Have an Opinion About the 4-Day School Week?

As the Pasco County School District continues to explore the idea of switching to a four-day school week, it’s turning to the public for input about the idea.

The district has launched an online survey about the proposal. It’s asking parents, grandparents and any taxpayer in Pasco County to chime in on a 10-minute survey that’s meant to gauge public opinion about the idea.

The proposal to look into a four-day week came up earlier this year as school district officials struggled with making . As 513 positions were shed from the district’s payroll,.

Luikart currently has a looking into the potential impacts a four-day week would have on the district and its students. The hope is the cost savings might be enough to help keep more teachers employed without having to cut programs, such as sports, arts and music, as the district faces another potential multi-million-dollar shortfall in the 2012-13 school year, Luikart said.

“The information that’s been coming back has been really interesting,” Luikart said about the taskforce’s work to date. “(These) people are looking behind (all the) corners.”

Luikart said it’s too early in the process to know how much money a four-day week would save. One interesting tidbit of information the taskforce has turned up centers on student performance, he said.

“There are a number of districts out there that are going to the four-day (week) for student benefit – not savings,” he said.

The taskforce is hoped to have its research completed in late January so a full proposal can be put together for the school board, Luikart said.

In the meantime, the survey is being conducted to make sure residents can voice their opinions and concerns early in the process.

“We want to know what people think and what some of their concerns are,” Luikart said. “The survey is very important for everybody whether they have students in school or they’re just taxpayers in the county.”

To take part in the survey, visit the district’s website.