Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Rural Wisconsin Districts Seek Early School Start

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 07/14/20

Rural school districts in Wisconsin have asked the state to begin school earlier than usual citing concerns that the pandemic has interfered with student progress, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. 

Eleven out of the 421 public school districts in the state have applied for a waiver to begin school in August. State law prohibits public schools from starting before Sept. 1. 

The districts who applied for the waiver are: Alma Center-Humbird-Merrillan, Brillion, Cornell, Greenwood, Kickapoo, Melrose-Mindoro, Peshtigo, Rice Lake, Stanley-Boyd, Wausaukee and Webster.

“Since so many families do not have access to internet or their internet isn’t always reliable, especially for video transmission, we want to get an early start to the year so if we have to shut down for a while, hopefully we won’t have to do as many virtual learning days and still be done with school by June,” Paul Schley, superintendent of the Cornell School District, told the Wisconsin State Journal. 

Other school districts cited that an early school year would allow for a jump on school construction planned next summer, a chance for teachers and students to reconnect, and extra time off incorporated into the school year if adjustments are needed. 

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Photo courtesy of Kraus-Anderson

    Minnesota District Completes $49.7M Addition, Renovation Project

    St. Paul Public Schools in St. Paul, Minn., recently announced the completion of a $49.7-million addition and remodeling project at two district schools, according to a news release.

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.