School start proposals differ significantly as debate continues

DES MOINES - Should schools have complete control over when classes start each year?

Or should the state enforce a start date to prevent schools from beginning ever earlier in August?

Iowa lawmakers are wrestling with those questions as they attempt to address school start dates.

Committees from each chamber on Wednesday approved two very different proposals with very different degrees of party support. A bipartisan group of senators approved a measure that gives districts complete control over setting their calendar, while representatives in the House passed along party lines a bill that would forbid schools from starting earlier than Aug. 23.

The arguments remain the same:

' Those who want to eliminate restrictions on when schools start say local school officials - not the state - are best suited to make that decision.

' Those who support setting a mandatory late-August start date say schools are starting too early, interfering with the summer tourism industry and family vacations.

School start dates became a legislative focus after Gov. Terry Branstad in December announced his administration will more strictly enforce current law, which says schools may start no earlier than the week that includes Sept. 1 unless they are able to prove doing so would hinder students. In previous years, however, waivers were automatically approved. The state Department of Education has issued new rules making waivers much harder to obtain.

The House measure implementing an Aug. 23 start date is the result of a compromise between lawmakers and Branstad's office, said Rep. Greg Forristall, R-Macedonia.

'I have always been in favor of local control,” Forristall said. 'Here's the situation: The governor holds all the trump cards. All he has to do is enforce the law as it is currently on the books. I did my best, along with the help of a couple of other people, to negotiate with the governor's office to get the best we could. And Aug. 23 is that date.”

A spokesman for the governor's office said only that Branstad 'will allow the legislative process to work and consider the bill in its final form should it pass both chambers of the Legislature.”

The House bill passed with only Republican support.

The Senate measure giving complete local control to schools passed with three Republicans voting in favor and three against. All Democrats voted in favor.

'The bottom line is education is a priority, and I believe in local control. I wish we did more local control in this committee,” said Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale. Zaun said he did much 'soul-searching” over the issue.

Rep. Ron Jorgensen, R-Sioux City, chairman of the House Education Committee, said he thinks the two bills are destined for a conference committee, where representatives from each chamber will attempt to hash out the differences.