A new law in Pennsylvania could make four day school weeks a reality, but many schools Mercer County are planning to keep their kids in the classroom all five days of the week.

The Pennsylvania School code allows schools to choose between 180 school days and 900 hours of class time. Any student in middle or high school need 990 hours of class time. Before the law passed in December, schools needed to meet both of those requirements.

Schools worry longer days would interfere with extra curricular activities, transportation, and child care. All of these situations need to be addressed before a school moves forward with a four day school week.

"The community really needs to buy into a plan to do that, and we don't have a lot of opportunities for childcare in our district, and so that would be a hardship for many of our families," said Kenneth Jewell, Superintendent at Commodore Perry School District.

Even though schools in Mercer are sticking to the five day school week, some positives do come out of removing the extra school day. Tracy Reiser, Jamestown Area School Superintendent, said the change can help schools dealing with two large national issues.

"The national teacher shortage, and the bus driver shortage. You know those are the things driving these conversations, and this could provide an avenue that can really work with school districts," said Reiser.

Shortening the school weeks also can help save school districts money. 

Commodore Perry, Jamestown, and other schools I've spoken with in Mercer county say they have no plans of moving to a 4 day school week.
 
We'll keep you updated on if any local districts do plan to make the switch.