(Griswold) In August 2023, after months of discussion and surveys on the proposed 4-day school week, the Griswold School Board decided not to pursue the change for the 2024-2025 school year. According to the study, staff members were 50-50 on whether they could teach students effectively in four days instead of five. Regarding staff retention, some respondents said they would be more likely to stay if the district adopted a four-day workweek; about a dozen said they would likely leave the district.
The 4-day school week is back on the table for discussion. Griswold School Superintendent Dave Henrichs says the 4-day school week is part of the district’s strategic plan implemented at the start of the school year.
A committee under the strategic plan’s guidelines is exploring and researching the possibility of a shorter school week. The findings will be shared with the school board, and eventually, a decision will be made on whether to adopt the 4-day school week. Henrichs said the committee provided the School Board with some data in November; however, they wanted more information before moving forward. The school board sent the committee 84 questions before Monday’s school board meeting.
The school board and the committee held a lengthy discussion on this issue at the Board of Education regular meeting on Monday. Henrichs says part of that discussion, from a school board standpoint, is how sincere we are about pursuing a four-day school week.
Henrichs says on January 5, at 6:00 p.m., there will be a work session with the school board and the school day committee. He says they will focus on a handful of topics, such as the calendar, the school day, and what a five-day or non-school day would look like.
Henrichs says it is safe to say the Griswold School District will not have a 4-day school week for the 2026-2027 school year. He said that it is to be determined what work lies ahead.
