Moves to save money and entice good teachers to stay in the Apache Junction School District may be backfiring.
Many working parents are fed up with the new four-day school week, since they’re now on the hook to find care for their kids on Fridays.
Superintendent Chad Wilson says the lack of money has forced some schools to close, causing class sizes to swell, and hundreds of students to leave.
"I would expect our enrollment to decline ... Could be by several hundred,” said Dr. Wilson.
The shorter school week is saving the district about $150,000 a year, but that’s little consolation for parents who can’t stay home with their kids an extra day.
“Families that have to work Monday through Friday full time, it’s very much affecting them,” said Cami Garcia, who has three boys in the school district. “It’s frustrating to know that people are moving elsewhere because of our school suffering.”
Cami Garcia is one of dozens of volunteers with the group “Save our Schools.” They meet twice a week to make phone call and hand out flyers about the upcoming override vote in November.
“We’re running this like a real campaign,” said David Coward, another volunteer. “We’ve got people knocking on doors, making phone calls.”
But Superintendent Chad Wilson says not everyone is against the four-day school week.
“It’s actually going really well,” he said. “The teachers are telling me, 'I love having extra time during the course of the day'”.
The override vote will be placed on the ballot in November. Even if it does pass, that does not guarantee the district will return to a five-day school week. It will, however, provide them with millions of tax dollars to come up with a solution.
The override vote will be placed on the ballot in November. Even if it does pass, that does not guarantee the district will return to a five-day school week. It will, however, provide them with millions of tax dollars to come up with a solution.
