The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction is weighing new rules for four-day-a-week K-12 schools, but some educators say the proposed changes would unfairly burden rural schools.

Under the four-day-a-week model, districts still must still meet the same requirements for minimum instruction time, so school days are longer. Districts that want to adopt the schedule must apply for approval from the Department of Public Instruction.

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According to the state agency, 15 school districts have made the switch so far. An additional four were recently approved to move to a four-day-a-week schedule for the 2026-2027 school year. All of the districts serve rural areas, including several tribal communities.

Many educators and leaders from districts who have gone to a four-day system say it has helped improve the quality of their instruction, student attendance and teacher retention and recruitment.

Alexander Public Schools, a district in northwest North Dakota, has used the four-day school week model for the past eight years.

“This started as a student-driven initiative in our district,” Alexander High School Principal Shannon Faller said at a recent public hearing on the potential amendments to four-day-a-week regulations. “They saw it through with the administration and our community.”

New rules

The Department of Public Instruction is considering adopting new rules that would change the criteria it uses to determine if school districts qualify for the four-day-a-week system.

The agency under the current rules must determine whether the change is likely to produce any of five possible benefits: Encouraging innovation in teaching, improving academic outcomes and opportunities, allowing greater flexibility in how school facilities are used or producing significant cost savings for the district.

The proposed amendments would eliminate cost savings and facility use from the list, focusing only on academic factors instead.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Levi Bachmeier said the agency’s objective is to make the criteria “only about what’s happening in the classroom.”

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Some educators and administrators who testified at the hearing pushed back on the idea of only evaluating the model based on how it affects learning.

Schools — especially those with small class sizes — can see large fluctuations in test scores from year-to-year based on the makeup of their student bodies, they said.

“One challenging year should not place an entire district’s calendar structure at risk,” Faller said.

Several school district representatives during the hearing also said while the rules ask schools to display “innovation in teaching” and to improve “educational outcomes,” it doesn’t adequately define those terms.

Under the current rules, once a school is approved for the four-day week schedule, it must apply to renew its permission the following year. If a second year of four-day school weeks is approved, the school can request to continue the system for an additional one or five years. The proposed amendments wouldn’t change this.

Whether schools receive reauthorization for the schedule depends on how well they meet evaluation criteria. Bachmeier said the Department of Public Instruction’s priority is ensuring four-day schedules don’t negatively impact students’ ability to learn.

Multiple educators and administrators during the hearing said they don’t think the success of the four-day system can be fairly evaluated in such a short time frame.

Representative LaurieBeth Hager, D-Fargo, who sits on the House Education Committee, said during the hearing she thinks the proposed changes are too significant to be adopted through rulemaking.

“I’m confused that this is an administrative rules hearing,” she said. “I’m looking at amendments to law.”

Hager said that the changes should be brought during the upcoming legislative session, where there would be more opportunity for public comment and the proposed amendments would have to be vetted by lawmakers.

Leslie Bieber, superintendent of Alexander Public Schools, said in an interview the four-day schedule is overwhelmingly popular with the district.

She said teachers value the ability to spend an extra day a week with their families, and feel that the longer school days allow them to plan lessons more effectively. A survey found that 95% of parents, 96% of students and 97% of staff support the four-day weeks, Bieber said.

McClusky-Goodrich Schools, a district in central North Dakota, was recently approved to switch to four days a week. Superintendent D’Aulan Bussman said she’s hopeful the alternative setup will help the district attract and retain teachers.

Some staff have told her they are searching for other jobs but will stay if the four- day model is adopted, Bussman said.

She added that her district will be actively monitoring test scores and is open to reverting to the five- day weeks if they prove to be a better fit.