This school year will be the first in Montague County where all of the public schools will be going on some sort of four-day week.
While some schools, like Prairie Valley, have been doing it the last two school years, others like Bowie, Nocona, Forestburg and Saint Jo will be making the adjustment this year.
Changes are coming and those affect everything to do with school, including athletics. Practices can still be scheduled at normal times, but with the kids already not in school, are there going to be any unforeseen consequences.
At Bowie, Athletic Director Tyler Price sees having Fridays off as potential gain for his football players since they will potentially have more time to spend with coaches in preparation for game day.
“I actually think the four-day week will be great for us,” Price said. “On Fridays, the JV football teams will come up and watch film/lift at 9 a.m. The varsity guys will report at 1:40 p.m. We will have a game day walk-through, guest speaker and meal. It gives us some more time with our guys potentially and gives us some opportunities maybe we haven’t had in the past.”
At Gold-Burg, girl’s Coach Cheryl Cromleigh has seen how her program handled the first year last year and saw some advantages and disadvantages.
“As far as athletics goes it has been a bit of a challenge due to the fact we are nine plus miles for most of our athletes,” Cromleigh said. “So many of our kids don’t have transportation and must ride the bus to school so we are at a disadvantage at times. Academically, I think we have to spend more time re-teaching. I do enjoy the three-day weekends when I do get one which isn’t often. I do think we will know soon the effects since we did this last year.”
The school in the county with the most perspective is Prairie Valley, entering its third school year with its four-day school week. Athletic Director Seth Stephens has been there through it all and has nothing but positive things to say from the change.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.