By David Warren
The weekend will start a day early for children in a West Texas school district that’s adopted a four-day week, a move seen as the first of its kind in this state since lawmakers gave schools greater leeway in setting their calendars.
The upcoming change to a Monday through Thursday school week in Olfen, a rural town northeast of San Angelo, was spurred by ongoing problems in setting aside tutoring and extra help for children, Superintendent Gabriel Zamora said. Many kids travel long distances by bus and the lengthy commute cuts into time that could be spent on helping struggling students.