Arizona school district looks at four-day school week

CASA GRANDE -- Four-day work weeks are becoming more and more popular because of sky-high gas prices, and now one Arizona school district is considering it.

Casa Grande Union High School Disrict is considering implementing a four-day school week, which could save the district up to about $640,000 per year. Most of that savings comes from the cost of fuel for the buses.

A decision on the idea was supposed to be made Tuesday night, but the board postponed that so they can carefully consider all the pros and cons.

According to research, a four-day week decreases the student drop-out rate, decreases absenteeism for both students and teachers, decreases disciplinary infractions and increases school morale.

"If the reason is substantial and it is for money and the rest of it looks like its do-able then that is the reason that I would recommend it," said Nancy Pifer, the superintendent of the Casa Grande Union High School District. "If you have academic achievement in a certain number of minutes of instruction per week and you still do that same number of minutes of instruction per week, I do not see how it could be a negative."

The four-day week could only add about 80 minutes to each school day.

Casa Grande Union High School District governs Casa Grande Union High School, Casa Verde High School, Desert Winds High School and Vista Grande High School.