Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | BoE opposes later school start bill; local officials worry about harm to teachers summer college schedulesBy J. FRANK LYNCH This bill is on a fast track and its got a lot of support out there, Rep. Dan Lakly, R-Peachtree City, told school board members at their annual long-range planning meeting on Feb. 5. HB 285 was introduced by Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Garden City, on Feb. 3 with several leading lawmakers from both parties lending their support. It was assigned to the House Education Committee on Feb. 7, but it hasnt come up for consideration yet. As written, the bill would prohibit schools from setting a start date not earlier than the last Monday in August and not later than the Wednesday after Labor Day. If applied this year, that would mean Fayette County students wouldnt return to class until Aug. 29 at the earliest, a full three weeks later than the already approved Aug. 8 start date. On the other end of the calendar, the last day of school and graduation ceremonies are scheduled for May 26, 2006, which is the start of Memorial Day weekend. Forcing a later start time would likely push the last day of school to June 16. Stephens, chairman of the House Tourism Committee, has said the economic impact of a shortened summer was one concern for promoting the measure. But more convincing, Stephens said, was the groundswell of support from scores of parents statewide, who said they missed spending long, lazy summers with their children. That seemed of little concern to local school officials. Im assuming were going to want to keep as much local control as we can, board member Lee Wright asked. Absolutely, replied Pam Riddle, assistant superintendent for instruction. Weve got a lot of things that have historically been built into our calendars, and it would be hard to do away with them. For example, to prepare for the sweeping curriculum changes coming in the Georgia Performance Standards, next years school calendar has several staff development days built in. Last fall, for the first time, Fayette students were given a mini-break in October. Starting Monday, Fayette County schools will shut down for a full week winter break. This is the second year that extra time off has been built into the calendar. The extra days off during the school year would probably be sacrificed if later start dates were forced, Riddle said. The early August start date was adopted starting about five years ago, explained Superintendent John DeCotis, to better match up with the academic calendars used by state colleges and universities. Many of our teachers take college courses during the summer, and it was a problem with them having to balance the college calendar before school was out, he said. But more importantly, it means the end of the first semester falls in late December, just before the Christmas holiday break. Im opposed to pushing final exams for our high schoolers back to mid-January, said board member Marion Key. Added board Chair Terri Smith, Our main concern should be on doing everything we can to improve student achievement, not doing whats best for the state tourism industry. Lakly said it was too early to tell how he might vote on the bill, should it come to the full House. I dont want to set an iron date for starting school statewide, said Lakly. Thats foolishness. |
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