Pocatello-Chubbuck could become the next school district to shorten its instructional week. But the school board won’t make a decision anytime soon.
After a handful of discussions in recent months on implementing a four-day week or moving toward a five-day “hybrid” model, trustees on May 20 unanimously agreed to form a committee that will study options and survey district patrons later this year.
Pocatello operates on trimesters, with a five-day school week and one-hour early releases on Mondays, when teachers have time to collaborate. District leaders in recent months have considered a few calendar changes, including:
- Switching from trimesters to semesters
- Implementing a four-day week, where students are off on the fifth day and staff use it for planning and training
- Modifying the five-day week by adding early-release days and periodic non-student days throughout the year
Semesters would better align with other school districts and with dual-credit classes offered by colleges and universities, Superintendent Douglas Howell told Idaho Education News this week.
Shortening the school week, however, would be more contentious.
Four-day weeks are becoming the norm across Idaho. During the 2025-26 school year, about two in three traditional school districts used four-day calendars. Eighteen of the state’s 76 charter schools also have four-day weeks. In 2024, the Nampa School District — roughly the same size as Pocatello-Chubbuck — became the largest school district to join the four-day trend, which is more common among smaller districts.
As EdNews previously reported, the four-day week is gaining popularity, but research on how it affects learning remains indecisive. While cost savings for a district are marginal, at best, the four-day week can be an attractive teacher recruitment and retention tool. Many parents also like three-day weekends for flexibility around vacations, doctor appointments and other things that conflict with school schedules.
Still, some Pocatello trustees appeared skeptical of the four-day option in recent board meetings. Trustee Megan Furniss pointed to research showing declining test scores in districts that switched to four days. Four-day weeks also typically mean longer school days for students and teachers — a way to maintain minimum instructional hours required by the state.
“Kids’ attention spans max out at a certain point. We have all witnessed this,” Furniss said during the school board’s May 20 meeting. “To say ‘Let’s add 75 more minutes to their already maxed-out day’ does not equal more learning. It actually just equals more time.”
Howell said that other districts in eastern Idaho, along with a charter school in the city of Pocatello, have recently moved to four-day or hybrid models, or they’re considering it. A four-day week also came up this year in conversations between administrators and the Pocatello Education Association (PEA), the local teachers’ union, Howell said.
Click here to read EdNews’ special series on four-day weeks, “The Four-day Phenomenon.”
PEA President Mary Anne McGrory told the school board last month that the union is “not pushing for either a four-day week or a five-day week.” Rather, union members are hoping to have a “real discussion and a review” of the calendar. But trustees have yet to ask teachers for their input, McGrory said.
Trustees considered releasing a survey soliciting input from district employees and parents on the four-day and five-day hybrid options. Trustee Heather Clarke recommended hitting pause — on the survey and any decisions about calendar changes — until a committee could look at the options more closely.
“I don’t even know what our ‘why’ is, other than everyone else is doing it,” Clarke said of shortening the school week. “And that’s not a real good ‘why.’”
Last month’s special meeting on potential calendar changes garnered some initial feedback — from parents, teachers and administrators. So far, it’s been mixed, according to emails shared with the school board and attached to the last month’s meeting agenda.
Brandi Johnson, a parent, said a four-day week would offer more flexibility with school and work schedules. “Anywhere we can find compromise would be greatly appreciated,” Johnson wrote to trustees.
Malia Fifita, a student at Highland High School, also supported a four-day calendar. Fridays are when “burnout hits the hardest,” Fifita wrote, and having that day off could help students “slow things down and get things done.”
Others raised concerns about potential negative consequences. Bethany Coffin, a behavior technician at New Horizons Center, wrote that teaching hours are already long at Pocatello’s alternative school, and some students “depend on our school for clothing, food and mental health services,” which they could access for one fewer day per week under a four-day calendar.
Before the school board’s May 20 meeting, trustees asked school principals for feedback on the five-day hybrid. This option could include additional early-release days and moving Monday’s teacher collaboration time to Friday. Some principals said this change likely would lead to more absences on Friday — among students and teachers — and it could interfere with other non-instructional time commitments, like meetings related to individual education programs for students with special needs.
“My vote would be to keep it the way it is,” wrote Nichole Garza, principal at Lewis and Clark Elementary School.
The five-member school board unanimously agreed with Clark’s recommendation to form a committee that will consider calendar changes for 2027-28 or the following year. The panel will include parents, trustees and representatives of a range of district employees, including teachers, union members, administrators and classified staff.
