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AEA pushes for later school start date

By Jim Cook
Published: December 07, 2009

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Members of the Alabama Education Association recently voted in favor of asking the Legislature to require Alabama school districts to set their first day of school in mid to late August.

Tourism and economic officials like the idea, while school administrators are less than thrilled.

Bob Hendrix, director of the Dothan Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said having school start later in August will help Alabama businesses. Earlier school dates cut in on summer vacation time, cutting off potential revenues for hotels and tourist destinations. Also, students are deprived of the opportunity to earn money working jobs in the summer season if the new school year starts earlier.

Hendrix estimates that every day of missed tourism caused by early school openings costs the state’s tourism industry about $10 million. This actually costs the schools, already hit hard by proration, in lost revenue from tax collections.

“They’re kind of cutting their own throats while they’re screaming for money right now,” Hendrix said.

Diane Hooper, a Houston County Schools spokesperson, said school superintendents have historically resisted state-mandated start dates because it interferes with their ability to manage their calendar. The Alabama School Superintendent’s Association has opposed uniform start dates in the past.

Hooper said local school administrators like flexibility in their school calendar to help them meet required testing days.

Hendrix said the problem of testing days and other state and federal requirements could be met by shaving days off of other holidays, like fall and Christmas breaks.

Hendrix said setting the start date in mid-August is a good compromise and would help bring revenue into the schools in the form of taxes. It would also save money in air conditioning costs.

“It would be a win-win for everyone,” he said.