The Twin Cedars and Melcher-Dallas School Boards recently approved the implementation of four-day school weeks beginning next academic year. 

The change to four-day school weeks has started taking place throughout Iowa, with multiple school districts across the state either currently utilizing or preparing to utilize this form of scheduling, including Cardinal, WACO, Saydel, and Martensdale-St. Mary’s, among others. Twin Cedars and Melcher-Dallas Superintendent Scott Bridges says that one of the biggest factors that led to this decision was the ability to recruit and retain quality teachers. 

“There’s a huge teacher shortage in the state of Iowa. Over 2,000 teaching positions last year weren’t filled with highly qualified teachers. We struggle every year, we’re trying to fill positions right now. If this is something that can set us aside, we feel like it’s more important for us to have quality teachers in the classroom than anything else, that’s like the primary reason why we’re here. We don’t want to just have an okay teacher in the classroom, we want to have a great teacher in the classroom, and if this gives us that advantage then we’re all for it.”

Hear more about the four-day school weeks from Scott Bridges on today’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.