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Legislators push to delay start of school Two north Fulton legislators are leading the charge to force school districts across Georgia to start school later. The first day of school begins as early as Aug. 1 next year in some systems, including Cherokee, Henry, Rockdale and Spalding counties.Teachers will report to work in July. Fulton and DeKalb will start on Aug. 15. Gwinnett will return students to class Aug. 8. Cobb is looking at doing the same. "It's crazy. My constituents are saying something's got to be done," said Rep. Joe Wilkinson (R-Sandy Springs). "Summers belong to families. Children and teachers need a break and families need time together," he said. Wilkinson is reaching across the political aisle, introducing a bill with state Rep. Larry "Butch" Parrish (D-Swainsboro) that would require the state's school systems not to begin classesbefore the fourth week in August. A similar law was passed in North Carolina. Wilkinson anticipates an amendment that would propose withholding state funding from school districts that choose to begin school earlier than the fourth week in August. "Basically they'd be paying for it if they wanted to start before that," said Wilkinson. Wilkinson said the bill would be dropped in the hopper in December before the 2005 legislative session begins in January. Both Wilkinson and Parrish serve on the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee. Wilkinson sees the increasingly early school start times as not only a family issue but one that is costing Georgia's tourism industry a bundle. He estimated that $2.4 billion was lost in August. Fulton school board members say their primary concern is student achievement, not tourism. The board went on record last week as opposing any attempt by the state to wrest local control from school districts over setting school-year calendars. "I'm not wholeheartedly in favor of either one of the bills," said board member Julia Bernath. "Each district has different needs." Fellow board member Gail Dean agreed. "I'm not necessarily for the state mandating a calendar." Opposition being felt Yet Fulton board members are heeding pressure from constituents. They voted on Sept. 9 to roll back the first day of school next year to Aug. 15, a week later than this year. DeKalb did the same. Cobb is debating between two scenarios for next year, both beginning on Aug. 8. They are expected to choose in December. "We recognize it's going to be a tough fight," Wilkinson said. He maintains that the Legislature will not be mandating school calendars, but giving them a choice, if they are willing to forfeit state funding under his scenario. Several school board members from north Fulton are sympathetic with the intent of the legislation — pushing back the early August start-ups — but drew the line at being told to do so by the state. Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta) said Monday he hopes to accomplish the same thing with a differentbill. He said it would clarify that a school year's two semesters don't have to be equally divided in number of days — something current school law is silent on. "This tries to empower local school systems to alter those semesters to achieve a little later start dates and still be able to finish final exams before winter holiday break," he said. "It wouldn't hurt at all to have an 80- or 85-day semester. A school year by state law consists of 180 days. Equally divided, that would be 90-day semesters. Bernath disagrees. She points out that this would put high school students on block scheduling at a big disadvantage on state-mandated graduation tests. Because block schedules compress a full-year course into one semester by doubling traditional seat time from about 45 minutes to 90 minutes per class, students on short semesters of less than 90 days would be shortchanged in instructional time. "Students must pass the economics exam, for instance, to graduate. That's a full-year course, but those taking it on block schedule complete it in one semester," she said. Students at Chattahoochee High weighed in on the debate during the school board's work session last week. Representatives of the school's new Government Connections club presented the board with the results of a survey. The 600 students surveyed said they preferred a later school-year start, but that most important to them was time to finish final exams before winter break. Burkhalter said that opponents of the legislation portray it as an attempt to help the tourism industry. "That's one of the smaller reasons. Starting the school year in August is the hottest time of the year, causing the school systems to operate at a substantially higher [energy] cost than in September. "Instead of paying Georgia Power, that's money that could go directly into the classroom with more teachers," he said. The Alpharetta lawmaker said that the added traffic of school buses and cars on the road at the hottest time of the year would exacerbate metro Atlanta's air quality problem. Fulton board members are looking at all sides of the issue in an attempt to educate themselves and the public before drawing some overarching policy regarding school start-up times, board president Katie Reeves said. One piece of data they have yet to find is whether students actually do better on final exams if they take them before winter holidays, board member Liz Hausmann said. "I was disappointed to find we don't have that information," she said. Floyd County's success The board listened to a presentation from Floyd County Superintendent Kelly Henson on the success his district has had with a modified calendar that begins in early August, ends in early June and has an eight-week summer vacation. The schedule includes 13 days for tutoring, during which students can receive extra help or participate in enrichment activities. Achievement scores went up on state exams, he said. For instance, fewer eight-graders failed the math curriculum exam, and all of Floyd's schools met state testing goals last year. In 2003, five of Floyd's schools missed the state's mark. The system's SAT scores went up eight points. Timely tutoring pays off The tutorial time interspersed throughout the school year is "the key" to better student achievement, he said. "Waiting until summer school for remediation is too late," he told the board. Three Cobb County school board members attended the Fulton meeting to hear Henson's presentation. Hausmann, who unsuccessfully proposed an Aug. 22 start date for next year, said she was impressed by what Floyd County is doing but wasn't necessarily swayed to change her mind on a later school start. "It didn't change my mind, but there might be better ways to do it. We have to look at student achievement as well as the needs of families. It's not an easy puzzle to fit together." Sam Taylor, chief instructional support officer for Fulton schools and charged with developing calendar options, said two factors play a role: timing of high-stakes state exams and the scheduling of athletics as dictated by the Georgia High School Association. Steve Figueroa, director of media relations for the GHSA, denied that athletic scheduling was forcing earlier school-year start-ups. "We really don't care when school begins. What's killing us is the lack of uniformity across the state. There can be almost a month's difference among school districts," he said. "We're praying for a uniform start date. It's gotten ridiculous." Find this article at: |
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