(Radio Iowa) – A southeast Iowa school board has approved a shift to a four-day school week, starting in August. Joel Pedersen is the superintendent of the Cardinal Community School District, which is based in Eldon. “I’m certainly excited,” Pedersen says. “I’m also understanding of some of the concerns that are still there and we need to work through those.” The school board vote was unanimous, with one board member absent.

Pedersen says while he understands some families are apprehensive about the adjusted schedule, school staff were surveyed and 95 percent support the move to a four-day week. “We want to be there,” Pedersen says. “We don’t want it to be something that derails some of the positives of the four-day school week because we think we haven’t even tapped all the opportunities.” Pedersen believes the new schedule will help with teacher retention.

“Different generations value different things,” Pedersen says. “You look at some of the younger teachers. They talk a lot about time and time being more important than necessarily money.” Cardinal will be the fourth school district in Iowa to have a four-day school week when the 2022-23 school year begins. WACO, Mormon Trail, and Moulten-Udell are the other three. Pedersen predicts the shortened week will be more widespread in the future.

“I think you’ll see this move across Iowa,” Pedersen says. “I think you’re going to see lots and lots of schools across Iowa do this.” Before the pandemic, 662 U.S. school districts were on four-days-a-week schedules and that number has increased, particularly in rural areas of the country.