(1) The general assembly finds that: (a) Colorado has more schools on a four-day school week than any other state in the country; (b) One hundred eleven of Colorado's one hundred seventy-eight school districts are on a four-day school week, representing more than eighty thousand children; (c) Many school districts made the decision to move to a four-day school week to address budget concerns and recognize the need for additional state support and investment in kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade funding in order to move toward a return to a five-day school week; (d) However, there is little research on the benefits or costs of a four-day school week to children and learning; (e) Frequently, without supplemental enrichment programming and while at home without parents often for more than ten hours at a time, many children are tasked with taking care of siblings and many go without well-balanced meals or snacks during that time; (f) Further, low-income parents and parents who do not have a flexible work schedule or time off from work spend time in the workday worrying about children at home, with little ability to provide or pay for supervision when children are not in school during the workweek; and (g) While school districts are operating on a four-day school week, supplemental enrichment programming and related enrichment activities can help provide students with the supports they need. (2) Therefore, the general assembly declares that supporting community-based nonprofit organizations and eligible rural school districts in providing supplemental enrichment programming through fifth-day academic enrichment and support programs will help ensure that declines in learning are minimized and that children are in a safe, supportive, and academically enriching environment when not at school on the fifth day of a four-day school week.
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