The five-day school week is seen as the “typical” school week for many students. However, with recent debate about the benefits of a four-day school week, many ask what that implementation could really mean. 

Throughout U.S. history, the workweek’s length has decreased considerably and many have rebelled against the traditional duration of workweeks. People have joined various shorter-hour movements which explain the workweek’s decline over time.

People pushing for a shorter workweek isn’t a new concept. In many industrial American factories, people worked upwards of twelve hours a day sometimes for six or seven days. In the 19th century, Welsh manufacturer and labor rights activist Robert Owen coined the slogan “eight hours’ labor, eight hours’ recreation, eight hours’ rest.”

The exhaustion and exploitation of workers during this time pushed the government to pass the Fair Labor Standards Act which limited the work week to forty hours.

It is no surprise that many are pushing for an even shorter work week. There has been a debate on the FISD board of trustees about implementing a four-day work week since many other districts in Texas have pushed for the change. 

FISD has five-day school weeks with various holidays separating each marking period. The two-day weekend isn’t enough time for many to take a break from the busy school week. In the U.S., students spend upwards of six hours per day studying various subjects. 

The eight hours of recreation Robert Owens pushed for in the nineteenth century are being consumed by studying and more time is needed to participate in other activities. 

The implementation of four-day school weeks provides many students with an opportunity to rest and relax. Having four-day weeks creates a less stressful environment and encourages students to find a balance between their work life and their home life. 

Academic burnout is defined as a lack of motivation that stems from academic stress. Burnout is becoming an ongoing problem for many high school students. Forty-nine percent of students reported feeling a lot of stress nearly every day. This stress comes from grades, homework, and preparing for college. 

This percentage of students that feel stressed would be significantly reduced if four-day school weeks were implemented.  

Research was conducted involving sixty-one UK organizations in which they all implemented a 20% reduction in working time without a loss in pay. The trial of a four-day working week led to reduced stress and illness. Seventy-one percent of employees reported lower levels of burnout and many experienced less stress compared to the start of the trial. 

Along with this, the implementation of four-day school weeks would also affect the mental health and well-being of teachers positively. The teacher shortage has become an issue as many teachers are leaving the profession due to a lack of support, lack of autonomy, poor working conditions, and the constantly changing curriculum. 

Four-day weeks give teachers flexibility and allow them to spend more time with their families, reducing the burnout experienced. This decision would also encourage more teachers to stay in the profession since four-day school weeks would mean an extra break. 

The four-day week resulted in an improvement in both student and teacher attendance.

In a study conducted by EdNC, over half of the respondents chose illness and mental or emotional health issues as the main reason students miss school in their community. With the implementation of a four-day school week, students would have the ability to focus on their emotional and physical well-being and attendance would improve. 

From industrial America to now, people have always pushed for a reduction of work/school days. The main reason for doing so is because of exhaustion and burnout. Reducing the school week to four days is not a revolutionary idea but rather, an effective way to ensure better rest, less stress, and burnout.