Because of declining enrollment, increasing costs and lower tax revenues, the Glenville-Emmons School District is seeking input about going to a four-day school week.

In a letter to parents of the district’s students, Superintendent Mark Roubinek said the school district will face a large budget deficit next year — a shortfall of more than $200,000.

“This budget deficit increases even more during the 2010-11 school year if we don’t find more revenue or cut our operating costs,” Roubinek said. “One of the cost-cutting measures that the board directed me to investigate is going to a four-day school week.”

He said there are several districts around the state investigating the change to save money, and currently there is one district, the Maynard, Clara City and Raymond School District — termed MACCRAY — that is using that system.

Though his research is not complete, he anticipates that going to a four-day week would reduce the yearly budget by about $50,000, Roubinek said.

The weekly instructional time would be about the same, just condensed into four days and would allow for the student school day to be closer to the parent work day. They would be in school from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Roubinek talked about the positive and negative observations that have come out of the MACCRAY Public School’s move to a four-day week.

Positive observations include an increase in enrollment, improved attendance by students and staff, savings on transportation, food, substitute teacher, support staff and energy costs, and a decrease in discipline referrals, the letter states.

Other positive observations include allowing the district to maintain some programs it would have to eliminate because of a larger budget deficit and giving the students more time for homework and projects on an “off day,” according to the letter.

There’s also higher student and staff morale, longer days to allow students to work on projects in class, more staff development time and more family time.

Some of the negative observations include a longer student day, a shorter time to prepare for evening events and activities, and uncertainty about student academic performance, the letter states.

Some support service jobs would be reduced, students would miss class time to get out early to attend school events, and varsity and junior high practice schedules would need to be readjusted and run until 7 p.m.

Wednesday practice time would be short from 4:30 to 6 p.m., it continues.

Bus routes would have to begin earlier (6:25 a.m.) and end later (5:35 p.m.), and families might also have to change their daycare or child supervision to accommodate for the off day. Events that take place on the “off day” would operate with an inside thermostat setting of 60 degrees, according to the letter.

Roubinek said though the list of pros and cons is not complete, those are some of the major issues that would arise if the change to a four-day school week is implemented.

Families in the district are asked to indicate whether they strongly support, support, are neutral, disagree or strongly disagree with going to a four-day school week.

One parent, Terry Cunningham, said she and her husband, Patrick, are in favor of going to a four-day school week.

“From our family here, we’re all for it,” Cunningham said. “It’s not going to hurt the kids at all.”

She said if going to a four-day school week would help the district save some money, she’s in favor of it, especially if that will help the district keep its doors open.

The mother said she has three foster children, ages 4, 5 and 6, a daughter who is 17 and a son who has graduated. She’d love to have an extra day to spend with her kids, she noted.

Because she has a licensed day care facility in her home, she also wouldn’t have any concern with trying to find somewhere for her kids to go on their day off, she said.

Another parent, Brenda Koch, said her family is neutral about the possibility of a four-day school week. She has children in seventh and ninth grade.

“If I had smaller children, I wouldn’t like it,” Koch said. “They’d be getting on the bus at dark and getting home at dark.”

A four-day school week would also mean later sports practices, which would be a concern, she said. The school district would have to go through and change all of the schedules for practices and make sure they still work out with other school districts who aren’t on the same schedules.

“It would be a big undertaking, but maybe it is the coming of the future of some schools who are going to have to do it to exist,” Koch said. “They need to look into definite possibilities to help them exist and keep on going.”

One of the positive aspects of going with the four-day school week would be that the day schedules would better coincide with working parents, she said.

The mother said her children are not in favor of the change “probably because of earlier starts and later practices.”

Roubinek said the school board will meet Monday to talk about the results of the parent feedback.

Parents were to have their comments in by today.