20
N the Red
May 2021
Working less is more
Four-day workweek should be implemented in schools Nate Albin
T
albinnat000@hsestudents.org
company travel went down around 20%, which shows the plan he COVID-19 pandemic forced schools nationwide to leads to less emissions from travel. Furthermore, the department make drastic changes to how they operate, and HSE found there was an increase in time for sanitation crews to clean, Schools was no exception. Minor changes like four and fewer vacation days were taken. Clearly, there are benefits people per lunch table and scanning QR codes for contact beyond productivity. tracing purposes were easy adjustments and will be removed Widespread use of the four-day workweek could be on the once it is safe to. There were also major changes, with arguably the two biggest being the change to block schedule and turning horizon for businesses everywhere. CNBC reported that, in Spain, the government has pledged 50 Fridays into eLearning days. million Euros to help businesses pilot the Starting next year, the district will move Hypothetical four-day week. To the north, Joe Ryle of the permanently to the block schedule, but schedule for next British-based “4 Day Week Campaign” said Fridays will no longer be eLearning days. the idea has “grown in both popularity and At a Jan.15 school board meeting, the board year: momentum” since the COVID-19 pandemic. voted to have Fridays be eLearning days for He explained that because of the pandemic the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. suddenly forcing people to work virtually, Teachers post an assignment by 9 a.m., Monday: people realized that the way we view the and students have by Monday morning to In-Person workweek can change rapidly. So based on complete them. These days also provide Periods 1 - 4 all of this, what would a four-day week at another opportunity for teachers to assist FHS look like? students. Especially with the district adopting Next year, school will start at 8:30 a.m. the block schedule, they should move to Tuesday: and end at 3:00 p.m. Imagine though that a four-day workweek model and keep the In-Person students are encouraged to come in at 8:00 eLearning Fridays. Periods 5 - 7 a.m. and use those first 30 minutes as free The four-day workweek model, while not work time for students. This allows for widely used, has shown great potential in the students to have a half hour of individual business world. One of the best examples is Wednesday: work time in the morning. From there, when Microsoft Japan attempted the fourIn-Person students go to first period from 8:30 a.m. to day week over the summer of 2019. The Periods 1 - 4 9:50 a.m. and then have 10 minutes to get changes were drastic, with the branch of the to second period, which runs from 10 a.m. global company reporting that productivity Thursday: to 11:20 a.m. This could lead to an hourincreased 40%. Alongside the rise in In-Person long break. During this time, there would productivity, Microsoft Japan was also able Periods 5 - 7 be the regular lunch cycles, but also time for to use 23% less electricity and print 60% fewer students and teachers to have a mid-day reset. pages. Most importantly, 92% of workers said Third period would be from 12:40 to 1:30 they were happier because of the change. p.m., followed by fourth period from 1:40 Elephant Ventures, a company that shifted Friday: p.m. until the end of the day at 3 p.m. The to four days while extending the workday next day, there could be periods five through eLearning from eight hours to 10, showed similar seven, as well as Targeted Instruction, which successes. Art Schectman, company founder Due on is set aside time for students who need help and president, said that they started to see Monday from teachers. With this, Fridays would the benefits after about a month. The keys remain as eLearning days where students were simple: flexibility and streamlining. get assignments and can get even more help. First, while their days were 10 hours, the Graphic by Nate Graphic by Nate Albin.Albin This would expand upon what Targeted company trusted that workers who missed Instruction can do because the teacher would not have to deal time during the week would work on Fridays, which they did. with distractions of other students and it would allow for more Meetings were shortened, attendance was cut down and they one-on-one time. instead gave that time for personal work time in the early More is not always better. A fifth day of school, while the norm, morning and after lunch. All of these changes led to what they may not be the best option for our school. The pandemic has believed was increased engagement and better work overall. caused sudden shifts to how we live, and that includes how we While the productivity benefits of the four-day workweek conduct school. Even though it will be great to return normal, are evident, the potential profit gains are not the only reason; that does not mean we should leave all the innovations the some reasons are environmental. The Lake County, Illinois pandemic brought behind us. Environmental Health Department tried this model and
