Impacts of the Four‐Day School Week on Juvenile Crime

Schools are increasingly adopting four‐day school weeks to address financial, attendance, and teacher retention issues, a trend that the COVID‐19 pandemic has amplified. However, little is known about the nonacademic behavioral responses of juveniles to such transitions. We examine the impacts of adopting a four‐day school week on juvenile crime, focusing particularly on disparities across rurality and locale size, using a difference‐in‐differences estimation approach. We find significant upticks in juvenile crime, primarily in property and violent crimes, within non‐rural and large law enforcement agencies. Conversely, we find evidence suggesting a decrease in juvenile drug‐ and alcohol‐related crimes during school hours on weekdays. In addition to changes in juvenile crime on nonschool weekdays, we observe spillover effects on the remaining weekdays and weekends, primarily in non‐rural and large agency settings. Thus, decision‐makers should be cognizant of the potential increase in juvenile crime that may result from the four‐day school week.