Area administrators take issue with potential move to universal school start date

The process for Iowa school districts to determine the start of the academic year could soon get a facelift, to the chagrin of some local administrators who maintain that one size doesn't fit all when it comes to school start dates.

In comments to reporters on Monday, Gov. Terry Branstad discussed Iowa Department of Education officials' potential plans to alter the system of granting waivers that allow districts to begin fall semester prior to the legally mandated week of Sept. 1 start date, a practice the governor admonished as “too lax.”

For Dani Trimble, superintendent of the Alburnett Community School District, calendar concerns are a matter of local control.

“I do think that the people making the decision in the district know what the community wants for a start date,” said Trimble, whose district received a waiver from the state and is set to start the 2013-14 school year on Thursday, Aug. 15. “I think it's a case where a blanket decision doesn't best meet the needs of students. The waiver process, whether it's lax or not, allows us some level of local control.”

Members of the state's tourism industry have been vocal opponents of the current system, preferring a later start date that could potentially increase their revenue and boost the economy.

Stephen Murley, superintendent of the Iowa City Community School District, faced a similar issue when he was an administrator in Wisconsin and said he sees both sides of the issue. The Iowa City district has a history of applying for the waiver annually in order to align the calendar with the University of Iowa schedule, because many district families have ties to the UI.

“Certainly that's going to curtail local control to some degree and make it more difficult for districts like ours to adhere to a local-controlled (start) date and I think there are some people in the community who would be unhappy about that, and understandably so,” he said. “There are some decisions that are better made by local school boards than in Des Moines and I think school start date might be one of them.”

Murley also said that changing the start date “is irrelevant” unless co-curricular activities, such as sports, don't change their scheduling as well.

One issue both the Iowa City and Alburnett districts have faced is facilities not being properly ventilated for learning during warm weather, which has resulted in early dismissals in the first few weeks of the school year. That problem could be mitigated if the school year began later, though hot days in late May and June could also make it a wash.

Even still, Trimble maintained that her experience has been that students learn better at the beginning of the year than end.

“If we delay and add days at the end of the school year because of weather, that puts us into June and students are less likely to be attentive to their learning,” she said. “Actually, some of them are excited to be here (in August) so there is a difference.”

The state's many communities have a variety of needs and accommodations, said Executive Director of the Iowa State Education Association Mary Jane Cobb.

“I think that, if we're going to have a uniform start, which technically by law we currently do, you have to have a process in place for school districts to get waivers if they need something different,” she said. “I think what should matter the most about school calendars is not a certain date on when they should start but what matters for children.”

Gazette reporter Rod Boshart contributed to this report.