(Atlanta, Georgia-AP) Sept. 23, 2005 - Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue Friday asked the state's schools to take two "early snow days" and cancel classes Monday and Tuesday to help conserve gasoline as Hurricane Rita threatens the nation's fuel supply line.

If all of Georgia's schools close, the governor estimated about 250,000 gallons of diesel fuel would be saved each day by keeping buses off the road.

Perdue also said an undetermined amount of regular gasoline also would be saved by allowing teachers, other school staff and some parents to stay home. He says electricity also would be conserved by keeping the schools closed.

It's up to each school superintendent to decide whether to call off classes. The governor said, "If Georgians stick together, work together and conserve together we can weather whatever problems Rita brings our way with the least possible inconvenience."

As he did in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Perdue asked the state's residents, and ordered government agencies, to limit nonessential travel and use commute alternatives including telecommuting, car pooling and four-day work weeks. He said if demand is reduced, "we will have enough market power to hold prices down. All together, we can influence demand within our state."

As prices spiraled after Hurricane Katrina, Perdue suspended the state's gas tax and the Legislature quickly approved the measure in a special session, saving motorists an estimated 15 cents per gallon. The tax is scheduled to return a week from Saturday.

All but four of the state's 181 school districts announced plans to comply with the governor's request. The exceptions were the Floyd County, Haralson County, Rome city and Thomasville city districts.

The governor made his request during a Friday afternoon conference call with the state's school superintendents. Many administrators were surprised and left scrambling to notify staff, faculty and parents of the cancellations because some schools had already finished classes for the day.

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Jackson schools' week cut to 4 days

WILL COST LESS; SOME SAY MOVE IS RUSHED

By Peter Mathews

CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU


McKEE -- Across Kentucky, school districts are cutting field trips, redrawing bus routes or curtailing athletic events to cope with rising fuel costs. But no one's making quite as dramatic a change as Jackson County.

Starting the week of Oct. 17, students will get every Friday off. Teachers will work half a day.

With the move, approved by the school board Sept. 5, Jackson becomes the fourth school district in the state to implement a four-day week, and the first to do so primarily for financial reasons.

It's probably not going to be the last. Brad Hughes, spokesman for the Kentucky School Boards Association, predicts the subject will be as hot a topic as year-round schools were a decade ago.

Jackson schools Superintendent Ralph Hoskins says most people have reacted favorably to the idea. But some school employees and parents question the speed with which the district is moving, and say they don't know nearly enough about how the plan will work.

Four-day school weeks aren't new; some rural districts in the mountains or deserts of the West have had them for 20 years or more. In Kentucky, the pioneer was Webster County, which made the change in 2003.

Three years ago, the Western Kentucky county faced a financial shortfall, looked at its tax base, which was flat at best, and considered closing an elementary school. But the school was a good performer on statewide tests, and the move wouldn't have been popular.

Instead, Webster found a similar district in East Grand, Colo., and spent a year studying its four-day week. Administrators realized a four-day week offered more planning time and training opportunities for teachers.

Not only do teachers and students love the shorter week, but the school has saved enough money to offer full-day kindergarten instead of half-days, Webster Superintendent James Kemp said.

In its first year, Webster saved more than $150,000 in transportation, overtime and workers' compensation costs and pay for substitute teachers. It saved an additional $167,000 by cutting a handful of jobs, eliminating some bus routes and making other cost-cutting measures.

The idea of saving 20 percent on fuel -- Jackson County buys 520 gallons of diesel a day -- is popular, especially in the rural West.

The Colorado Department of Education found that 80 percent to 90 percent of community members it surveyed liked the four-day week. In one town, a school board reverted to a five-day week shortly before an election, and voters replaced all of the board members.

Most districts extend the school day to make up for the lost time. Jackson will start schools 15 minutes earlier and end the day 45 minutes later.

Little comprehensive research has been done on whether children are helped or harmed academically by the change, but every school in Webster County has improved its statewide test scores since the change was made.

The free day gives teachers and students a chance to make doctor's appointments and get cars repaired. Schools also use the free days for faculty meetings, sports events and to make up snow days.

Educators say the most prominent worry is who will care for children of working parents. It was resolved in Webster by training high-school students to provide day care, and working with churches to provide facilities. Jackson plans to do the same thing.

