PARIS – A four-day school week.

It’s a radical idea, but SAD 17 school officials are not rejecting it out of hand.

In fact, Superintendent Mark Eastman said Paris Town Manager Steve McAllister did “an excellent job” last week making the case for a four-day school week in a meeting sponsored by Paris Selectmen.

Eastman wasn’t there, but the district’s curriculum director, Kathy Elkins, was. So were several selectmen from neighboring towns and at least one school board member.

“She was very positive about it … but she had some questions,” Paris Selectman William Merrill said.

Eastman said Friday his number one concern was student performance. Even though a four-day week would mean longer days, would that give enough time for students to learn what they need to learn in order to satisfy state and federal requirements?

Merrill and McAllister point to Colorado, where 51 school districts have gone to a four-day school week. Other states with schools with four-day weeks include Wyoming, Oregon, Arkansas, California and Hawaii.

Merrill said it won’t work for every school district, but it might for SAD 17, geographically the largest in the state. The savings on transportation costs could be huge, he said, not to mention utility bills, substitute teacher pay and general building wear and tear.

Merrill admits his concerns are financially motivated, but said he was amazed to learn that districts that have successfully switched to a four-day week are seeing a decline in school dropout rates, discipline problems and better attendance. Faculty have more time for staff development, and school morale in general improves, according to the research he and McAllister did.

Eastman agreed there would be big cost savings in transportation. A major issue, however, is the law requiring a 175 school-day year. Some districts obtain a waiver showing the four-day school week represents the equivalent of a 175 school-day year.

“I have no idea whether the Legislature would make an exception,” for SAD 17 or any other school district in the state, Eastman said.

Merrill said Unity went to a four-day school week in the early 1970s but resumed the traditional five-day week when it was unable to reach agreement with the state about a waiver.

“Research shows that depending on how you run programs you can realize savings from 7 to 30 percent,” Merrill said. “If we go outside the box a little bit and consolidate into four (days), not only would the local share go down, but also the state share would go down. The more I think about it, the more I like it.”

McAllister, in a letter inviting people to hear more about the proposal, called a four-day school week “a concept that is now sweeping the nation.”