Independence leader promotes four-day concept
By Marcus Clem
A Kansas City-area school leader told the St. Joseph Board of Education on Monday that the four-day weekly class plan he installed last year has worked well.
Superintendent Dale Herl, speaking via video conference from Jackson County, Missouri, gave a briefing on what the Independence School District has done since it dropped Monday from the regular class calendar in August 2023. Herl’s advice comes ahead of a likely Feb. 26 board vote on whether or not Superintendent Gabe Edgar is authorized to build his own four-day plan.
Both Herl and Edgar explained that a dominant motive for a four-day plan is to give staffers four normal class days and a fifth day where they still report to work, but are often free to use the fifth day as they see fit. In the main, this reduces stress and is highly attractive for new teacher recruits, Herl said; it also helps persuade veteran teachers to stay on the job.
“No matter what you’re doing, I have to look at the ISD, and our whole ‘why.’ You have to figure out what your ‘why’ is. Our ‘why’ was attracting and retaining the very best for our kids, and we think we’ve done that,” Herl said.
Herl was met with receptive questions and comments from Rick Gehring and Whitney Lanning, amid relative scrutiny from fellow board members David Foster and Isaura Garcia. Board President LaTonya Williams previously endorsed the four-day concept while campaigning for reelection as a board member in January.
Foster confirmed to the News-Press that he will not support any four-day change at this time. Garcia indicated she is open to the concept but fears a Feb. 26 vote triggering the change for the 2024-25 year would be too disruptive for parents, particularly in finding child care services on the fifth day when kids are home from school.
Board Vice President Kenneth Reeder, who is also seeking a new three-year term on the board, offered praise for the four-day concept but also asked a few pointed questions, and afterward declined to say which way he is leaning on the issue.
With annual staff turnover exceeding 20% and dozens of positions currently open in the school district, Edgar emphasized his view that some way to stop the teacher recruitment and retention problem must be found soon.
“We have a lot of really good staff members in St. Joseph, but we’re burning them out by the lack of support in hiring better teachers at an early age, or being able to recruit,” Edgar said. “We’re behind times in recruitment, for sure. And I think, from a retention standpoint, if we get them here, we can keep them here, especially if we go for a four-day week.”
In addition to candidates Williams and Reeder, various candidates who are not current board members attended, including Tami Pasley, Jacob McMillian, Steven Carrillo, Ronda Chesney and Sean Connors. Warren Ingram III logged in to the Zoom conference used by Herl to address the board. The election is scheduled for April 2.
