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Schools

Do school years start too soon?

A state House panel thinks so. Members endorsed a bill telling districts to begin classes closer to Labor Day.

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published January 11, 2006

Dan Gelber sees a time in the not too distant future when every Florida school district will begin classes in July.

Pressure to do well on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is pitting districts against each other, creating a never-ending game of one-upmanship, says Gelber, a state representative from Miami Beach. The result is a school year that keeps starting earlier and earlier.

So Gelber, a Democrat, is sponsoring a bill that would forbid schools from opening their doors any earlier than a week before Labor Day, the traditional end of summer vacation.

On Tuesday, he got enthusiastic backing from a House committee, which abandoned its usual support for local control and approved the legislation. Yes votes included Frank Farkas, R-St. Petersburg, and Trey Traviesa, R-Tampa.

Most members said they were responding to constituent pressure, some of it very close to home. Rep. Ken Gottlieb, D-Miramar, said his mind was made up after he polled his two children.

"They told me they really liked Uncle Dan's bill," Gottlieb said. "The local thing to do is listen to the local people and support Uncle Dan's bill."

But Pinellas School Board member Jane Gallucci, the next president of the National School Boards Association, said the bill is another example of noneducators making decisions that belong on the local level.

She said it is no coincidence the bill was filed in an election year.

"Are we doing what's right for children or are we doing what's right for the tourist industry?" asked Gallucci, asked Gallucci, referring to complaints the industry made last year that an early school start date could cut into summer business. "I think we need to get our priorities straight."

Jack Lamb, vice chairman of the Hillsborough School Board and president of the Florida School Boards Association, also sees the bill as a power grab. School calendars, he said, should reflect local concerns.

Gelber insists he is not trying to undermine school boards.

"Districts can still use their 180 days in any manner they see fit as long as the year doesn't start any earlier than the day prescribed by the Legislature," he said.

Gelber said he decided to introduce the bill after receiving "hundreds if not thousands of e-mails" from parents, many of whom belong to a grass-roots group called Save Our Summers.

Sherry Sturner, a parent from North Miami Beach who founded the organization, thinks the August heat and the hurricane season are ample reasons for a later school start. August hurricanes have temporarily closed some Florida schools during the past two years.

Gelber echoed Sturner in his remarks Tuesday before the Prekindergarten-12 Education Committee.

"We're putting kids into classrooms in the hottest and most dangerous part of the year," he said.

In an interview after the vote, Gelber said his main reason for introducing the bill was to ensure that all districts have an even footing on the FCAT, where good scores can mean millions of dollars in school recognition money.

"It's clear that the reason you're getting into early August and in fact July is so that districts can get more FCAT days so they can perform better on the exam," he said.

There have been similar debates nationwide regarding school start dates. Last year, Wisconsin barred schools from starting earlier than Sept. 1. Minnesota decreed this year that schools cannot open before Labor Day. North Carolina set an Aug. 25 limit in 2004.

Gov. Jeb Bush, architect of Florida's school accountability plan, said he supports Gelber's bill.

"I like it because, first of all, I'm tired of the FCAT being an excuse for everything from the common cold to the state of schools, and it's just not right," Bush said. "I think bringing some certainty across the state is a good thing."

Certainty is all Pinellas parent Kim Hall wants. The Largo mother of three said that after three years of an early August start time, her children are accustomed to it.

"Did I like it the first year?" Hall asked. "No. But when it comes right down to it, it doesn't matter to me. Since they've made it at this time, I think they should keep it this way."

Moving the opening date back also makes no difference to Terri George, a Pinellas mother of two.

"I would enjoy the later start time, but I enjoy them getting out earlier," she said. "It's the same number of days. To me, it's splitting hairs."

And while a later start date might make it easier to plan vacations, Andrea Poirier of St. Petersburg said it doesn't make much difference to her when school starts.

"It's six of one, half a dozen of the other," said Poirier, who has two children. "You still have to find something for them to do during the summer."

Gelber said he is not wedded to a specific school start date as long as it comes no earlier than a week before Labor Day. He said he is concerned, however, that the date not harm dual enrollment programs, which allow high school students to take community college courses. He said he also wants to accommodate districts that want to end their first semester before the annual winter break.

The bill next goes to the Education Appropriations Committee, chaired by Rep. Joe Pickens, R-Palatka. Pickens, who is vice chairman of the Prekindergarten-12 Committee, voted for the bill but warned it may languish in the appropriations panel so other options can be considered.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

[Last modified January 15, 2006, 10:28:40]