A growing national trend toward 4-day school weeks has reached Utah, with at least four schools making the switch this month alone.

Driving the news: Piute County's three public schools and the American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork will move to 4-day weeks next academic year.

• They join 19 others that have switched to shorter weeks.

Zoom out: About 850 districts nationally have trimmed the school week by a full day, up from 650 in 2019, Axios' Jennifer Kingson reports.

Why it matters: Shorter weeks correlate directly with a drop in test scores and academic achievement, studies show.

• Yes, but: It's hard to gauge the effect on student performance at Utah's 4-day schools because many of them made the switch around the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which drastically affected students' progress.

The intrigue: Piute County administrators have said the change will allow more kids to get jobs — echoing Box Elder School District, which in 2017 eliminated Friday classes to free up kids to work on ranches.

• That coincides with a nationwide push among conservatives to weaken child labor restrictions and encourage teens to work.
• Utah has the nation's second-highest rate of teenagers in the labor force, federal data show — something Gov. Spencer Cox extolled as "a good thing."

Rural Utah districts point to long commutes that force students to miss class time.

• Students in Box Elder and Tintic districts travel up to 40 miles a day, many on dirt roads, to reach schools that are 40–90 miles from the nearest town.

Of note: There's also a "contagion" effect. Some districts adopt a 4-day-a-week schedule to retain teachers or poach them after nearby school systems switch over.

• The Tooele district switched Wendover High School to 4-day weeks in 2020 for fear of losing teachers to the neighboring Nevada district, which also reduced its weeks.

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The Scripps National Spelling Bee began yesterday with its 95th competition.

• More than 200 contestants are competing over three days in National Harbor, Maryland.

Zoom in: Utah has two competitors...

• Speller 212: Luke Jeppeson, 14, attends Albert R. Lyman Middle School in Blanding (pop. 3,319). He loves roller coasters and going on vacations. His favorite song is "Numb Little Bug" by Em Beihold, and his favorite TV show is "Stranger Things."
• Speller 213: Surya Kapu, 14, competed in the 2019 and 2022 Bee where he tied for 5th. He goes to American Preparatory Academy - Draper 3 and enjoys playing the saxophone, chess and basketball. He is a black belt in taekwondo and loves to eat chicken biryani.

The latest: Kapu advanced Tuesday after spelling "sororal" and defining the word "primeval."

• Jeppeson misspelled "hei-tiki," a type of Māori jewelry.

State of p-l-a-y: Spellers, who competed in local and regional rounds in early April, will battle live in a televised competition.

• Last year the broadcast drew more than 7.5 million viewers, the largest television audience since 2015.

How to watch: The Bee will air on ION and Bounce. Viewers can visit spellingbee.com/watch and enter a zip code for specific viewer instructions.

Salt Lake City Councilwoman Amy Fowler announced yesterday she is resigning on July 3 after being arrested this month on suspicion of driving under the influence.

• Fowler blew a .111 on a Breathalyzer when she was stopped on May 3 in Springville after a collision in Salt Lake County.

🦆 An Ogden wildlife sanctuary is closing amid an influx of springtime baby animals because city officials are evicting them from their current location to make room for the neighboring Dinosaur Park's pending expansion. (KUTV)

🌊 A cool May likely spared Salt Lake County from serious potential flooding by allowing the record snowpack to melt gradually. But Big and Little Cottonwood Creeks still may pose a flood risk with thunderstorms in this week's forecast. (KSL.com)

🚨 The man suspected of killing radio personality Gaby Ramos was extradited from Mexico and booked into jail last Friday in Salt Lake. (FOX 13)

• Ramos was a host for La Mas Picosita on 1550 AM. Police say she was murdered at her sister's Taylorsville home in 2021.

As the world mourns the inimitable Tina Turner, Utahns have a special and timely opportunity to honor her legacy.

Driving the news: "Tina: The Tina Turner Musical" is playing this week at the Eccles Theater in downtown SLC.

When: Each night through Sunday, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday

Tickets: Limited seating is still available.

• Cost: $50–$149 per person.

💭 Erin's thought bubble: Tina Turner's true legacy is her music. But I'll always be grateful for what she taught me about covering trauma in the news.

• She stood up for herself in interviews that were frequently awful. It shouldn't have been her job, but she helped us recognize the toll those conversations can take on sources.
• The media remains far from perfect, but it's getting better — and that matters to countless vulnerable sources who have shared their stories with journalists who are learning to handle them more responsibly.