Some schools cancel Fridays due to fuel costs (Reuters/CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

Thursday, May 18, 2006; Posted: 9:23 a.m. EDT (13:23 GMT)

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) -- After homework and household chores, Bianca Sozzi intends to spend most Fridays next school year pursuing the pastimes of the average American adolescent: listening to music, talking to friends on the phone or playing computer games.
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Come fall, all Fridays will mark the beginning of a three-day break for Sozzi and 1,029 other public school students in this small Idaho community.

In parts of the American West such as Salmon, sharply higher fuel prices have prompted a growing number of school districts to save money by shortening the school week to four days.

School systems in such remote, sparsely populated areas, where school bus routes can stretch across many miles and take hours to complete, say far higher transport and other energy-related expenses are squeezing already shrinking budgets.

The number of states sanctioning districts with four-day school weeks has at least doubled since a survey by the National School Boards Association in 2003 showed nine states and roughly a hundred districts adopting the measure.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/18/schools.fridays.reut/index.html

[LiberalEsto]

1. No oil co. exec left behind

Gotta make those profits -- who cares if kids can't get to school.

[Ilsa]

2. And what will the working parents do with the kiddos on Fridays? eom