasons to shorten the traditional school week, most of them related to budgets and facility use. From a school administrator's point of view a four-day school week makes sense in these days of budget shortfalls, but is this really the best solution for our children and their teachers? I am a grandparent of a first grader (she lives with me so I am involved in her daily schooling issues). I am also a member of the Board of Directors for her school (a small charter school district with 2 schools). I am also a teacher in the local community college down the road as well as a faculty trainer for faculty in elementary, secondary as well as post-secondary schools, both public and private.

From a parent's point of view:
The first thing that comes to mind is the extra day care costs involved with having an elementary school student home one day a week while parents are at work. This could strain already tight budgets. The next thing to consider is the legislative requirement that schools be open 180 days a year. A four-day school week would extend the normal school year from 36 weeks to 45 weeks a year. This could cause some scheduling problems with family vacations, etc. Or it could make it somewhat easier for the parents as they would now only need day care 7 weeks a year instead of 16 weeks. Summer vacation would become much shorter, especially with Spring, Fall, and Winter breaks. (school districts already on year-round calendars would have to make adjustments, too.) It could end up being a wash on day care costs, but would create scheduling problems at the same time.

From a teacher's point of view:
Teachers would like this for a number of reasons. They are already overworked with unpaid lunch room and playground duties on top of their teaching duties, An extra day a week for working on lesson plans would benefit them. It would also give them a day to do personal errands, schedule doctor appointments, etc. so they did not have to take time off their regular teaching schedule to do these kinds of things. Payroll would be adjusted to cover the longer contracts, resulting in lower paychecks, but more of them, something the teachers may or may not like. 

From an administrator's point of view:
The administrator would probably be the one who would benefit the most. The school would be closed one day a week - thus eliminating any overhead costs for one day a week, which could result in huge savings for the school. BUT, the school would have to be open longer (45 weeks instead of 36 weeks) so in the long run, it might cost even more in overhead. The teacher's salary should not change as they would still be teaching the 180 days required each school year -- they would just do it in 45 weeks instead of 36. This might result in some monthly savings on taxes, etc, but an overall savings would be negligible.

In Conclusion
As I wrote this, I came to the conclusion that it would probably not be a benefit to anyone to shorten the school week to four days, There are too many variables to consider, and it would cost too much money to implement such a plan. Does anyone else have any ideas on this topic?