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Talk of four-day WUSD school week continues
Parent input to be sought, WUSD school officials said

<br>Patrick Whitehurst/WGCN<br>
Students at Williams Elementary-Middle School, such as those in John Lechtenberger’s social studies class, may soon attend longer school days, but for only four days a week, as both schools in the Williams Unified School District continue to investigate the idea of a four-day school week.

<br>Patrick Whitehurst/WGCN<br> Students at Williams Elementary-Middle School, such as those in John Lechtenberger’s social studies class, may soon attend longer school days, but for only four days a week, as both schools in the Williams Unified School District continue to investigate the idea of a four-day school week.

Officials with the Williams Unified School District (WUSD) presented members of the WUSD Governing Board with a presentation on four-day school weeks during their regular meeting March 11 in the culinary arts room of Williams High School (WHS). School Principals Stephen Hudgens and Donny Bridges made the presentation to board members at the meeting and identified a number of possible benefits to the district. According to Hudgens, he has heard very little opposition to the idea of a four-day school week since the idea was first discussed at the last regular meeting of the Governing Board Feb. 11.

"I would think from what I heard of the way it was the first time they tried the four-day school week that we would have had a lot of negativity hit the door. I've had not one person come and tell me that it's a bad idea. I think the community has an idea that maybe it's going to save us some money. I think the people that have kids in school know there are problems with budget, know what's going on. Because they can read the newspaper they know what's going on in every school district everywhere."

Hudgens said a form might soon be available to parents who wish to express their opinions on the idea of a four-day school week.

"I think how we go about preparing ourselves to present this to the town of Williams will make it or break it. I think it has a lot of merit. How much money is it going to save the district? Nobody knows the answer to that question. There's lots and lots of variables with that," Hudgens said. "From the high school standpoint, a four-day school week and fortunately I've been in one, worked very, very well. It takes some collaboration with staff to sit down and figure out how your schedules are going to be. When you have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, I think it's a motivator for staff, to be quite frank. I think that we have a lot of staff members that would benefit from having that time off. But trust me, on the time it takes on the four days you're there. You're going home tired. Those days are long."

WEMS Principal Donny Bridges presented board members with a tentative schedule on how a four-day school week might look if the district approves the idea.

"I went down and talked to John Jones, who is the principal down in Ash Fork. I asked him a lot of questions. I'm looking at constantly fighting a battle of losing teachers to Ash Fork," Bridges said. "There's a lot of data out there that says we'll save money. At the same time, we're not doing as well on test scores."

A number of cost cutting measures have been implemented in the WUSD recently. Five staff members were recently told they would be out of a job at the end of this month. Further cuts are expected as well, which may include a number of teaching positions at the school. As many as 14 WUSD employees could lose their jobs next year. Members of the WEA have also been working with school officials on ways to save money for the district, which included donating time back to the school from their own salaries. To date, over $10,000 has been donated back to the district in an effort to help defray further cuts. School board members voted to accept the donated money.

Meanwhile, school officials at Heritage Elementary School, a charter school in Williams for grades kindergarten through fifth grade, said they will continue to offer classes five days a week. Heritage Founder Aaron Robinson said the school would go up to sixth grade beginning the next school year. Enrollment is currently under way for existing students. New student enrollment will begin April 1.

"In today's economy you've got a lot of dual working parents. It puts a burden on the parents," Robinson said of the four-day school week. "When you look at the amount of classroom hours for seventh and eighth graders. I don't know how any school is going to go to a four-day school week without pushing those kids."

Besides the Williams campus, Heritage Schools can also be found in the Phoenix area. The Phoenix facility, Robinson said, covers over 14 acres.


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