A change in Pennsylvania’s education laws allows school districts to move away from a requirement that students attend classes for 180 days each school year.

But anyone dreaming of four-day school weeks shouldn’t get their hopes up.

By changing just one word in the state’s school code late last year, lawmakers opened up an avenue of flexibility that can change the way school years are measured.

Before December, the school code required students to attend classes for 180 days and have at least 990 hours of instruction (900 hours for kindergarten through fifth grade).

The “and” was changed to “or” — and that’s where the difference lies, giving districts the option of changing the number of days school is in session.

As long as classroom hours meet the 990-hour benchmark, districts can configure class days almost any way they wish.

Shortening the school week, or even the school year, likely isn’t going to happen, though. Too many obstacles stand in the way of such a drastic move. Instead, picture more flexible class schedules.

Obstacles to eliminating school days include child care, food insecurity and lack of resources for special-needs students, said Bob Scherrer, executive director of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.

“What would child care on that fifth day look like?” he said. “A lot of students rely on school for breakfast and lunch. How do we feed them? A lot of students with special learning needs have individual learning plans.”

In addition to those student barriers, schools would have to reconfigure partnerships they have outside the district with food, transportation and tech schools, he said.

“It’s unlikely that the majority of districts go to a four-day week,” Scherrer said. “What (the law change) is doing is pushing leaders, boards and communities to think about how they can change and make edits to better fit the needs of students. They’ve been following the same model for years.”

Advantages noted

Aside from a mass elimination of Mondays, Eric Eshbach, executive director of the Pennsylvania Principals Association, said the law change presents several practical advantages — the most popular being less stress about snow days.

During his days as superintendent of Upper Adams School District in Adams County and Northern York School District in York County, Eshbach said, snow days and two-hour delays were consistent challenges.

“We used to have to deal with snow days while trying to get our seniors through our 180 required days to get them through graduation,” he said. “Sometimes, we would have to have our seniors come in on a Good Friday or a Saturday just to meet the 180-day goal, but we had already had more than enough hours.”

Indeed, the math isn’t that hard.

Taking into account noninstruction time such as lunch and study halls, if a typical school day includes six hours of instruction, students could meet the required 990 hours in just 165 days — 15 school days sooner than most school years now.

And that could solve another problem districts face when scheduling a school year: Act 80 days, more commonly known as “in-service” days. That’s when students are off but teachers and staff attend training or continuing education programs.

Under the traditional model, schools must apply to the state for those days and get approval to use them instead of having kids in classrooms. With more than two weeks of school days opened up by switching to the 990-hour standard, Act 80 days can be built into a school year without the need for state approval.

Greater flexibility

The new standard presents an opportunity for flexibility that schools haven’t seen in quite some time, said Carrie Rowe, deputy secretary for elementary and secondary education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

“That’s really the biggest change,” she said.

Jason Lohr, superintendent of the Kiski Area School District, said his administration hasn’t discussed any changes for the 2024-25 school year because the law change happened mid-school year.

“It could provide some more possibilities for internships and those types of things, but we approved a calendar that’s 180 days and we are still applying for flexible instruction days,” Lohr said.

He said the district is taking a “wait-and-see” approach before making any big changes.

“We don’t want to roll something out if it’s not well thought out or thoroughly planned,” he said. “Plus, we want to take into consideration families.”

The district already had a schedule similar to a four-day week during the pandemic. Students would attend school in person on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and have a flexible instruction day on Wednesdays.

Despite not taking immediate action, Lohr said he recognizes the advantages the law change provides.

“If something catastrophic were to happen, we don’t have to declare those 990 hours or 180 days until the end of the school year,” he said.

With counting hours, he said the district would really have to take the numbers into account. For example, where a two-hour delay still counts as a full day under the 180-day model, it would only give the school about five hours to count toward 990 hours total.

“I think that if school districts execute this poorly, then that option may not be there in the future,” Lohr said. “I think it’s really important for districts to be really cautious in how they move forward with this flexibility.”

Rowe has seen some schools taking action after the law change in a variety of ways. Public schools no longer have to follow a model where “one size fits all.” One school elected to transition to a four-day week for teachers but not for students.

“They run on an AB schedule for teachers,” she said. “It incentivizes teachers and students are still getting all five days, but the fifth day is for programming and tutoring for students.”

With this schedule, students can put emphasis on the different subjects or programs they need to and the school can provide care for parents on the fifth day.

Student-focused model

Scherrer said, with his experience as a superintendent for North Allegheny and with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, he has seen firsthand how students benefit from learning through a personal model.

“Schools should be building their instructional models around their kids,” Scherrer said. “They should be thinking, ‘How can you personalize that schedule for each student,’ and then work from there to find the best solution.”

Private schools have had this flexibility for years. Since they’re not a public entity, they don’t have to adhere to the same codes as public schools.

Students at Sewickley Academy have been operating on an extended schedule for years. Adam Winner, director of the academy’s marketing, said the school utilizes an eight-day schedule that enables students to participate in a larger variety of classes.

“A five-day schedule can limit the number of electives or specials that a student is able to participate in,” he said. “By, in essence, extending the week, we provide more options for students to explore their intersecting interests.”

He said this type of schedule is not unique in a private school setting. The days rotate across weeks in an eight-day format.

“Operating on an eight-day schedule has allowed our students to grow and learn in classes they may not be able to participate in with a shorter schedule,” Winner said. “This means that, from year to year, students can continue focusing on, for example, an interest in dance, while adding on a new interest such as robotics the following year, rather than being limited to one interest each year or possibly never having the opportunity to explore a new focus.”

In the academy’s middle and senior schools, students operate on a block schedule within the eight-day week, increasing their daily time in each class to focus on single subjects.

According to Rowe, if a school wanted to accomplish a four-day school week, it could be done but would require forethought from all entities in a school district.

“Schools can overcome the possible barriers by doing some of the things we saw during covid,” Rowe said. “Meals were being sent home, bagged lunches and breakfast foods could be taken home. There were more centralized locations for food being giving out. The recommendation for any superintendent would be that they work hand in hand with their community and really spend a good amount of time thinking of ways to mitigate those issues that may come up.”

If school district officials decide to make any big changes, Rowe said, the Department of Education is able to provide technical support and resources to schools wanting to make changes.

Weighing needs

A four-day school week would be a big change, and the decision should not be made without consulting everyone in the community, Eshbach said.

“I think it’s wise for districts to look at that possibility,” he said. “They are also going to have to look at the needs of their community. Some parents don’t have the ability to be home each Friday. I’m guessing that many communities will look like that.”

The best way to navigate any changes would be to consider everything from a 360-degree standpoint, said Jason Conway, executive director of the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit.

“There needs to be an in-depth study from each school district to analyze their situation,” he said. “It’s unfair to compare one district to another. Each district is going to have to choose what’s best with their students and families’ best interests in mind.”

He said that while there has been some discussion, none of the 17 Westmoreland districts his intermediate unit is involved with has agreed to make any big changes.

From a teaching perspective, Bill Hileman, president of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, said he doesn’t foresee any changes coming for unionized teachers.

“The number of student days and the number of employee days are not the same thing,” Hileman said. “PFT has a contract with public school of 192 staff days.”

He added that the federation is always open to positive changes and flexibility for how instruction is delivered, but he doesn’t see four-day weeks becoming a common schedule.

“I think there are opportunities, but a four-day week is not one of them,” Hileman said.

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