I am getting jammed up this afternoon so I don't have much time to fully explain all this.
Here's a few notes to keep in mind regarding the four-day week / Big Brother / Nanny State / Governor Mark Dayton foolishness:
MACCRAY moved to the four-day week schedule starting in 2008-2009. They had been under extreme financial pressure and endured budget cuts even worse than the worst B-B-E has ever seen. They operate three school buildings in three towns with K-12 enrollment not much higher than B-B-E's. Worse yet, they have a property tax levy that's significantly higher than B-B-E's. (Ours is $837 a pupil, but theirs is over $1,400.) MACCRAY is currently finishing up their 6th year on the four-day week schedule. They have added budget pressures by the need to make major physical plant-related upgrades to their two elementary schools in Maynard and Raymond. In January 2014 a bond referendum failed that would've built a new elementary school by the high school in Clara City and closed the existing elementary buildings. In a nutshell, MACCRAY is still facing very serious problems.
A-C-GC moved to the four-day week schedule in 2010-2011. Once they were in their 3rd year, they reapplied to get a three-year extension to the four-day week schedule. That was granted by the Dayton administration last year, and they are "good" through July 1, 2016.
B-B-E moved to the four-day week schedule beginning with the 2011-2012 year. I will always know that because that's the year we won the first state boys' basketball championship. We've gone three straight years without needing to do any budget cuts of any sort. None. Zero!! It's almost a miracle if you think about it...(here comes opinion)....but thinking may be too much to ask for Dayton and his cronies.
Don't forget: regardless of the 4 or 5-day schedule, those of us in Jaguar Country have to do everything we can to advocate and share our story of why B-B-E is a great school district. I wish I could take an entire day off from work and write about that. (Sounds like a vacation day will have to get burnt up to do that.)