SLAYTON — The Murray County Central School District is pursuing the option to switch to a four-day school week, beginning next school year.

After a few months gathering research and holding public meetings, the school board decided to move forward and sent in an application to the Minnesota Department of Education, with a decision to be made in late April.

The idea to explore moving to a four-day week initially came from trying to save costs due to lower enrollment.

“The board was looking for feedback from all of the stakeholders in the school, as far as employees go, on budget reductions,” MCC superintendent Joe Meyer said. “We’ve had a little bit of declining enrollment, and one of the things that came to the surface was the four-day school week.”

According to the district’s website on the proposal, there was a significant drop in enrollment for the 2023-24 school year, which resulted in a loss of $210,000 in revenue. Also noted was increased inflation and insurance costs have put another finance stressor on the district.

There were three public community meetings held throughout January and February, and a survey sent out to receive feedback, before the board decided to send in an application.

Of the 657 local responses the district received, the biggest concern if the four-day week passes is what families with young students will do for child care.

“One of the biggest concerns would be, ‘What am I going to do with my child on that one day a week that we wouldn’t be in session?'” Meyer said regarding feedback he received. “We do have an option of working with our partners at Shetek Environmental Education Center. They’d be offering a day program for grades K-6 there, at some added cost obviously, but she’s able to get some grants to keep costs lower.”

46.6% of people acknowledged the concern, 47 responses said they would need resources for child care, and 82 said they potentially would.

Murray County’s currently only child care facility, Wonder World, is licensed for 76 children. However, the center is facing the possibility of closing in the next year due to its lease expiring in July 2026.

“There were also concerns around, ‘Is this going to hurt my child’s test scores?'” Meyer said. “The other big concern is that some of our hourly staff would lose some hours, and would affect their overall income.”

Per the district website, if approved, teacher work hours will be the same, with additional time added during the four days and also working on some of the student off days. But, hourly employees may see a reduction in hours.

To make up for the lost day and to still hold up to the 1,020 state required instructional hours, there will be 30 minutes added to each of the four days.

“The 30 minutes total added on to every day, we would gain about five minutes at the front end, because we don’t want our bus routes to be any longer at the front end, but 25 minutes would be added at the end of the day,” Meyer said.

Extra-curriculars, including sport practices and games, will not be affected by the new schedule. There will still be events held on the off-day.

For the students who rely on school meals, the district will continue the backpack program, and an extra day of meals and snacks will be provided to the students of higher need.

When it comes to positive outcomes the district will see, there could be an improvement to cost savings, mental health and retention.

“There’s a cost savings, obviously, that would come with this. Through the research, we found that there’s an increased staff retention and recruitment possibility,” Meyer said. “Then, (there are) some mental health positives for both students and staff.”

Of the 657 survey responses, a majority of people said that what intrigues them the most is the possible improvement on students’ physical, emotional and mental well-being, along with improved attendance and district finances.

According to the district website, transportation alone would cut costs significantly. With approximately 30 days being shaved off, transportation costs approximately $3,500 per day on average.

There are currently seven Minnesota school districts operating on a four-day school week, including MACCRAY in Clara City, which has been on four-day weeks since the fall of 2006 with Mondays off.

“We’ve really done a lot of research on the schools that … are on a four-day (week),” Meyer said. “I think there’s several others that are exploring that for next year or years to come.”

At the Feb. 10 MCC school board meeting, the board approved on a 5-1 vote to move forward and submit the application to the Minnesota Department of Education, which was handed in last week.

The district is now in a waiting period, as the MDE has a 45-day window to approve or deny applications up to April 21.

After the decision, the school board will approve the 2025-26 instructional calendar. If it’s not approved, MCC will continue with the traditional Monday to Friday schedule.

“If they are favorable on the application, then we would move to that four-day calendar next year,” Meyer said. “If not, then we would go back and revert back to our five-day week, and we’d have to make some other budget reductions.”