Iowa House passes bill setting Aug. 23 as earliest school start date

DES MOINES - The state's school districts would not be allowed to start school before Aug. 23 under a proposal that a key state lawmaker described as 'the best I could negotiate.”

The Iowa House on Tuesday approved the Aug. 23 start date, which Rep. Greg Forristall, R-Macedonia, called 'an acceptable compromise” between other lawmakers and Gov. Terry Branstad.

Only 14 of Iowa's 338 school districts started on or after Aug. 23 during the current school year, according to state Department of Education data.

The proposal will be considered by the Iowa Senate, which previously passed its own proposal that would give full scheduling control to school districts.

'We will have to see what the (Democratic) caucus decides,” said Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs.

In December, Branstad announced plans for the state to more strictly enforce current law, which requires schools to start in the week that includes Sept. 1 unless they obtain a waiver.

Branstad has said he is open to negotiating the start date, but added he is hesitant to approve a date in early August.

Forristall, who managed the House bill, said the Aug. 23 start date is a negotiated compromise.

'When (the school start date issue) was kind of forced upon us, sometimes, you have to take what you can get and work forward from there to improve your lot in life and the belief in what you want for people,” Forristall said. 'This is one of those cases.”

Multiple House Democrats spoke out against the Aug. 23 proposal, saying they think local districts are best equipped to determine school start dates.

'I truly believe, and so do many of the districts in this state …, that the start date for a school is a part of their academic program, and that start date should be local control,” said Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport. 'The calendar they put together is done in the best interest of the students attending their schools.”

The Aug. 23 start date passed the House 71-29, with 16 Democrats joining the majority of Republicans in support. Only two Republicans opposed the proposal.

The House bill also allows schools operating on a year-round calendar to continue to do so, but it does not exempt from the Aug. 23 start date any schools that may move to a year-round calendar in the future.

In Iowa, 67 schools started the current school year during the second week of August, and 257 started during the third week but before Aug. 23.