116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Home / Opinion / Letters to the Editor
Legislature should revisit school start date
The Gazette Opinion Staff
Sep. 15, 2012 12:57 pm
Let's see if I have this right.
Iowa state law mandates that schools begin the week of Sept. 1. But 340 of the state's 348 districts obtain waivers to begin the school year during the middle or late August.
However, this August, 50 schools either dismissed classes early or closed for two or three days during the 90-degree days in the last week of the month.
It seems to me that a law that is not followed by 98 percent of the school districts would need to be revisited by the Iowa Legislature.
For those of us old enough to know why, there was a reason schools started after Labor Day.
Vern McKenzie
Cedar Rapids
Opinion content represents the viewpoint of the author or The Gazette editorial board. You can join the conversation by submitting a letter to the editor or guest column or by suggesting a topic for an editorial to editorial@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters