JEROME, Idaho — The Jerome School Board voted to switch to four-day school weeks at a special meeting on Thursday, April 2.
The decision comes after a special committee formed to evaluate the pros and cons of a move to four-day weeks voted 14-2 to recommend making the switch.
School Board Chair Elizabeth Bingham opened the meeting by saying she believed strongly in the value of a five-day school week, but understood the challenges the district faced, such as financial pressures and staffing concerns. Bingham ultimately voted in favor of the move to a four-day week.
"We feel that this is the best way we can help our teachers now, while putting guardrails in place to make sure that we have enough instructional hours and that the needs are being met for the students. That’s very similar to what we’re doing now, just organized differently," Bingham said.
In January 2024, the Jerome School Board voted against adopting a four-day week. More than 90 teachers protested by using paid time off on the same day, forcing school cancellations.
Currently, 77 of Idaho's 101 school districts, plus 19 charter schools, are already on, or are planning for 4 day weeks.
"The entire state is moving that way. You either get involved in it or you get run over by it," parent David Ellis told Idaho News 6 after the meeting.
Ellis said he spent several months taking part in the committee that evaluated the move and personally reached out to several superintendents of districts that had moved to four-day weeks. When asked if he had heard from anyone who felt the move had been a mistake, Ellis noted the positive feedback he received.
"I did not, no," Ellis said. "In fact, everyone I talked to was overwhelmingly in favor; they loved it. The comment from most of them was ‘if I ever left here, I would never consider anything but a four-day district,'" Ellis said.
Ellis commended the work the board put into the lengthy process on the way to Thursday’s vote.
"They went about it, I believe, the right way. They set up a committee to do a heavy amount of research on the impact of how it would impact basically from top to bottom throughout the district," Ellis said.
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