The Senate Education Committee approved a bill to essentially mandate five-day school weeks in Oklahoma schools.

Senate Bill 441 by Senator Marty Quinn, R-Claremore, says all public schools shall be in session for no less than 180 days. Currently, schools are to be in session for 1,080 hours. The bill provides exemptions to the five-day school week if local schools can demonstrate four-day weeks aren’t adversely impacting student achievement and four-day weeks actually save the local district money.

Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said four-day school weeks “have hurt Oklahoma’s reputation nationally…”

“We believe in the importance of local control, which is why we’ve included reasonable exemptions to the five-day week,” Quinn said.