Four-day school weeks have become popular in Idaho, but they aren’t a new fad. In the 2007-08 school year (the earliest year for which data is available), there were 12 school districts and charter schools in rural areas using the adapted calendar. In 2025-26, there were 96 across the entire state.
The West Bonner and Post Falls school districts moved to the four-day model in the 2023-24 school year. For Post Falls, the decision was made largely because the district had trouble attracting and retaining a workforce when higher-paying Washington jobs were just miles away.
Parents, students and staff were surveyed in 2023 before the schedule started, halfway through its first year in 2024, and again in 2025. Each year, support for the model grew in each demographic…