After Sept. 1 schedule ruling, Iowa schools prepare for possible calendar shift

DES MOINES — The school year appears headed for a significant shift.

A new state education department edict may force districts to start the school year later, creating a calendar that begins closer to Labor Day.

Earlier this month, the Iowa Department of Education notified districts that it will more strictly enforce the state law that prevents schools from starting earlier than the calendar week that includes Sept. 1.

The law has been on the books, but the state has automatically granted early-start requests.

No longer, said the education department and Gov. Terry Branstad. Now, the state will evaluate all early-start requests and grant only those that show denying such a request 'would have a significant negative educational impact.'

The new emphasis goes into effect immediately and will affect the 2015-2016 school calendar.

'I've been all over the state and heard a lot of complaints, and it's just gotten worse and worse year after year, so I just felt it was time that we conformed to the law,' Branstad told the Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau.

In the 2013-2014 school year, 97 percent of Iowa school districts requested and received an early-start waiver, according to Iowa Department of Education data. Those schools started on or before Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013.

Only Cedar Rapids Community Schools and nine other of the state's 346 districts did not ask for permission to start the year earlier than the law allowed.

Education department director Brad Buck said the new emphasis stems from feedback from families and tourism groups that believe early starts have interfered with summer vacations and other activities, including the State Fair. This past summer, 99 districts started school before the State Fair was completed.

Some district officials have expressed concern with the new emphasis, saying it hampers their ability to construct the school calendar.

Many districts have decried the new emphasis for stripping away a layer of local control over the school calendar. They say each district and school board knows better than the state how each school calendar should be constructed.

Tammy Wawro, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said she fears later starts will force districts to extend their schedule well into June or reduce time allotted for non-classroom programs, such as professional development.

'Our bottom line is those closest to the kids should be making those decisions,' Wawro said. 'It seems to strip that local control pretty clearly.'

Buck said districts still maintain local control over the calendar and have added flexibility with a new rule that allows districts to choose between a days- or hours-based calendar. If a district chooses to compute its education time based on hours instead of days, Buck said, it can make up for a later start by lengthening each school day by a few minutes.

Buck said because of that flexibility and flexibility over holiday break periods, a later start in August does not necessarily equate to a later finish in late May or early June, as some districts and families fear.

'That flexibility may allow them to get at those concerns,' Buck said.

Districts still may apply for early-start waivers, and many plan to do so.

The state education department is drafting the criteria that will determine which early-start requests are granted. Those criteria will be made public in early January, Buck said.

And they are critical to the process, Wawro said. Her concern is with potential disagreements over what constitutes 'a significant negative educational impact.'

'Who is to determine what's critically important?' she asked. 'Is it critically important for my district that we end our first semester before (Christmas) break? I might feel that is critically important for an educational reason, and for the state to tell me it isn't, seems pretty invasive.'

Gazette reporter Rod Boshart contributed to this story.