(ABC 6 News) – The Chatfield Public Schools district held their second of three public forums on Wednesday to explore the possibility of a four-day school week.

Some said they are open to a possible change, while others still have their concerns.

For Chatfield Public Schools, the idea of exploring a four-day school week had to do with downsizing the budget by $250,000-$300,000 for the next school year.

“If we went to the four-day school week, it would be $150,000 of that 250 or 300 so it doesn’t solve our problem, but it would take the place of some other budget reductions if it were done,” Chatfield superintendent Edward Harris said.

Parents had the opportunity to listen in to provide feedback and express concerns.

The proposal would remove Friday from being school day and the district would no longer have late starts on Wednesday.

The school day would increase by 45 minutes to meet the four-day week requirement.

“I’m open to it, I’m open to exploring the idea and I think one of the pros is that we can always go back if it doesn’t work,” Chatfield Public Schools parent Beth Anderson said.

This change would shorten the number of student instructional days from 173 to 151.

It would be an adjustment for parents, but staff would also be impacted.

Even though some teachers would be working the same number of hours over the course of the school year, the same can’t be said for all staff.

Nikki Lee is a middle school paraprofessional and also has kids in the school district. While she understands the benefit this could have on them, she worries how cutting hours would impact her.

“I’m 100% open to it, but I’m still scared about how it’s going to come back for me and my fellow employees.”

The school district will hold one final public hearing on December 4 to allow parents and staff to share how they feel.

This will give the district a lot to consider seeing if it’s something they still wish to explore.

“Is it right enough for us to try it, nobody says you have to keep it, and is the cost offset worth the effort of the change,” superintendent Harris said.

The school board won’t take action until January. If they reject the four-day school week, superintendent Harris said reductions would probably have to come sooner rather than later.