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

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • Compton High School

    Compton High School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Compton High School has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • A digital silhouette works at a computer, immersed in a glowing, interconnected world

    How Will AI Transform Learning Space Design?

    For years, higher education has designed learning spaces around technology as a tool for display, capture, collaboration, and connectivity. AI changes that equation.

  • Designing Third Spaces That Do What AI Can't

    In 2026, education is evolving faster than ever. With AI reshaping everything from lesson planning to personalized instruction, schools and universities are turning their attention to what AI can’t replicate: spaces that foster collaboration, community, and creativity.