4-day school week a hit in Rich

Lamborn plans to present a full report of his district's four-day pilot program to the Utah State Board of Education in August. He hopes after a third year in the pilot program, the State Board will give Rich permission to make it permanent.

State Board member Teresa Theurer, of Logan, says she believes one of the benefits for the Rich School District is many of the coaches are teachers, so the four-day program keeps the teachers in the classroom.

"I think it's a great idea," Theurer said. "Hopefully this can work out for other rural schools."

However, Johnson said if other districts in Kane's region don't switch to a four-day week and schedule athletics and other activities for only Fridays and Saturdays, it wouldn't be effective for Kane to go to a four-day week.

"It would be quite an adjustment," Johnson said. "Whether it will ever happen or not, I am not sure."

Duchesne District Superintendent John Aland said if the districts in his region don't do a four-day school week, perhaps the only alternative to keep kids in school is to eliminate some of the activities.

The Utah High School Activities Association board plans to discuss in August the idea of cutting back on athletic contests to reduce transportation costs for Utah school districts.

"It's on the table for serious discussion, but it will need to have serious study," said UHSAA executive director Dave Wilkey.

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