Kingsley-Pierson Community School District considers 4-day school week

KINGSLEY, Iowa (KTIV) - Monday, we told you about the River Valley Community School District’s move to a 4-day school week, next fall.

It’s part of an ongoing trend of Iowa schools changing their schedules, with 27 school districts across the state switching to 4-day weeks.

Now, we’re learning about how Northwest Iowa’s Kingsley-Pierson Community School District is considering a similar move. In fact, an open forum on the subject is set for Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Principal Adam Brand says discussions on this change began in December 2025.

Iowa requires 1,080 hours of instruction in a school year. If Kingsley-Pierson makes the switch, those hours will be distributed over 4 days each week.

In that situation, those school days would be 45 minutes longer.

For example, the high school would begin at 7:45 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. While the middle and elementary schools would start at 8 a.m. and end at 3:45 p.m. Mondays would be eliminated.

Brand says saving money on staffing is one incentive for switching to a 4-day school week.

“One of our biggest areas that we are able to save is going to a 4-day week, we do not staff days of substitutes, so when staff are absent that would be one day a week less that we would have to classrooms with substitutes,“ said Adam Brand, Kingsley-Pierson K-12 Principal.

Brand says one of the biggest concerns about a 4-day week is finding childcare on days when those kids aren’t in school.

“Most of the students that attend here, especially our elementary, will need an alternative. Whether that’s grandparents, high school students, or providers that are in our area,“ said Brand.

Following Wednesday night’s open forum, which starts at 6 p.m. inside the Kingsley school library, surveys will go out. The results will then be analyzed. That will happen before the school board votes on it.

That survey will also determine what the community needs to put in place to support the change.

Follow this link for a video explainer.

Follow this link to review the slides yourself.

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