Is a shift in education across the country a potential boon for small tourism companies?
It’s bubbling under the surface thus far, not yet making it the big news corporations. But look around the country at the local news and you’ll find an interesting trend moving faster and faster, especially in rural areas. As school systems grapple with diesel costs that could be seven-dollars by mid-August. Their budgets were never designed for such an increase, however, and a need to provide equal provisions for all students is leaving many school boards with a difficult choice: drop a day of school (and therefor lower fuel costs for buses) or ask their local governments to raise taxes. For many, a four-day work week is looking more and more attractive.
For now, many are couching the proposal in a supposed need to assist with teacher retention. Well, that’s one reason you might to switch to a four-day work week for schools. That doesn’t fully answer the many districts which require their teachers and administration to attend physically on the “virtual day” schools may use to lower fuel costs by 20%. But it’s entirely conceivable that teachers in districts with four-day work weeks might be able to stay home during rising fuel costs — and in doing so, they would get the equivalent of a raise matching the cost of their one-day commute fuel usage.
A great article — and I mean great — comes from the Columbia Missourian by D.C. Benincasa:
The four-day school week is spreading rapidly throughout Missouri to make it easier to recruit and retain teachers, but some experts argue the policy won’t be enough to solve a teacher shortage problem.
There are 119 districts around the state that have transitioned to a four-day week since 2010. At least 18 more districts are planning to make the transition next year, adding up to 25% of all districts in Missouri.
Though the article is discussing the four-day work week in terms of teacher-support, it’s easy to see how school systems might want to transition away from a five-day system. If 25% of all districts in rural Missouri have already determined to swap, how many more are going to make the same change across the country to compensate for record-breaking fuel costs? It’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Jimmy Carter, many schools did just that.
“We are certainly looking towards next year and hoping that these prices certainly do come down.”
— Jim Ellis, Director of Pupil Transportation, Henrico County Public Schools (Virginia)
So what does this have to do with entertainment, movies, television, games, etc? Well, there’s an opportunity here for savvy entrepreneurs.
If schools switch to a “virtual Wednesday,” not much probably changes. But if large portions of the country switch to three-day weekends, either taking the day off on Fridays or Mondays, there’s a real possibility for small destination spots to see an uptick in travel. One-day trips to see the autumn foliage or journeys to nearby zoos and aquariums could see a rise in ticket sales if they play their cards right. Would I rather see gas prices go down and students be in school for their entire week? You bet. But if we’re stuck with nutty fuel costs and schools can’t afford to run buses every day, let’s find the silver lining here. Inflation may be exploding, but a three-day weekend for students could open up small family vacations throughout the year for those who can afford it.
So this is one of those things to keep on your radar. Will it all come to pass? I don’t know… it depends on many factors. But we’ve had a good track here at That Park Place talking about future travel trends. For the last many months, most of that has unfortunately been negative. It’s nice to find a positive in all of this, even if it might slow down kids’ learning just a bit.
For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place! As always, drop a comment down below!
