School District Researches Four-Day Week

While school administrators are studying the possibility of a four-day week for Stone County schools, it will not happen next year, and not without a lot more public input and discussion, Supt. Brent Howard said.

“We don’t have any plans of doing this for the next school year,” Howard said. He noted that about 20 Arkansas districts are planning the make the shift next year, and he wants time to study how it works for them and learn from their experiences.

“We want to wait and see how these schools do next year. We’ll be able to look and see and get a feel for what’s going on.”

A handout on the four-day week was sent home with parents during parent-teacher conferences Feb. 6, including a yes/no questionnaire they were asked to return to the school by Feb. 14.

Howard emphasized that this was only a survey, and there will be an opportunity for more public feedback before a decision is made, including from residents who are not parents or teachers.

“If we ever decide we’re leaning toward this, we’ll have some in-depth community discussions. ... We would have community meetings and give people a voice,” he said.

See the complete story in the Feb. 26, 2020 issue.