After years of putting it off, the Florence-Carlton school district in Ravalli County had to decide: Would it join the many smaller districts in the state with a four-day school week, or stick with a five-day schedule?
Until recently, some local education leaders thought the four-day week was a poor fit for the town of Florence. Staffing problems, including having to cut nine employees, the end of pandemic-era education funding, and the loss of 50 students this school year, however, put the district of about 730 students in a tight spot.
Florence, a rural town in the southwestern part of the state 30 minutes from two districts that pay their teachers more, has dealt with staffing gaps that left positions nearly impossible to fill. Last school year, the high school principal ended up teaching some classes after a job posting for a math teacher received no applications for a semester and a science teacher left for a better-paying job nearby. A paraprofessional job has remained open the entire school year, Florence-Carlton Superintendent Todd Fiske said. A four-day school week might be a tool to recruit and retain staff, the school board reasoned, while offering families more time together.
Read more at Montana Free Press.
