Later start to school year clears Ky. Senate
Some say new law would help Ky. Tourism
Date: 02-10-2017 — Kentucky students’ first day of school may happen later than usual if state lawmakers approve legislation that allows for more flexibility in designing the annual calendar and incentivizes end-of-August start dates.
The state Senate easily passed Senate Bill 50, which encourages school districts to delay the first day of school, with bipartisan support Thursday afternoon. Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, was the only person who voted against it.
Now the proposal will be reviewed by Kentucky’s House of Representatives. “This was a really strong vote,” said Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, SB 50’s sponsor. “I feel really strongly about the bill and feel good that it’s heading down to the House with a full head of steam.” In general, Kentucky requires public school districts to have a minimum of 170 days of instruction per year with at least 1,062 hours of instructional time.
But if SB 50 becomes law, districts could opt to delay their start date at least until the Monday closest to Aug. 26, beginning with the 2018-19 schedule. If they do, the state would allow them to use a “variable student instructional year” that still must meet the state-mandated minimum of 1,062 hours but would not have to fulfill the 170-day requirement.
“The reason for this is simple: I believe that schools start too early in Kentucky,” Thayer told the Senate. He said the bill would not affect teachers’ pay. The proposal incorporates compromises that preserve school districts’ independent control of their institutions’ schedules, Thayer said. The Senate approved this type of bill last year, but it died in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, which is now in Republican hands. “It does not mandate a later school start … This is the ultimate in local control,” he said. There already is a great deal of flexibility under current Kentucky law that allows districts to determine when the school year begins, how long school days will last, and when breaks will be, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.
This school year, one Kentucky school district had its first day for students in July, while the rest started in August. The latest first day of school for any Kentucky district this past fall was Aug. 24, according to records from the Department of Education. Jefferson County Public Schools started school Aug. 10.
Thayer said he doesn’t think it’s good for students to go to class during the hottest time of the year. He also said the late July and early August start dates hurt local tourism since children will be in school rather than at water parks or other attractions with their friends and family.
Not long before the full Senate voted on SB 50, the Senate education committee reviewed and approved the measure.
No one spoke against the bill during Thursday’s committee meeting.
Sen. Reginald Thomas, D-Lexington, indicated he was open to the proposal. But he questioned how allowing school years of under 170 days might affect Kentucky’s efforts to close the achievement gap among students.
Thayer, however, cited data showing a connection between later school start dates and higher scores on the ACT college entrance exam. He also said he has doubts about how well students can concentrate in the sweltering heat of Kentucky summers.
The date that students head back to classes is often a topic of great interest to families, as it can affect their vacations and their childcare needs. It’s also an often-discussed topic around the country. Indeed, this year alone, there has been news that an Ohio state senator wants to delay the start date of schools until after Labor Day, and Delaware is debating legislation that would require all public schools to start after Labor Day, too.
Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University who has studied school calendars, said the start of school is “very different in different places.” He said a typical demarcation for the start of the school year is around Labor Day, but that can vary widely depending on the state and district.
Cooper said some districts look at the length of the summer to try to mitigate what is known as summer learning loss — that slide where students may forget things they learned during the school year. He pointed to balanced calendars like that seen in the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp., which has shorter summers but more breaks during the school year.
He also said districts want to consider things like how many instructional days they can get in before students must take standardized tests, such as Advanced Placement exams.
Cooper noted that some states’ calendars are driven by tourism or agricultural considerations.
“If you’re a coastal state, tourism wants families to have the opportunity to go on vacation for as late as possible while the weather is still nice,” Cooper said.
In Kentucky, SB 50 would add a new requirement that makes school boards appoint a calendar committee tasked with developing recommendations for the next annual schedule. That committee’s members would include two people involved in the local business community and two parents of students who go to school in that district.
Brad Hughes, spokesman for the Kentucky School Boards Association, said decisions about school calendars ought to be left to the local community.
“Different parts of the state, different districts, have different needs and different realities as far as the weather goes when it comes to planning their calendars,” Hughes said. “A one-size-fits-all from Frankfort puts some districts at a disadvantage.”
By Morgan Watkins
The Courier-Journal
