The Keokuk Board of Education is discussing whether to change the length of the district’s school week.
The district recently surveyed parents and district employees about four options:
- A four-day school week with spring break
- A four-day school week without spring break
- A five-day school week with spring break
- A five-day school week without spring break
Of the 607 people who responded, 229 chose the four-day week that includes spring break.
Superintendent Kathy Dinger said the district is looking for ways to retain students and staff and attract new employees.
“Because of where we're located geographically, we have some hiring and retention struggles that we have,” Dinger said.
“We also lose approximately 100 students a year out of district to open enrollment.”
Dinger said a few other schools in the region and around 30% of school districts in Missouri have adopted four-day school weeks.
“When you look at the hard data, in some cases it’s kind of neutral, but when you talk to superintendents and you talk to families, they're overwhelmingly supportive of it, and they report improvements in safety and security and better mental health, better retention of staff,” Dinger said.
The Keokuk school board will continue discussing future calendar options at its Jan. 16 meeting.
Dinger said a four-day school week could mean students would attend classes Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday.
The superintendent hopes a decision can be made and announced by March to allow parents and staff an opportunity to adjust and prepare in time for the 2024-2025 school year.
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.