Three meetings are being held this week for the community to weigh in on Southland’s exploration of a four-day school week.

The public was invited to a meeting Monday, and there are additional meetings scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the media center board room at Southland Middle School and High School and Thursday in Dexter’s community center.

A group of Southland teachers originally proposed nixing one day per week as a way to way to trim spending in the face of declining enrollment and state funding.

“We need to continue to research this idea and see if this is something that works and that the community supports,” said Ethan Riggin, a teacher, following the presentation of the idea to the school board last month.

The Southland district includes Adams, Dexter, Elkton, Rose Creek and Taopi. There are currently 553 students enrolled in Southland schools.

Several Minnesota school districts are currently operating with four-day weeks. MACCRAY, which stands for Maynard, Clara City and Raymond, began a four-day week last school year in their west-central Minnesota district. The Blackduck and Warroad districts in northern Minnesota and the Ogilvie district in the central part of the state began a four-day week this year.