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Ill. Lawmakers May Let Schools Adopt 4-Day Week

Springfield, Ill.

The rural Jamaica School District in eastern Illinois spent $380,000 on transportation two years ago — 9 percent of its budget and more than twice the percentage the average Illinois district spent.

That got Superintendent Mark Janesky thinking: What if its buses were parked one day? What if kids were in school just four days? Jamaica, headquartered in Sidell, about 25 miles southeast of Champaign, would save $100,000 a year, he estimated.

The House has approved legislation allowing schools to drop one day of classes after Janesky convinced Rep. Bill Black that administrators should have that option. Black, a Danville Republican, sponsored the measure that...