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Our Opinion: Can area landscapes be kept litter-free?

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Food trucks will offer fare at this year’s Riverfest

<p>Hazleton Area again is poised to move boldly into new territory locally, with a plan to hold four-day school weeks in December, January and February.</p><p>In the past two decades, Hazleton Area has been a bellwether among Luzerne County school districts. Wilkes-Barre Area is considering consolidating two high schools? Hazleton Area consolidated three in 1992.</p><p>Want to debate grade configuration &#8212; elementary, middle and high vs. K-8 and 9-12? Hazleton Area decided to move to the K-8 model back in 1995.</p><p>Worried about what&#8217;s in a student&#8217;s backpack? Hazleton Area first proposed clear backpacks in 1995. The district with the first full-time security director? The clear backpack idea was proposed by district Security Director Vincent Zola, already more than a year on the job.</p><p>Hazleton Area was first or among the first area districts to deal with restrictive dress codes, metal detectors, gangs and student diversity. It established the county&#8217;s first and still only freestanding science academy dedicated to the now-hip STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects.</p><p>The point: Ignore Hazleton Area&#8217;s trends at your own peril.</p><p>So far, the School Board is merely dipping a toe into the four-day idea by limiting it to three months. The fact that they are winter months, as Business Manager Anthony Ryba pointed out, diminishes the impact.</p><p>Excluding Feb. 29, the 2015-16 calendar had 12 Mondays in those three months. Four were holidays &#8212; before and after Christmas, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day.</p><p>Two other days were a teacher &#8220;in-service&#8221; day and an &#8220;Act 80&#8221; day. Move those to Mondays and you have six of 12 weeks already shortened to four student days.</p><p>Couple all of that with the fact that Hazleton Area already schedules more school hours than the state mandates &#8212; meaning a limited four-day trial may not require going to longer days &#8212; and this modest experiment could have minimal impact on parents and students, Ryba argued.</p><p>Four-day weeks may be new here, but they are growing as a cost-savings move nationwide. A July 2015 article in Education Week reported at least 120 districts in 21 states were using the truncated schedule.</p><p>Reports on the impact of such a change are frustratingly mixed. In one case test scores went up, in another they went down. Money savings were sometimes small, and occasionally non-existent. One limited review found students in four-day schools less likely to attend to college.</p><p>The reality seems clear: There is too little research on a four-day approach to draw any concrete conclusions.</p><p>On the one hand, Hazleton Area&#8217;s limited application of the idea may present a low-risk opportunity to see how the four-day weeks play out locally, a pilot project for possible future expansion.</p><p>On the other hand, insufficient information on the long-term impact puts up a big yellow flag. Hazleton Area must proceed into these uncharted waters with appropriate caution.</p><style>
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Our Opinion: Hazleton Area’s 4-day school week merits caution