Does Illinois Even Allow A 4-Day School Week?

The school week isn't a whole 5 days for everyone in the country.

The new school year is just about upon us and the debate resumes: do we like 4-day school weeks or not? Several districts in Iowa are signing on for it for the 2024-2025 school year.

Like anything in life, it has benefits and drawbacks. Supporters say it can save the district money and attract teachers. Those that dissent say that a longer school day might result in students becoming more tired and more distracted.

Inside A 4-Day School Week

For several districts, the 4-day school week can either be Monday-Thursday or Tuesday-Friday. North Iowa Community Schools, for example, has classes Tuesday-Friday from 8:05 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Many of the schools do offer childcare on the extra day.

The idea of a 4-day school week is long debated but increasingly more popular, so I did some digging to see how Iowa's pals across the river in Illinois are handling the situation. I found nothing about any school district in Illinois doing it, nor legit confirmation that the state even allowed it.

Back in a 2010 bill, Illinois talked about letting districts choose the 4-day school week thing if they wanted to, but it apparently never progressed from there.

Here's the latest map from CBS showing states that allow 4-day school weeks and the constantly rising number of districts nationwide that get on board.

Overall, the 4-day school week trend is more popular for rural districts, since it is more cost-effective.

Multiple states and school districts are adopting the new policy just now for the 2024-2025 school year. Normally, Illinois' State Board of Education mandates a minimum of 185 days in the school calendar to ensure 176 days of pupil attendance.