Two small districts -- Providence Independent in Webster County and Jenkins Independent in Letcher County -- started the four-day week this fall. Jenkins Superintendent John Shook said administrators wanted to give teachers more planning time, and the system is working "beautifully."

But suspicion of the four-day week is running high in Jackson.

The school board approved the change on a 4-1 vote during a special meeting on Labor Day. Superintendent Hoskins said the meeting was held then to set a tax rate -- and that taxes went down slightly.

But some parents say that until that meeting, they had heard nothing about a four-day week. The district never sent home a questionnaire or made any effort to involve the community, said Jackie David, an opponent of the change.

The president of the county education association, Fred Tilsley, said this week that he still has no details of how the plan would work.

The Kentucky Education Association is concerned about whether teachers will have adequate classroom time to teach, and whether classified employees will be hurt by the changes, a spokesman said.

"It's hard enough to be a school bus driver; the pay's not that great as a rule," said Charles Main, director of communications for the KEA. "It would be a pretty big hit if they were to lose 20 percent of their income."

Advocates and critics agree that they want the best for students, even if they aren't sure about the change.

"If it helps children, I would be for it," said Tina Rose, detention supervisor at Jackson's middle school. "But when your staff is in an uproar and not for it, how's it going to help the kids?"

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I can totally see how this would be one of the first places people would look when facing fuel shortages...

Im all for 4-days of school a week (im a teacher). But as a parent, I would be pissed.

I'm a teacher as well, and I think they're a terrible idea. It would make a lot more sense, if one was inclined in that direction, to shorten each day by a little bit. That would, of course, defeat the purpose in this case. But research would indicate that you'll see a massive increase in the amount that is forgotten/regressed/etc. during weekends. Schools that have attempted 4-day weeks tend to see that reflected in their levels of success. On the other hand, schools that use shortened school days see an increase in success.

Interesting. I wonder what would happen if they took Wednesdays off instead of Fridays.

It's a stupid idea. For one it will save disel fuel, which is not the type of fuel most cars use. Also, now parents who work and have busy lives have to figure out what they are going to do with their kids. These kids should not miss school just to save such a small amount of gas that will not have an impact.

Shit is really getting out of hand when diesel fuel overrides education. Damn.

Good question. My guess is nothing, except that 20% of the school year would be lost.

I'm gonna go ahead and have to say, "word."

Diesel fuel though is often used by the vehicles that transport the aid and services that the city and state need. It isn't so important that mom and pop make it to church, but it is important that food, water and medical supplies are able to be moved around. It doesn't look like things ended up nearly as bad as they could have at this point, so fuel shortages may not even be a major problem now.

This is the last thing we should do to save on petroleum products...

What f**king retard came up with this plan? Perhaps increasing the gas tax would help. I little supply and demand in action. I guess that was suppose to be taught on day 5.

Whatever happened to schools bidding out gasoline and heating fuel with 6 month contracts? I thought 6 month contracts were pretty standard so schools don't have these immediate hikes in fuel prices.

You may be on to something...

ever read the Thomas Friedman article "geo-greening by example?" Check it out.

While you're at it, you might as well go to http://www.peakoil.org

Better get your whole grain...

I don't believe that peak oil stuff.... not that I don't think we are running out, but I never doubt the ability of the human mind to come up with new ideas. Like Oil Shale.


With the rising levels of education across the globe, it is utterly stupid to reduce the level of education our children get. How are we suppose to compete?

Biggest pile of crap in the world. Sonny Perdue gets worse by the second. It's a political move. There is no gas shortage, there's not even a concern yet. That will be weeks from now. All the major pipelines are up and running fine.

Do the American kiddies really need to get even stupider?

This thread appears to be an N&D rarity--everyone agreeing.

eh.
much ado about nothing.

Do you really think that oil shale is a new idea? They've been talking about it since the late sixties--when scientists began to see a looming peak oil crisis. One problem that prospect (oil shale) faces right now is that it takes more energy--from resources like petroleum and coal--to extract than it yields. Energy returned on energy invested...that is the real problem we need to worry about in our future energy sources.

I think by agreeing that we are running out of oil, you do actually believe "that peak oil stuff." We just need to get together as a country and start agreeing on which energy path to blaze.