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November 2, 2009

Lawmakers consider later school start date

Some kids want to go back after Labor Day

By Sue Loughlin

TERRE HAUTE — Kim Irish wouldn’t mind a uniform, later start date to the school year in Indiana.

Now, schools often start in early to mid-August. Some Hoosiers want to see that start date moved back to the fourth Monday in August or even after Labor Day.

“I think that’s a great idea. I think summer vacation is very short, anyway,” said Irish, who has two children attending Vigo County schools. “When I went to school, we didn’t go until after Labor Day.”

During the 2010 session of the Indiana General Assembly, it’s anticipated that lawmakers will sponsor bills calling for a uniform, later start date. State Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said Monday “I’ll be receptive to giving bills a hearing in the Senate.”

While Irish likes the idea, she’s a stay-at-home parent.

“It doesn’t affect me like it would parents that are working outside the home,” she said.

If it were to happen, she would not want the school year extended into mid-June, though. She’d

rather shorten breaks during the school year.

Last week, a legislative study committee declined to endorse the idea of a uniform, later start date for Indiana schools, voting instead to send the issue back to the legislature for more debate and study, according to the Associated Press.

Now that ISTEP has been moved to the spring, there is less pressure to start school earlier so that students can prepare for it.

Kruse believes there is a lot of interest in moving back the school start date for both business reasons and because it’s family friendly.

“There are companies who cater to summer activities that are losing two or three weeks of their best time for business,” including Holiday World and Indiana Beach, he said.

He noted that pushing back the start date would be good for business in the area he represents in northeast Indiana, which has many lakes. “It’s sad to see lakes empty in the best two weeks of the year” for outdoor activities, Kruse said.

A later start date also is good for families, he said. August has less rain, more sunshine and higher temperatures than June and is better for such outdoor activities as boating, fishing, camping and swimming, he said.

“That’s why a lot of families and parents are pushing for this,” Kruse said.

Proposals call for a uniform, later start date, “but the rest of the calendar would be up to the school board,” he said. Local school boards would decide whether to extend the school year into June or shorten current breaks and holidays.

Not everyone is jumping on the bandwagon.

Superintendent Dan Tanoos believes the school starting date should be a local decision. “There are a lot of different circumstances in different communities that would call for different start dates,” he said.

He believes it’s important to finish the school year by the end of May/early June, which would mean making the school year more compact with less time off. A later end date would cause scheduling conflicts for many people, including teachers who may want to take college classes during the summer.

With a later start date, Christmas vacation might have to be shortened, and there might have to be fewer holidays, he said.

For example, school districts observe some holidays differently. “We observe Veterans Day [as a holiday], and many school systems don’t,” Tanoos said.

While some may argue that starting later in the year would save on energy bills, “It’s hot in August and it’s hot in June,” he said.

Tanoos believes there are other more important issues to be concerned about now, including the economy and the number of teacher layoffs statewide.

Alpa Patel, a Vigo County School Board member who also has children in schools, said she believes it should be a local decision. At the same time, “as a parent, I wouldn’t mind it being pushed back. Where I grew up in New York we didn’t start school until after Labor Day.”

A later start date would give families more time to enjoy summer, she said.

Also, when school starts in August, some children may have a hard time “getting into school mode” when it’s still light out in the evening, Patel said.

Dave Chapman, South Vermillion School Corp. superintendent, also favors keeping it a local decision. “I think each local school district has its own individual identity, within parameters,” he said.

He believes it would be better to have guidelines for schools to start and end the school year, “and let us work it to fit our needs.”

If she had to choose, parent Tammy Rhodes would rather keep the school year the way it is. Many children in Vigo County come from low-income households, and a longer summer break would not be good for them from either a safety or educational standpoint, she suggests.

Rhodes believes the best scheduling option would be year-round school, which would help children with learning retention and parents who are working.

State Sen. Tim Skinner, D-Terre Haute, said another legislator asked his opinion on the issue and “wanted me to be part of the discussion.” That legislator “is approaching it from a family values perspective,” Skinner said.

Skinner believes “it’s always better to have local control.”

He also noted that while he hears some complaints about the current start of the school year, “I don’t hear wholesale sale complaints about it.”



Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.

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