GLENDO – Following up on inquiries from parents of Glendo School students, Platte County School District No. 1 is considering re-scheduling to a four-day school week. Though the issue has been raised by parents of Glendo students to past school boards, it has never been implemented.

PCSD1 administration has been taking the steps necessary, according to state requirements, to gather information to present to the school board trustees at the April 15 school board meeting. Some of those requirements included two public meetings to allow parents and teachers to voice their opinions, concerns, questions, and suggestions. The issue was also discussed in a presentation at the PCSD1 schoolboard workshop held on April 8. Tom Waring, 2025-26 principal for Glendo School, presented a four-day schedule that would provide the required student-teacher contact time as required by state regulations. The proposed four-day schedule would have 965 to 967 contact hours, as opposed to the current 1,110 days. The schedule would add 35 minutes to each school day and every Friday would be an off-day for students and teachers, with the exception of one Friday a month the teachers would have in-school work days. He and Superintendent John Weigel were on hand to listen to the comments and answer questions at each meeting. 

Waring said it did not matter to him, personally, whatever is decided. Weigel has worked in school districts with four-day schedules and shared information with the board at the workshop about different models he’s seen and various ways a four-day school schedule could work to benefit the children. He emphasized, it is up to the parents and the board to decide.

In comments from parents and teachers, one parent is adamantly opposed to the schedule and cited several reasons for her opinion at the workshop: the schedule was already approved for the 2024-25 school year and she has already scheduled her business around that schedule; there is no child care provider in the town; “every second my child is not in school, she is not being educated;” and concern for the longer days causing too much fatigue for students – especially in the youngest grades. This parent additionally said if the board votes to go to a four-day school, the school will lose some students who would rather be in a five-day school schedule.

There were parents who weren’t necessarily opposed to a four-day week but did not think it necessary to even consider changing a schedule if there was no problem with five-day school schedules.

Other parents were enthusiastic with the idea of a four-day week, sharing ideas at the meeting for opportunities in which the community could come together to offer enrichment activities to students on Fridays who had parents working or needed something constructive to do on their off-day. They felt the extra day could benefit the students greatly through those opportunities.

Another parent said it is currently difficult to pick up her child at the 1 p.m. early release that is currently utilized by the district on Fridays, and that a consistent time in the late afternoon works better for her family.

Several teachers made comments, with two standing out who teach several grade levels at a time. They concluded even an extra five minutes in each class to teach their students would make a huge difference and enable them to more effectively teach concepts at each grade level. They added the current half-day Friday was almost too short of a timeframe for the classes to allow as much teaching time as they would like.

School board trustee Connie Eller said at the meeting she is “absolutely in favor of a four-day week” and stated she sees it as a way to help increase interest or enrollment in Glendo School in the future.

A couple attendees at the meeting claimed they have researched and discussed directly with small community schools that implemented four-day school weeks and concluded, “if it’s done right,” four-day schools can improve school attendance, achieve excellent academic test scores, and reduce teacher and student fatigue.

If the PCSD1 school board approves the adjusted schedule for Glendo, the information Principal Waring has put together will be presented to the State of Wyoming Department of Education for their final approval before it could be implemented. If the board chooses not to implement a four-day school week, the current school schedule will be in effect.

Please see next week’s Platte County Record-Times for more information on the April 15 school board meeting.