GRANADA – Over a dozen teachers sat in on the first work session regarding a potential four-day school week for Granada-Huntley-East Chain at the school board meeting on Thursday.

To speak on the subject, Superintendent Doug Storbeck brought in three representatives from Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Public Schools. As a district that has had a four-day week since 2011, Superintendent Josie Dingmann, High School Principal Laura Spanier and Elementary School Principal Trent Johnson have plenty of experience in this system.

Dingmann said the original decision stemmed from the desire to preserve all the programs they had worked so hard to build.

“We were so proud of the opportunities we were able to provide for our students and families,” she said. “If we were going to be making big budget cuts, we would have to lose some of that programming.”

Going to a four-day week is something Dingmann said saved money on transportation, hourly employees, substitute costs and utility costs. To assist with child care and meals on Mondays, Johnson said they have instituted programs for both, and they have worked through athletic practices as well.

One crucial piece Johnson said having this four-day week has provided is teacher interest in not only applying but sticking around.

“Last year, we had a second-grade opening,” he said. “You have the feeling we might get three or four candidates, or we’re going to have to make some phone calls. There were 32 applicants in a matter of just a few days. It’s back to the days where you don’t even know how to go through all the applicants, which is great. The other thing with that is the 42 percent tenure rate over 10 years. We’re not constantly retraining teachers, or we’re not needing to go through different programs.”

In a survey conducted with parents, Dingmann reported that 80 percent of parents responded, and 94 percent of respondents preferred to stay with the four-day system. Having Monday open frees a day for families to get things done or spend time with those they love.

“They use Mondays to get ready for the week,” Johnson said. “Some families have all their orthodontist appointments on Monday, and they never have to miss school. Some parents have told me they don’t feel rushed to come back from family members’ places. They’re not trying to get out of their family’s house by three o’clock on Sunday, so they’re home by five and can get ready for the week.”

GHEC Board Chair Jessica Salic asked what the pain period was, where families left due to the change. Dingmann said there was none, and a decline in student numbers was seen because of the number of farms decreasing and family size shrinking.

“Our district really had good communication and said, ‘We want to be very open and honest, we want to save programs, we’re still going to do a really great job,'” Dingmann said.

GHEC Board Member Brad Mattson said of the 1,100 schools in Minnesota, only six do a four-day week. He expressed concern about being that cutting edge.

“I’ve been very honest from the get-go,” GHEC Superintendent Doug Storbeck said. “This was not a cost savings endeavor. My main focus is, and if we happen to have retirements and people moving on to other things, the ability to recruit new teachers. That is what keeps me up at night, making sure that we have quality staff here at school.”

For staff, Storbeck said the biggest advantage is giving them a day to prepare for the week, so they don’t have to do as much during their weekends. For students, Storbeck said it would be a longer school day with more time in each class to ensure lessons are learned, and teachers can devote individual time to students.

While there would be a program offered for K-5 students on Mondays with a childcare/learning opportunity focus, Salic said she has heard from community members about making this change right after passing a referendum.

“We just passed a referendum to build additional school rooms, CTE, developmental, and now we’re going to cut back on days,” she said. “Their big picture right away is, ‘You have built a gym, and we don’t even get to use it.'”

Even though there would be one less day in the week, the instructional hours would be adjusted to be the same or similar to what they are currently.

Storbeck said they will continue to have discussions with teachers and community members, as the deadline to decide whether or not to make this change is early April.

In other news discussed at the meeting:

— At the middle school level, there will be a Chromebook pause where no Chromebooks are allowed for six weeks. Principal Andy Walden said it is an effort to re-evaluate what is done and how students are taught. He said Chromebooks have benefits, but they have also had to deal with students not taking care of the equipment and breaking it as well.

— Several developments are happening for future curriculum. Curriculum and Instruction Bethany Maday said the Minnesota Department of Education has given them a list of reading intervention curricula, so that will be looked into as to what to choose moving forward. In the past, they had been given more free rein, but now Maday said there is an approved list schools have to choose from. She said for the history curriculum, it was like Christmas with the amount of samples sent in for teachers to compare and review.