New Rules On Four-Day School Weeks Emphasize Better Instruction, Student Performance

State School Superintendent Levi Bachmeier said newly proposed state regulations will emphasize improved student performance for schools that want to operate four days a week.

The proposed rules outline three primary goals as prerequisites for Department of Public Instruction approval of a four-day week. The goals are: Encourage innovation to improve learning; improve student educational outcomes; and strengthen student academic opportunities.

The proposed new rules say that to be approved, a school district’s proposed four-day week must show it is likely that at least two of those three goals will be achieved because of the change.

The present application process already includes those goals, along with two others – saving money for the school district and giving students and members of the community more access to school facilities. The newly drafted rules omit those final two goals and abolish a requirement for a cost-benefit study of four-day weeks, given research that indicates districts do not realize big savings from the switch.

Under the present system, a school district’s application for a four-day week is required to meet only one of five goals: innovation in teaching, improved student educational outcomes, strengthened academic opportunities, money savings for the district, and greater community access to school facilities.

The proposed new rules say a district’s application to operate four classroom days a week during the school year must meet at least two of three goals: innovation to improve learning, improved student educational outcomes, and better academic opportunities for students.

“When a school asks to offer a four-day week, we want there to be strong incentives for using the change to improve instruction and student outcomes,” Bachmeier said.

“Under the current rules, a school district could ask for approval for a four-day week just by promising to increase public access to the school’s basketball court, weight room or running track,” Bachmeier said. “Those are good things, but there should be some tangible link to better classroom instruction and academics if students are to lose a day of connection with educators.”

The proposed new rules also allow for approval of four-day weeks for an entire school district or individual schools within it. They give the superintendent of public instruction greater leeway in determining whether a school may continue its four-day calendar. The deadline for applying for a four-day week is also moved to Jan. 5 from March 1.

The NDDPI has scheduled a public hearing on the proposed new rules at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, June 4, 2026, in the state Capitol’s Peace Garden Room.

Anyone who wants a copy of the rules may contact Jim Upgren, assistant director of school approval and opportunity at the Department of Public Instruction, at 701-328-2244, or by emailing jimupgren@nd.gov. Written and oral comments may be directed to Upgren’s email address or phone number until 5 p.m. on Monday, June 15, 2026.

Fourteen North Dakota school districts already run on four-day weeks, and another four – Killdeer, Maddock, McClusky-Goodrich, and Parshall – have received approval to begin four-day weeks this fall. 

Schools that already operate four-day school weeks are Alexander, Belcourt, Billings County, Dunseith, East Fairview, Eight Mile-Trenton, Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock, Horse Creek, Mandaree, Marmarth, Surrey, Turtle Lake-Mercer, White Shield, and Wing. 

Any switch cannot affect the school instructional times that North Dakota law requires for each school year. The law sets a minimum of 962.5 hours of class time for elementary school students each year, and at least 1,050 hours annually in middle and high school.

School officials who wish to offer a four-day week are also required to consult with community members -- a process that normally includes one or more public meetings – and obtain school board approval.