SJSD weighs four-day plan as ‘Band-Aid,’ or a risk

By Marcus Clem

The St. Joseph School District has to fix teacher recruitment and retention, and a big change is on deck to try to do that.

The Board of Education will vote at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, to either give Superintendent Gabe Edgar permission to put in a four-day class calendar, or block him from doing so. Much work remains to be done, but the district would go down from 171 scheduled class days per year to about 150. Classes would change as soon as Aug. 21, for the 2024-25 year.

Soothing staff burnout

Teresa Simmons is among those who favor implementing such a plan now. After two and a half years of work on Vision Forward and on engaging the community, Simmons said, further delays risk putting a solution out of reach.

“I think the only way you improve academics is to have certified, experienced teachers in your classroom, and I think you’ve got to do anything you can to keep those teachers retained,” she said. “That will drive a positive result down the line.”

If the plan is approved, about 35 minutes would be added to each class day; there must be at least 1,044 instructional hours scheduled. Under the final schedule, teachers would report to work on Monday; much of the time, they would be free to use working hours as they see fit. They could lesson plan for the week, undergo training or rest, as needed.

“I think we have a lot of staff that are waiting to see if the district is going to make this decision before they decide whether to go elsewhere — whether to another school district or just another job,” Simmons said.

As of this week, 16 full-time teacher vacancies are recorded, according to Assistant Superintendent Brian Kraus. There are 847 total teachers employed as of Tuesday. Vacancies will grow in the months to come as there will be retirements and resignations. The district can expect to work into August patching holes, and cohorts of new teachers numbering in the hundreds aren’t uncommon. As of the 2022-23 school year, staff turnover exceeded 20%.

Helping their

own kids

Joshua Hall, a Benton High School parent who previously ran for school board, isn’t so sure that the four-day calendar will help staff morale. It may attract new staff, but journeymen and veteran educators who have kids in the district will still be reporting to work on Monday. Hall said he expects high stress and uncertainty about child care needs.

“They’re our best asset, we have to take great care of them,” he said. “If they’ve already been through some of the trials that this district has faced, and they’re still here, that is amazing. That means they are dedicated. That means they are all-in on the position, and the community.”

When the district surveyed its staff, obtaining 837 responses, only 18.2% indicated they would oppose the four-day calendar. Yet Hall said he believes there remains a culture of apprehension within the ranks. Conformity is self-enforced, producing limited data on big decisions.

“To me, it feels like the plan hasn’t been fully thought out, we just kind of want to figure it out as we keep going forward, so let’s go forward,” Hall said. “Going forward could be a huge step back here if we damage the staff morale further.”

From her own personal perspective, school counselor Elissa Garr said, the attraction of having more free time with her own kids is obvious. If the current draft plan is implemented, staff would still report to work on Monday, but could go home when the need arises to handle personal matters, without there being a gap substitute staffers can’t always fill.

“I am a big fan of family time, and I always feel like, for myself personally, we don’t always get enough time with our kids to really mold them into the good adults that they will be,” Garr said.

On the four class days, Garr added, adding 35 minutes to each day would allow for staff to have more time from the moment where they arrive to the moment they go home to manage the lessons they have prepared. At the same time, she said, some plan is needed to provide for families who rely on the nutrition of school breakfast and lunch five days per week.

“There also are challenges with food insecurities, and school is a safe place,” Garr said. “So, we would need resources probably to meet (the needs of) certain families, to help them in those situations.”

It may just be about money

As some see it, this is a matter of filling cracks in a ruptured dam. The state as a whole remains out of step with its competitors on making the work of teaching attractive, said Jon S. Turner, a Missouri State University professor who is regarded as a leading expert on the four-day calendar. Over time, what was once a rural institution has become more attractive to districts all over the state.

“You know, the State of Missouri borders more states than any other state; we have eight bordering states, and sadly, our teacher salaries are significantly lower than any other bordering state that we have,” Turner said. “And so, that’s what I’m seeing in trends statewide; these border school districts are really challenged. This phenomenon is not new to rural districts, they’ve always struggled to retain teachers due to competitive salaries, but now it’s getting to larger districts, especially along border states.”

The St. Joseph School District currently has a full-time teacher minimum salary of $37,500, well above the statutory state minimum of $25,000, but the competition elsewhere is fierce. With Kansas ($41,000) and Nebraska ($39,000) both above the SJSD minimum in terms of how they pay their most junior teachers, a recruitment disadvantage exists.

Iowa’s minimum of $33,500 is less of an issue on paper, but Gov. Kim Reynolds is urging the Iowa General Assembly to pass a statutory minimum of $62,000 this year. Arkansas has already implemented a $50,000 minimum salary, which Turner said has had dire effects on southern Missouri districts. A broad Iowa increase could echo that problem here. The result is that failing action from the Missouri Legislature, districts are left with the need to make the job of teaching less difficult, to justify the lower pay.

“There is this perception that people go to the four-day week because teachers are lazy, they don’t want to work, and things like that,” Turner said. “This is a symptom of a challenge that school districts are facing. They do not have certified teachers applying for their positions … They’re getting in, saying this isn’t for me, and they’re finding opportunities that pay better, and have better time schedules … And so, the four-day week is not a solution, it’s just a Band-Aid.”