During the school year, Mondays in Peach County are for trips to grandma's house and hanging out at the neighborhood community center. Don't bother showing up for school. The doors are locked and the lights are off. The rural Georgian community is one of more than 120 school districts across the country where students attend school for just four days a week, a cost-saving tactic gaining popularity among cash-strapped districts struggling to make ends meet. "It was that or lay off 39 teachers the week before school started," said Superintendent Susan Clark. The results? Test scores went up. So did attendance. And the graduation rate will be more than 80 percent for the first time in years. "Teachers tell me they're more focused because they've had time to prepare. They don't have kids sleeping in class on Tuesday." Clark explains. "Everything has taken on a laser-light focus."
