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Inola Students Head Back to School with Four-Day Weeks

When Inola Public Schools students return tomorrow, they'll be among thousands across the state with four-day weeks.

Inola schools will be closed Mondays to save the district money on utilities. Superintendent Kent Holbrook said they chose Monday because it interferes the least with extracurricular activities.

"Now, we still — there's just too many activities that we have. We can't, like, completely shut it down, but — for instance, on a Monday, there may be a gym open," Holbrook said. "But then the whole elementary is going to be closed. The whole high school and middle school will be closed."

Holbrook said cutting a day from the week, along with cutting several support positions, saved several teaching jobs and preserved current class sizes.

"What you cut was your bus drivers, your cafeteria workers, your janitors. They have to pay a pretty big price, but then we're able to keep all of the teachers. So, hard decisions," Holbrook said.

Despite moving to four-day weeks, Inola students will still get more than the state-mandated 1,000 hours of instruction. Dozens of Oklahoma districts are moving to four-day weeks, including another Rogers County district, Catoosa Public Schools.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.