ROCK SPRINGS – Parents of Sweetwater County School District 1 students gave various feedback regarding the four-day school week, start and end times and the impact inclement weather has had on families during the SCSD1 board meeting on Monday, March 13.
“For the next two years, we are planning to make some adjustments,” said Nicole Bolton, director of human resources for SCSD1. “It was asked that we take the calendars to the calendar committee and look at the 147 days in order to properly address the concerns that have come forward.”
One of the concerns, Bolton said, was the same start times of K-6, with parents having difficulties getting their children to one school and to another, especially when one of the schools is located on the other side of town.
As requested by parents, the calendar committee for SCSD1 has created an alternative start/end schedule for schools in Rock Springs by staggering school start times by ten minutes:
K-6 - Start Time -7:50 a.m.
Currently, the start time for K-6 is 8:10 a.m.
K-6 – End Time – 3:05 p.m.
Currently, the end time for K-6 is 3 p.m.
4-6 grade – Start Time – 8 a.m.
Currently, the start time for 4-6 is 8:10 a.m.
4-6 grade – End Time – 3:15 p.m.
Currently, the end time for 4-6 grade is 3 p.m.
Rock Springs Junior High – Start Time – 8:30 a.m.
Currently, the start time is 8 a.m.
Rock Springs Junior High – End Time – 3:50 p.m.
Currently, the end time is 3:45 p.m.
Rock Springs High School – Start Time - 8 a.m.
Currently, the start time for Rock Springs High School is 8 a.m.
Rock Springs High School – End Time – 3:55 p.m.
Currently, the end time is 4:15 p.m.
“The reason why we are suggesting such drastic changes to the junior high is because we need to stagger times between our elementary schools and at least the junior high or the high school,” said Bolton. “We know that one of the concerns that we have heard is the high school’s end time of 4:15 is too late.”
In response to parents who have asked to move the end time to 4 p.m., the district proposed that the high school’s end time would be 3:55 p.m.
“The reason why we're not recommending that K-3 start at 8:40 is because it would move their time of getting out so close to the other schools that are getting out that it would undo all of our busing and ability to tier routes in the afternoon because of after school programs and different things, there is a significantly higher need for busing in the afternoon,” Bolton explained. “It would, essentially, create some of the concerns we've had in the morning to the afternoon.”
Also included in the alternative scheduling:
Wamsutter Elementary/Middle School – Start Time – 8:30 a.m. Currrently, the start time is
The following calendar days for Option 1 for the 2023-2024 school year in Rock Springs are:
First Day of School – Wednesday, Aug. 16
Thanksgiving Break – W-F, 3 days
Christmas Break – 7 days, 1.5 weeks
Spring Break – 5 days
Easter Monday Off – Yes
Last Day for Teachers – May 24
The following calendar days for Option 2 for the 2023-2024 school year in Rock Springs are:
First Day of School – Wednesday, Aug. 16
Thanksgiving Break – M-F, 5 days
Christmas Break – 10 days, 2 weeks
Spring Break – 5 days
Easter Monday Off – Yes
The following calendar days for Option 1 for the 2024-2025 school year in Rock Springs are:
First Day of School – Wednesday, Aug. 14
Thanksgiving Break – Wednesday – Friday, 3 days
Christmas Break – 10 days, 2 weeks
Spring Break – 5 days
Easter Monday Off – No
Last Day for Teachers – May 23, 2025
The following calendar days for Option 2 for the 2024-2025 school year in Rock Springs are:
First Day of School – Wednesday, Aug. 14
Thanksgiving Break, M-F, 5 days
Christmas Break – 10 days, 2 weeks
Spring Break – 5 days
Easter Monday Off – Yes
Last Day of School for Teachers – May 30, 2025
There were 307 responses to the recent survey results for the 2023-2024 calendar school year. Out of the 307, 184 voted in favor of Option 1 and 123 voted in favor of Option 2.
Regarding the four-day school week survey, 601 parents responded with 72% in favor of the four-day school week while 28% oppose the four-day school week.
According to the staff survey, regarding the four-day school week, 62% of employees responded with 77% in favor of the four-day school week and 23% oppose the four-day school week.
Sweetwater County resident Jennifer Baird was the first parent to speak during the public hearing. She spoke on behalf of the students who ride the “town bus to Farson for school.”
Baird pointed out the “pros” for her children attending the school in Farson such as small class-size, better test scores, one-on-one attention in a class of 11 and simply “enjoying the small-town feel” of a “slower-pace” community.
Baird also mentioned a few “cons.”
“We experienced that big snow day, which made those roads dangerous.” said Baird. “There was a black ice warning and the bus ‘swirled out’ a bit but made it.”
Since there were still a black ice warning by the next day and an impending snowstorm, Baird chose not to send her children to school.
“I asked if I could do a virtual day for the kids to keep them home safe, but I was quickly shot down and was told that's not what it's used for,” Baird explained.
According to the district's transportation department, she said, they weren't allowed to travel on black ice, but that changed in 2020. It was changed to “no travel if there's no unnecessary travel present.”
Baird believe that the virtual day technology should be used to keep the children safe at home. She requested that when black ice is present, the board should give parents the opportunity “to have a voice” on whether they should send their children out to school.
Baird said that during a whiteout recently, parents waited for a notification on whether or not there will be school. By 6:28 a.m., they finally received a notification that school is still in session.
“They're supposed to get on the bus by 6:30 a.m., so that gave us only two minutes to decide whether or not we’re going to send them to school,” she shared. "I'm not trying to take advantage of virtual learning. I just want the wording to change so the kids can stay safe on the days that there is black ice on the way to Farson.”
Baird suggested the board should add language in the virtual learning policy, adding “black ice” with “inclement weather.”
Cheri Gibbons, a SCSD1 parent, has children in the second, third, sixth, seventh and 10th grades. She told the board that she was still a stay-at-home mother when she voted in favor of the four-day school week.
“As life happens, things change and I started working,” Gibbons explained. “Both of my older kids said that they like this four-day school week, but they said it's stressful and they feel like they have to cram a lot of content in a short amount of time.”
Gibbons said that her “dream schedule” would be that students in K-6 would have a five-day school week and students seventh grade and up would have a four-day school week.
Rock Springs resident Jennifer Clerkin expressed her concerns over traffic issues created by the concurrent start and end times at Rock Springs High School and Eastside Elementary.
“I would suggest having the K-4 kids start at 8 a.m. and move the fourth through sixth grades to a bit earlier to ease traffic,” Clerkin said.
Rock Springs resident Dan Calvey has a son in the fourth grade and a daughter in the seventh grade. He shared the discussions he’s had with educators during parent-teacher conferences regarding the four-day school week.
“I’d ask them if they have enough time to teach and they said, ‘No,'" Calvey revealed. “They said ‘We don’t have enough time. We’re always rushed.’”
He asked, “If we go through this a few more times and the test scores don’t improve, are we going back to a five-day school week?”
Calvey shared some research he had done on the internet.
“The data for the five-day school week outperformed the ones in a four-day week,” he said. “I’d like the five-day-week.”
Black Butte High School student, TruAnne Berg, who is a student liaison during Monday's meeting, said that she has seen the good and the bad with the four-day school week.
“Every school, every student is different,” Berg pointed out. “We all have different needs. Personally, the four-day week helps me support my academics.”
Chairwoman Carol Jelaco said, “We knew it was going to take time. Success is not immediate. There’s a lot of change and we want to better serve students.”
The SCSD1 board of trustees will make a decision regarding school scheduling during their next meeting on Tuesday, April 11.
