Iowa Board of Education rejects proposed school start date changes

UPDATE: The Iowa State Board of Education rejected a rule, pushed by Gov. Terry Branstad and the tourism industry, that would have made it harder for school to begin before the Iowa State Fair ended.

Some state board members saw themselves put in the middle of two key interest groups: the tourism industry and educators.

“I'm personally upset we're put in a position where we have make a choice like this,” said board Vice President Charles Edwards. “This needs to go back to the Iowa Legislature.”

Edwards was one of five board members to vote against the change. Two board members - Mike May of Spirit Lake and LaMetta Wynn of Clinton - voted for it.

“This is not an either/or proposition,” May said. “This supports them both.”

State statue says school must start in the week that includes Sept. 1, but the Department of Education routinely gives waivers for any district that asks.

The Branstad administration, however, put together a rule that created two levels of review for school districts that want to begin classes before the statutory date starting with the 2014-15 school year.

Those wanting to begin classes within a seven-day window of Sept. 1 needed to hold a public hearing. Districts seeking a start beyond that window would have to prove why the statutory date would have a “significant negative impact” on students and the district. Proof required included test scores and financial data submitted to the Department of Education.

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

If the board had approved the rule, it would have gone on to a public hearing and a state legislative panel before returning to the state board for another vote. But Thursday's voted stopped that process.

The meeting room was filled to a standing-room-only crowd of about 70 people for the vote. The crowd included legislative staff, department officials, lobbyists and representatives from both the tourism and education sectors.

Among the crowd was state Rep. Peter Cownie, R-West Des Moines, who said after the meeting that he was “disappointed” in the outcome of the vote. Cownie also is executive director of the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation.

He said he's open to pushing the issue in the Legislature when it convenes in January.

“If I can see an avenue where it can happen, yes, I'd introduce that,” he said. “House Republicans passed this before.”