The Legislature is considering giving school districts the option of offering students something that just might make their parents envious – a three-day weekend.

Or, for those who prefer to focus on the empty half of the glass – a four-day school week.

The Legislature’s Education Committee listened Monday to testimony from educators on whether the state should allow districts to choose a four-day school week. While the potential cost savings are enticing at a time when the state is cutting subsidies to local school districts, going from five eight-hour days to four 10-hour days is a bad idea if Maine is interested in preserving the quality of its public education.

Shortening the school week isn’t a new idea. Discussed originally amid the 1970s oil crisis, it tends to bubble up whenever fuel prices reach new heights, as they did this summer in Maine, when gas was selling for more than $4 a gallon. It’s managed to stay on the legislative agenda as gas prices have plummeted because of a new crisis – a more than $800 million gap in the state budget.

Already, 17 states allow school districts the option of a four-day week, although few districts have taken advantage of it. That’s because, although there are plenty of arguments in favor of it, particularly in a cold, rural state like Maine, the savings are minimal when compared to the complications such a schedule can create.

Heating schools for full occupancy for only four days would certainly reduce heating costs, and eliminating a day of bus runs could also save fuel and the expense of paying drivers. Others argue that such a schedule makes sense with more people working from home with the help of the Internet.

None of these arguments are invalid, but many superintendents who have examined the potential cost savings say they are not as substantial as they might seem. Despite that, it would create plenty of challenges for schools. It would make it difficult, for example, to schedule extra-curricular activities, and it’s unclear how many students would even be interested in participating at the end of a 10-hour school day. Many parents say that students’ days are already packed with practices, rehearsals, homework and after-school jobs. Adding a couple extra hours to their schedules wouldn’t be as easy as it might seem.

Even though many people now work from home on flexible schedules, the majority of us still live in a 9-5, Monday-Friday world. We drive to a place of business to do our jobs. It doesn’t make sense to train children to live in that world by giving them a schedule that doesn’t reflect it.

A four-day school week would also make it hard on parents who would have to figure out what to do with their kids on the fifth day. While some argue it isn’t the job of the schools to be serving as a day care provider for parents, the reality is a five-day school week accommodates that exact need, regardless of whether it is the purpose of public education. A four-day week would leave more kids at home unsupervised and force parents to pick up the cost of additional child care at a time when they can ill afford to do so.

It makes sense for legislators and educators to be looking at every possible option to save money. In this case, however, the potential harm clearly outweighs any potential cost savings.

Brendan Moran, editor