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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- To facilitate sports competition, the Rich County School District wants to go to a four-day school week.
District Superintendent Dale Lamborn has asked the Utah Board of Education to allow the four-day school week.
When the district's high school in Randolph has region games, students must travel 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours one way to get to another school.
Lamborn says that many of the teachers are coaches, so they are unable to teach on game days.
Many of the 416 students who attend the two elementary schools, one junior high and one high school in rural Rich County must travel 30 minutes to an hour to get to school every day. The district would save on transportation costs if the school week were shortened.
Lamborn presented his proposal to the state school board in December.
It met with resistance from some Law and Policy Committee members because of the negative public outcry when rural districts tried four-day school weeks in the early 1990s.
The state school board is expected to make a decision at its Jan. 12 meeting.
If the state board approves the switch, Lamborn will ask the Utah High School Activities Association if he can schedule all extracurricular activities on Thursday night, Friday and Saturday. He also has devised a potential school schedule that would increase the school day by an hour, so that school would be held from 8 a.m. to 3:25 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
Parent Heidi Weston is concerned about children getting home even later, but she still might back the proposal.
She said her daughter in junior high plays volleyball and basketball, and often doesn't arrive home until 5:30 due to practice and a 30-minute bus ride.
"If she was getting home at 6 or 7, that would be awfully late to start homework and dinner," Weston said. "That's a long time to have the kids away from home every day."
However, she said she would probably be in favor of it, especially if games could be scheduled on nonschool days. Her daughter's games are on Tuesday and Thursday, which makes for late midweek nights.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
