The weekend will start early for children in a West Texas school district that's adopted a four-day school week.
The new schedule in Olfen, northeast of San Angelo, is believed to be the first such change since lawmakers last year gave schools greater leeway in setting their calendars.
Superintendent Gabriel Zamora says the move was prompted by the need to provide more tutoring and individualized attention for struggling students. Underperforming students will still have to show on Fridays.
Another reason for the change in the fall is that it may help the district attract students from elsewhere, thus increasing the amount of state aid.
The state previously required that schools provide 180 days of instruction. The requirement now is at least 75,600 minutes of instruction.
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