Nine more Missouri school districts will have 4-day weeks this year. Here’s where

Natalie Wallington
·2 min read

Nine school districts in Missouri will, for the first time this year, hold classes only four days per week.

The nine districts, serving more than 21,000 students, are part of a total of 155 districts operating on four-day weeks heading into the new school year. All told, those districts serve over 95,000 public school students.

By far the largest of the new four-day week districts is the Independence School District, which voted to make the switch last December in order to attract and retain staff.

Here are the Missouri school districts adopting four-day weeks for the first time during the 2023-2024 school year, along with the number of students they serve:

  • Independence 30: 14,359 students

  • Morgan County R-II: 1,297 students

  • Crawford County R-II: 1,291 students

  • Mountain View-Birch Tree R-III: 1,254 students

  • Steelville R-III: 978 students

  • Sparta R-III: 745 students

  • Shelby County R-IV: 706 students

  • Fair Play R-II: 324 students

  • Delta C-7: 159 students

According to data collected by the Missouri State University College of Education, the 95,000 students in four-day week districts represent around 11% of Missouri’s over 861,000 K-12 students, up from just 8.4% last year.

These percentages are likely underestimated, because statewide student data includes charter school students, while four-day week district data only counts students in traditional district schools.

Check out the map below to see where Missouri public school districts operate four days per week. The districts marked in green will do so for the first time this school year. You can hover over any district to see its name and student population.

How many school districts in Kansas will have a four-day week next year?

We won’t know exactly which districts will adopt this reduced schedule until after the state’s reporting deadline on Aug. 21. The Star will share those numbers as soon as they are available.

However, we know that 25 districts containing a total of 56 schools operated on a four-day schedule last year. None of these districts were in the Kansas City area.

Here’s a map of the four-day week districts in Kansas last year, color coded by how long they had been operating on this schedule:

Do you have more questions about education in the Kansas City area? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.