Press release from the Finley School District
FINLEY, WA – Starting next school year, every weekend in Finley will be a three-day weekend. The Finley School District has received approval from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to move to a four-day school week beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. Under the new schedule, students will attend school Monday through Thursday, with Fridays off.
The district’s 180-Day School Year Waiver Request was officially approved by OSPI last week, and the Finley School Board adopted the revised 2025-26 school calendar during its regular meeting on June 16. You can find the calendar on the district’s website at www.finleysd.org.
While Washington state law requires students attend school 180 days a year and receive an average of 1,027 instructional hours annually (1,080 hours for high school and 1,000 hours for grades K-8), the approved waiver allows districts to meet these hourly requirements without adhering to the traditional 180 school days. As a result, Finley schools will lengthen each school day slightly to meet instructional time requirements. The plan is for Finley Elementary School to be in class from 8 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. and for both Finley Middle School and River View High School to be in class from 7:55 a.m. to 3:25 p.m.
Superintendent Bryan Long explained that the move to a four-day school week is part of the district’s strategy to address a $1 million budget shortfall, even after the successful passage of its recent levy. The shift is expected to generate savings in key areas such as substitute staffing, utility usage, and food services.
OSPI’s approval extends through the 2027-28 school year. However, Superintendent Long noted that the Finley School Board plans to review the impact of the schedule change in the spring of 2026 to evaluate its effectiveness and determine whether to continue the four-day week in future years.
