State of Iowa will no longer grant automatic waivers for school start dates

The state's education chief Friday put Iowa school districts on notice that his agency will no longer grant automatic waivers to school officials requesting to begin classes earlier in August.

Brad Buck, director of the Iowa Department of Education, said in a letter to school leaders that the policy change would take effect immediately for the 2015-16 school year. He said the change was in response to numerous complaints he has received from parents and other community members about waivers of the school start date law.

'As such, the department has reviewed its current practice and will be implementing a new procedure that more accurately reflects the legal authority the department has to grant these waiver requests,' Buck stated in his letter. 'Effective immediately, the department will no longer automatically grant waivers of the school start date requested under Iowa (law) for the 2015-2016 school year.'

The move is likely to meet opposition among school administrators concerned about local control of their calendars, while business leaders likely will argue for the economic benefits of starting school after the tourism season ends.

According to a 1983 state law, districts must start school during the week of Sept. 1 unless they are granted a waiver. If Sept. 1 falls on a Sunday, districts may start the week before.

But local districts often start much earlier than that.

Schools in Cedar Rapids started on Aug. 26 this year and were set to start on Aug. 17 next year, according to a 2015-16 calendar approved by the Cedar Rapids school board on Oct. 13.

Cedar Rapids deputy superintendent Mary Ellen Maske said the district plans to wait for additional information from the state before deciding how to adjust its calendar. Buck's letter said the state will provide further guidance in early 2015.

Cedar Rapids schools also will transition to a semester system next year, moving away from their current trimester schedule. Maske said the late start would 'throw a wrench into' the district's schedule either way.

In Iowa City, superintendent Stephen Murley said the district was planning to bring its 2015-16 calendar to the school board on Jan. 13. It now will present the board with two calendar options at that meeting, he said — one that complies with the state's decision and one more closely resembling those of previous years — and go with the later start date if it cannot get a waiver from the state.

Buck said he or designated department officials only would consider a school district's request for a waiver of the school start date if educators 'adequately demonstrated that starting on or after the earliest start date specified would have a significant negative educational impact.' He said each request would be reviewed individually and approved or denied on its merits.

Iowa City started school this year on Aug. 19. Murley said a later start date could cause attendance problems for the district, where many parents and students work for the University of Iowa. The university starts classes in mid-August, a date the district has tried to match.

'For kids to learn, it's beneficial for them to be in school,' Murley said.

Maske said a later start date also could impact sports teams, which usually start in August and have their schedules set far in advance by the Iowa High School Athletic Association.

Dick Grimoskas, superintendent of the Tipton School District, said he was 'very concerned' and 'caught a little bit off guard' by the policy change.

'What happened to local control of these kinds of issues?' Grimoskas said.

Buck issued the directive after receiving a letter from Gov. Terry Branstad, in which the governor said he has encountered growing frustration over 'exceedingly early' school start dates that ranged during the current school year from Aug. 11 to Sept. 2.

'Starting in early to mid-August unnecessarily interferes with families' summer plans and seasonal hiring while it does nothing to improve the quality of education,' Branstad wrote. 'I am confident that school districts will work to adjust to this change.'

The state has not granted any waivers for the 2015-16 school year, State Department of Education spokesperson Staci Hupp said, adding that waiver applications are usually received in the spring.

In August 2013, the state Board of Education rejected a rule — pushed by Branstad and the tourism industry — that would have made it harder for school to begin before the Iowa State Fair ended.

At that time, rules proposed by the Branstad administration would have required schools to prove a 'significant negative impact' using test scores and financial data.

Education groups were severely critical of the 2013 proposal, calling it an affront to local control. Tourism groups argued that the state loses out when school starts in mid-August.

One year earlier, the Iowa House voted to approve legislation that would have delayed the start of the school year until the fourth Monday in August, but the measure died in the Iowa Senate in April 2012. Senators had voted in 2006 to require schools start no earlier than Aug. 25 but that measure also failed to reach the governor's desk.

Ron Fadness, the president of the school board for the Decorah Community School District, questioned Branstad's motives in the new decision.

'This is simply a case of the governor having been rebuffed in this effort by the legislature, then rebuffed by the State Board of Education, and now ordering someone who serves at his pleasure to do his dirty work,' Fadness said. 'Education should be a higher priority than the lame reasons Branstad put forth in his letter to Buck. Education is more important than seasonal employees for the tourism industry.'