The Lincoln School Board will discuss changing to a four-day work week during a work session tonight.

On Monday, school superintendent Kathy Heisler urged parents to attend and get more information about the proposal.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at the school gymnasium.

The earliest a decision would be made about the proposal is the Dec. 8 board meeting, she said. And the earliest any change would go into effect is next school year.

At tonight's meeting, Alberton School District Superintendent Jim Baldwin will discuss how the shorter week has worked in that community.

The Alberton district is in its third month of trying a four-day schedule.

Saving money on utilities and transportation and boosting attendance are two reasons Lincoln School District began discussing changing the school week, said Heisler.

"In a small school, when athletic teams leave, that's a lot of kids," said Heisler.

The class can't move forward in its work with that many students gone, she explained.

A four-day schedule would accommodate most of the athletic events.

"Closing the school one day a week could also save utilities for part of a day," she said.

The new school week would also give families one day per week to schedule out-of-town appointments for doctors, dentists and orthodontists.

And for Lincoln residents, most, if not all, such appointments require out-of-town trips, said Heisler.

Once she looked at changing the school week, Heisler said, she found it would only require small changes in the school day.

School now runs from 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Under the new proposal, the schedule would start at 8 a.m. each day and end at 4:15 p.m.

Heisler said the days school would be held haven't yet been determined.

The school year would start Aug. 25 and run to June 3.

Students would have 1,080 hours of classroom instruction during the school year, which would meet state standards.

So far, parents are undecided abou the idea, she said.

"We did a survey of students and parents," Heisler said. "People aren't willing to make up their minds until they have more information."

Some working parents who have small children in school raised concerns that they would have to find day care.

"We also worry about a longer school day with younger kids," Heisler said.

According to Baldwin, these concerns were also raised in Alberton, but have proven to not be issues.

Families and students have adapted to the new schedule, he said.

"Both the staff and school morale are high," said Baldwin.

The staff concentrates the program into four days, he said.

"I've been in the business for 33 years," he said. "Fridays always seemed wasted."

Alberton School District is merely following in the footsteps of Victor School District, he said.

"We let them pioneer on it and then jumped on board with it," he said. That district has been doing it for three years.

"It's been a real positive thing," he said.

"Our absence totals have gone down… and academic scores went up."

Alberton School District is hoping to save $20,000 in utilities, he said, and $30,000 in transportation.

Reporter Marga Lincoln: 447-4074 or marga.lincoln@helenair.com