Alamosa school board gets four-day school week presentation Thursday

THE committee studying a four-day school week in Alamosa will show its cards during a presentation and public comment scheduled for Thursday before the Alamosa school board.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Alamosa High School auditorium. Superintendent Diana Jones and Assistant Superintendent Luis Murillo are encouraging community members to  provide public comment as part of the meeting.

The idea of a four-day school week has been the talk of Alamosa ever since the district surveyed its community and launched a committee to study moving Alamosa Schools to four days. There are all sorts of implications for families, employers, the schools themselves and the community at-large.

The committee is scheduled to present its findings and recommendation to the Alamosa Board of Education at its meeting Thursday. In a correspondence to families, Jones and Murillo said the committee has looked at calendar options, school times, student activities on the fifth day of the week, researched articles and made academic projections, all of which will be discussed and presented to the school board.

“We encourage your attendance and comments during the public comment section,” the school administrators said. The school board will not make a decision until its regular board meeting on Jan. 5.

Of the 178 school districts in Colorado, 114 are on a four-day school week, according to data from the Colorado Department of Education.