Initial Reaction to School Start Date Change

As many of you have probably heard, Governor Branstad has directed the Iowa Department of Education to no longer allow waivers for an early school start date.  School districts are now being told they can start no earlier than the week of September 1st. 

Judging from our community's reaction to my initial calendar proposal last year, the Governor's decision will not be a popular one here locally.  If you recall, my initial calendar proposal had Central starting later and ending later (last week of June).  I revised the calendar because your feedback stated you wanted out of school no later than early June.

I strongly believe voted school board members should make calendar decisions that meet the needs of the communities they represent.  Information I consider in making this decision includes:

• Last night the Central School Board voted in favor of a first reading to expand our college course offerings from 6 college credits to 24 college credits.  Most of these college classes are taught in conjunction with Northeast Iowa Community College.  Unless community colleges are also required to change their calendars Central students taking online classes will have several weeks of courses when other students are in or out of session.  As we look to expand college course opportunities for our students, we need the flexibility to develop a calendar that supports college level learning.
• Sports practices start late July/early August with games also starting in August.  To my knowledge the athletic associations are not being held to the same standards as the school districts.  So we will have practices and games a month before classes even get started.  This will have a negative affect on school spirit and culture. 
• An argument for a later start date is the loss of instructional time due to early dismissals for heat.  This is not an issue at Central, since both buildings have air conditioning.
• Parents state students are ready to get back to school in August.  Teachers state students shut down when the weather gets nice in June.  
• Colleges begin summer courses in early June.  Unless four-year colleges and universities change their summer schedules, both teachers and students will be unable to attend summer school classes in June since school will continue to be in session.
• No research or data shows students starting school in early September learn more or better than those starting in August.
• The difficulty of employing high school students for the tourism industry is invalid for students in our school district.  Jobs in tourism are not available for the youth of our community.  Jobs like the community pool which opens Memorial Day weekend are available.
• The existing law already allows school districts near tourism attractions, e.g., Iowa State Fair, Adventureland, etc. a starting date allowing students to be employed in tourism.  I believe it is inappropriate for the state to dictate when all school districts start because many school districts in tourism areas have chosen not to start later to accommodate the tourism industry.
• A clear message is being sent by local school districts that an earlier start date is better for their students since 99% of Iowa School Districts have requested the early start waiver for this school year.

I believe local control of our schools districts should mean just that.  Let the voters hold our voted school board members accountable for the decisions we make locally.