New effort by tourism industry to change school start date

DES MOINES - Tourism industry representatives are making one last effort this legislative session to end a state waiver process that allows school districts to begin classes before Sept. 1 as prescribed by state law.

However, Rep. Gregg Forristall, R-Macedonia, chairman of the House Education Committee, called House Study Bill 671 “an embarrassment” that attempts to put commerce ahead of education at a time when Gov. Terry Branstad has asked lawmakers to make major reforms designed to emphasize student achievement and educational quality.

A House Ways and Means subcommittee voted Thursday to approve the measure which changes Iowa's school start date law by limiting the authority of the state Department of Education to grant a school district's waiver request to commence classes before Sept. 1 to a date no earlier than the fourth Monday of August. The bill also requires the department to charge school districts a waiver application fee of $100 – a provision that requires the measure to go through the House Ways and Means Committee and makes it exempt from the Legislature's “funnel” which killed previous attempts to change the school start date law that failed to advance this year.

Rep. Peter Cownie, R-West Des Moines, chairman of the three-member subcommittee, said the bill is intended to be a compromise between the tourism/hospitality industry and education groups because it does not eliminate the waiver process but rather gives school districts a choice in the matter and provides money for state education department to commit resources to critically evaluate waiver requests instead of just automatically approving them. However, language in the study bill stipulates that proceeds from the $100 fee would be deposited in the state's general fund, not flow directly to the education department.

Amy Campbell of the Travel Federation of Iowa said the bill is impacting about two weeks during the summer that would not negatives affect school but does negatively affected businesses dependent on tourist spending when the vacation season is cut short by schools starting in early or mid-August or young workers are no longer available because they are back in class.

But Emily Piper of the Iowa Association of School Boards said districts often have to align their calendars with community colleges so students can take advanced placement courses. Early starts also allow schools to avoid splitting a semester so it can end before the winter holiday break.

“We prefer to keep this a local decision,” Piper said.

Mike Cormack of the state education department said his agency complies with the current school start date law and is willing to abide by whatever changes the Legislature chooses to make.

Rep. Charles Isenhart, D-Dubuque, a subcommittee member who did not sign off on the bill, said it seemed like the proposal was “moving backward” from the governor's reform initiatives, while Forristall called it “really unusual and an obvious ploy” to try to revive the issue for legislative consideration. He said requiring schools to start in September just pushes the 180-day school year into June, which also impacts travel and vacation plans.

“I believe in local control when it comes to school boards and I think it's a local control issue. I understand the motivation of the industry,” he said. “I would encourage school districts to look at innovative calendars. We know that when somebody takes two and a half or three months off in the summer, it takes a period of time for them to regain the knowledge and the competencies they had at the beginning of June.”