question & answer

Richmond Times-Dispatch
Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Tina Bruno is executive director of Texas-based Coalition for a Traditional School Calendar, a nonprofit organization of parents, teachers, school administrators and businesses concerned about the negative impact early-August school start dates and year-round school calendars have on children, families and teachers.

Q.What is the mission/vision of your organization?

A.We believe that the nontraditional school calendar interferes with learning that takes place outside the classroom walls. Early-August school start dates, extended-year calendars and year-round school calendars limit the time teachers have to update skills and earn advanced degrees, reduce student working experiences. [The calendars] interfere with many families' ability to spend quality time together.

Most importantly, these calendar experiments provide no additional class time for our students and offer no proven results.

Q.What do you think about the idea that the tourism industry plays a major role in school start dates?

A.I know that a number of businesses in the travel industry expressed concern about the erosion of summer -- concern not only for their bottom lines, but also for their employees and their own children.

I understand the school start-date law in Virginia is commonly referred to as the "Kings Dominion Law," but I strongly doubt that legislators would pass a law that was not supported by the majority of their constituents who could easily vote them out of office. After all, only a few legislators represent Kings Dominion, not nearly enough to overshadow the importance of parents and teachers.

I would be surprised if tourism had not weighed in on the issue of school start dates in Virginia. Research has shown that school start dates do not impact academic performance but do take needed dollars out of many communities, if summer is shortened.

Q.Do most states have laws about school starting/ending dates?

A.The majority of states currently do not have laws regulating when the academic year can begin. Although the parent backlash in states with school start dates in early- to mid-August is mounting, legislators are listening carefully and looking at the academic success of states that do not have school start-date laws. . . .

Legislators also seem to be looking at the cost savings associated with later school start dates. Tulsa Public Schools in Oklahoma pushed its school start date back from Aug. 19 to the day after Labor Day and saved almost $500,000 in utility costs.

Q.Do you think school start-date laws benefit or hinder the educational community?

A.Uniform late-August to early-September school start dates benefit the educational community as they reduce absenteeism, reduce cooling costs and allow seasonal businesses to generate more tax dollars to better fund our public schools.

We owe it to our teachers and our students to adopt fiscally responsible schoolcalendars and allow area businesses to put as much money into state tax coffers as possible to boost teacher salaries, provide additional academic services and classroom supplies. Academic success is not due to calendar configurations but due to dedicated, hardworking teachers and students.

Times-Dispatch staff writer Holly Prestidge conducted these Q&A interviews via e-mail.