Schools can start Aug. 23

Staff report
The earliest school start date for the 2015-16 school year will be Aug. 23 under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Terry Branstad.

The previous law required school districts to start school no earlier than the week of Sept. 1, but allowed school districts to apply for waivers to start earlier.

This year, only two of Iowa’s 338 districts did not receive an early start date waiver. But in December, Iowa Department of Education director Brad Buck, at the urging of Branstad, announced that his department would crack down on early waiver requests.

The debate pitted advocates of local control against advocates of the tourism industry, who argued that schools starting earlier in August hurt business.

Districts operating year-around calendars will be exempt from the start date.
The Greene County Community School District plans to start class on Monday, Aug. 24.

Superintendent Tim Christensen said the specific date won’t impact the district, which runs a trimester schedule as opposed to a semester schedule, but cited disappointment in the legislators.

“I was surprised,” he said. “This seals the deal that nobody is in favor of local control.”

The Greene County district had received a waiver to start before the first week of September for at least the last decade, Christensen said previously.

State Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone, voted for the bill, citing it as a “reasonable compromise” between the various interests.

“By and large, if you can’t get your school year in starting on Aug. 23, you probably have some other issues you should be prioritizing,” he said.

The most important thing for schools wanting to start as early as possible is to have proper climate control, he said — there’s no point in starting class in August just to cancel or release early due to heat.

“If they’re not in the classroom, they’re not working,” Baltimore said.

He does not expect the issue to be revived in the legislature in the next several years.