"S.D. schools cut costs with 4-day week" August 22, 2011|Associated Press
IRENE, S.D. - When the nearly 300 students of the Irene-Wakonda School District returned to school this week, they found a lot of old friends, teachers, and familiar routines awaiting them. But one thing was missing: Friday classes.
This district in the rolling farmland of southeastern South Dakota is among the latest to adopt a four-day school week as the best option for reducing costs and dealing with state budget cuts to education.
“It got down to monetary reasons more than anything else,’’ Superintendent Larry Johnke said. The $50,000 savings will preserve a vocational education program that otherwise would have been scrapped.
The four-day school week is an increasingly visible example of the impact of state budget problems on rural education....
The downsizing comes as schools in some larger cities are moving in the opposite direction....
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Also see: Court upholds SD mother-fetus relationship law
