Cutting Classes to Cut Costs

Posted on Aug 18, 2008

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Although this might strike the kids involved as a good deal, it’s a definite sign of the times for the adults: A rural Minnesota school district has decided to strike Mondays from the calendar this fall in order to save money, making classes slightly longer on other days to make up the lost time. School in other parts of the country are resorting to other creative measures to squeak by this year.

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AP via Yahoo News:

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” said Candice Jaenisch, whose two sons and daughter will be making the switch. “You’re cutting expenses that really don’t affect school.”

The other option for the district—Maccray, an acronym for Maynard, Clara City and Raymond—was to start cutting electives. A shorter week will save at least $65,000 in fuel, superintendent Greg Schmidt said.

There is still a cost. Kids will have to stay awake and alert later in the day, and some parents will need to find day care on Mondays. But it’s a small district, with 700 students, and many parents are self-employed with jobs in farming or construction.

“I really don’t know that there are that many people with set hours Monday through Friday,” Jaenisch said.

Nationwide, at least 14 other districts are switching to four-day weeks, and dozens more are considering it, according to a recent survey by the American Association of School Administrators.

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