Many of the smaller school districts in NW Montana have moved to a 4-day week and now, we understand the Bigfork School District is asking its faculty and staff their thoughts. It’s a formal survey with the results presented to the School Board at their meeting Wednesday night.
Bigfork Schools Superintendent Tom Stack tells us there are, what he calls, “a variety of different aspects that need to be looked at”, if the District were to make the move. Parents, though, will have to make arrangements for Friday daycare if the District decides to go to 4-days.
At this point, 5-Elementary Districts are into a 4-day-a-week configuration: Cayuse Prairie, Fair-Mont-Egan, Olney-Bissell, Pleasant Valley and West Glacier. Bigfork, if it make the move, will be the only High School in our area.
The Legislature–nearly 20-years ago, changed the way it calculates the way the school year is configured, from 180-days to 1,080-aggregate hours. The Seeley Lake Schools have been on a 4-day week for several years.