NAMPA, Idaho — Nampa School District board of trustees confirmed the 2024-25 school calendar, reflecting the move to four-day school weeks with Fridays off and 50-day trimesters.
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- The decision has not been sitting well with some parents
- Concerns around the District's CTE programming were expressed by one trustee member.
- A trimester schedule will allow for longer class days over the 4 days in school during the week.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
The Nampa School District Board of Trustees made the decision earlier this year to move to a four-day school week starting next fall. Now the board solidified the schedule for next school year with students set for class Monday through Thursday. The decision has not been sitting well with some parents
"Do you think a 4-day school week in any way will be a benefit to students?" I asked Brandy Forras, parent of a Nampa School District sophomore.
"I don't believe so. They'll have much longer school days, especially with younger kids and students who struggle who have behavioral issues. This is just going to exacerbate those and make them much worse," she responded.
The move to a four-day school week isn't the only schedule change brought to the Nampa School District. Instead of four semesters through the year, schools will be on three trimesters. I talked with Brandy's son who is concerned about his career and technical education courses.
"My biggest concern is the trimester due to the six periods and it will make it more difficult for some of my CTE classes, stuff like welding and EMT, it's very difficult to have such short time to do that with." Levi Forras said.
These concerns were brought by one of the trustees when the decision to move to four-day weeks happened.
"I feel like we're going to see CTE classes drop because everyone I've spoken to, they want to be at their home school and it's just not possible when you're driving across the city to go do another class," Nampa School Board trustee David Jennings expressed.
"Do you think that the happenstance of 4-day and tri-6 coming, does that in any way help the trimester system by having a little bit longer of a class?" I asked Levi.
"I would say it does help but marginally. I know for a fact that some of my teachers, they don't want to do a double block where they take multiple periods so they get all their education in. It's not a very effective way to do things."
