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District presents four‑day week survey results; state calendar submission pending
Summary
Director Miss Bolton presented the district’s annual survey of the four‑day (alternative) calendar, showing increased participation and mixed academic signals; the district has submitted the next two years’ calendars to the State Board for approval and will publish detailed sources and data on request.
Miss Bolton, the district staff member who oversees calendar reporting, presented the Sweetwater County School District #1’s annual survey findings on the alternative four‑day calendar during the April 14 board meeting.
Bolton said the district submitted the next two school calendars to the state and expects State Board review in May. The survey — given annually to students, staff and parents — measured whether the alternative calendar met district goals: more professional development time, fewer teacher hours outside the classroom, and uninterrupted PLC (professional learning community) planning time. Bolton said participation in the survey increased across parents, students and staff this year and she added a neutral response option for staff in the current survey to improve clarity.
Bolton cautioned that longitudinal academic trends were not solely attributable to the calendar. "I would be very hesitant to say that the 4 day week has is the reason for an increase or decrease in scores," she said, noting that research generally finds instructional time and teacher effectiveness are stronger predictors of achievement than calendar alone. She said district English language arts scores have increased in most grades over 14 years while math has shown a slow decrease; she recommended against attributing those trends only to the calendar.
Board members asked for source citations and disaggregated survey reporting. Trustee Sorensen asked whether increased participation could be explained; Bolton said staff and students were asked to take the survey during the school day and the district pushed parent outreach on ParentSquare. Trustee Seppey asked for attendance and achievement measures tied to the calendar; Bolton said she would pull corrected data and make it available. Board members also asked that future reporting distinguish instructional and support staff responses — Bolton said she can sort results by respondent group and supply source citations (including the Oregon study she referenced) for the board.
Bolton said the annual survey results are submitted to the state each June; she will include the references and provide requested disaggregations in follow‑up materials.
