Our local district moved to a 4 day week last year. The biggest issue I've had with it is that the reasons for going in this direction were all about budget savings, teachers preferring the 4 day work week (who wouldn't), etc. No where in the discussion was it ever discussed whether it would help more kids go to college or succeed in life. Even when it was brought up, the administrators or teachers changed the subject to how much they'd like the day off. One thing I've noticed is that the only schools doing this are rural schools. The local school district is the major employer in the district, thus making the teachers and administrators a large percentage of the voting population. Because local school boards are an elected position, this voting block carries a lot of sway with the local board members. They give the reason of budget savings, but my observation is that it's more about an extra day off than about actually improving the schools. Fortunately, it hasn't been the a disaster, but it does seem like our priorities and reasons for moving in one direction or another are messed up.

Vegetation in general will cool down an area. Less concrete and more trees will have an impact.