Why children today don't have the first week of August traditional start of school

[RB TexLa]

Disney and Six Flags want to take more money from people and they want the weekdays of August to do that.



The state’s leading tourism-lobbying group, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, has asked its members to begin gathering evidence on how Florida’s pushed-back school-start date has helped them.

The organization wants to use that information to help convince Florida lawmakers not to tinker with the later start-date law, which was passed in spring 2006 and prohibits school districts from beginning the school year any earlier than two weeks before Labor Day.

The tourism industry lobbied heavily for that law, because a longer summer window means more time both for families to vacation and for students to hold on to their summer jobs during the season’s travel rush. The restaurant and lodging association’s members include everyone from Universal Orlando to Beef O’Brady’s.


http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2007/08/tourism-lobby-b.html

[winter is coming]

1. First week of August? School never started until after Labor Day when I was a kid. n/t

[Nancy Waterman]

2. Ditto

It has never been the first week of August. Meanwhile, it is getting earlier every year now that it is before Labor Day.

[Fawke Em]

30. Same here.

In the South, we never started school before Labor Day because many schools still weren't outfitted with air conditioning when I was a kid, so they waited until the dog days were just about over.

Of course, now, the dog days last through September.

School starts tomorrow for my kids, now.

[RB TexLa]

3. The first full week of August is the traditional start of the school year

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. After Labor Day for me in the 60's and 70's.

[RebelOne]

13. Same for me. And summer vacation started the first week of June. n/t

[Go Vols]

16. same here

[Ohio Joe]

26. That is how it was for me as well

Jersey, 60's & 70's also .

[Greybnk48]

48. Same here and add 80's and 90's

I've lived in PA, WI, MS, AR, TN, AK, and NJ and never lived in a place where school started before the last week in August. WI did that for a while, and now we're back to after Labor Day, due to popular demand (by everyone).

[PSPS]

7. It isn't anywhere I've lived or gone to school.

[Arugula Latte]

9. Not for millions of kids for many decades ...

After Labor Day is the traditional start.

Thank goodness it's still that way for my kids.

[pnwmom]

12. The day after Labor Day is the traditional start of the school year in most of the civilized states.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_day_of_school

United States
The first day of school for many school districts in various states is on the day after Labor Day (first Monday in September). On that day, public transportation services increase and start the rush hour earlier. In some other school districts, school begins in mid- to late August.

[Sheldon Cooper]

18. Where?

And please be specific and list as many localities as possible, because I think this is another bullshit claim.

[Sherman A1]

47. Agreed

I know of no district anywhere that started the first week of August.

[Igel]

20. When I grew up in MD, around Labor Day.

This was what my parents, who went to school in the '30s and '40s, and what my brother, who graduated in the '60s, were used to.

College started the Monday before Labor Day.

[kdmorris]

22. Not for me, or for my children when we lived in Maryland (<1998)

It wasn't until we moved to Florida that we ever encountered the first full week of August as the start date. The year before, in Maryland, my daughters started school after Labor Day in 1997.

[tammywammy]

27. No, it's not.

The earliest I started school (Arlington, Texas) was maybe August 12. I graduated high school in 1999.

One of the other reasons to start school later is the electric bills for air conditioning. It's cheaper to cool schools in June than August.

[City Lights]

32. Where is that true?

What city, county, and state?

[Xithras]

34. The August thing began in the 1980's and picked up after NCLB. Nothing "traditional" about it.

Labor Day has been the traditional start of school for pretty much as long as public school has existed. Some states (like California) began moving their start dates into August in response to technology scares in the 80's that fed a fear that Asia was going to overtake us because they had a better educational system. It's slowly expanded since then, and really took off after NCLB was signed into law and a number of states extended their school years in response.

When I was a kid, we were out of school the first Friday after Memorial Day, and went back the first Monday after Labor Day. That is a "traditional" school year. The shortening of summers started when I was in middle school, when my local district shaved almost three weeks off the year in one big chunk (I still remember the huge fight over it, and that part of the school board was unseated over it...but the new board didn't reverse it).

[eppur_se_muova]

60. ^THIS^ nt

[cali]

35. where? sure wasn't for me growing up in CA and CT, wasn't for my son

in Vermont.

[burnodo]

36. Which schools?

When I went to primary and secondary, I never started earlier than the last week in August, and that was in the South.

[WinkyDink]

42. NO, IT ISN'T, SO STOP MAKING THIS IGNORANT CLAIM.

[Iggo]

46. No it's not. You're wrong.

[etherealtruth]

50. The school year was historically planned around planting and harvesting

The first week in August as a start date is not "traditional"

Our current school year was designed to accommodate an agrarian society

[MADem]

56. Up in Northern Maine, they take a break for the potato harvest.

School starts, and then, when the potatoes are ready to be harvested, they shut down school and the kids go take care of potatoes.

Used to be that kids played a big role in that--not as much nowadays with automation, but they still use high school kids to drive tractors, grade potatoes and stuff like warehouse work.

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/09/14/news/aroostook/potato-harvest-break-adjusted-in-parts-of-aroostook-county-to-meet-farmers-needs/

FORT KENT, Maine — For generations in northern Maine the annual potato harvest break has been as much a part of the start of a new school year as books, back-to-school clothes and locker combinations.

And while the number of active farms in Aroostook County has shrunk and districts have adapted to changing agriculture demographics, in the coming weeks students from Mars HIll to Madawaska will put classes on hold as the harvest begins.

“These farmers pay taxes that support our communities [and] they need the students to bring in their crop,” Fern Desjardins, superintendent at SAD 33 in Frenchville, said this week. “It just makes sense for us to work together.”

This year SAD 33 is joining AOS 95/SAD 27 in Fort Kent and the Madawaska School Department in delaying the annual break by one week and will be on recess Sept. 24 to Oct. 9.

“We received a request from the farmers to delay the break by a week,” Desjardins said. “There has been very little rain and they wanted to give the potatoes a chance to grow, hoping to have a better yield.”

The change in schedule meant coordinating with schools in Madawaska and Fort Kent, Desjardins said, since all three departments share the calendar year with the St. John Valley Technical Center....

[Autumn Colors]

54. It's never been the same in every state

In New York State, it's always been after Labor Day even as far back as when my mom was in school in the 1940's.

Of course, in the south, I understand the school year ends in May. In the north, you have to allow that there will be school closings for snow days. In NY state, the school year generally doesn't even end until mid or late June.

[X_Digger]

8. Same here.

September 15 was what it was when I was growing up.

Those first few weeks were always sweltering, too- school air conditioners couldn't keep up.

eta: typo

[Xithras]

37. You went to a school with air conditioning? Rich snob!

Living in the California Central Valley, it wasn't that uncommon for us to go back to school when it was still 100+ degrees outside. Our air conditioners were called "windows" and "pee chee fans" (because pee chees were more durable than paper).

And yes, those classrooms smelled just as bad as you imagine.

[X_Digger]

38. I was being generous, calling it "air conditioning".

The high school (built circa 1955) office had a real window unit, as did the gym locker rooms, but the rest of the school had overhead fans that worked about 1/2 the time and were always too slow to move much air.

In junior high, we were SOL- teachers would bring in their own fans.

[etherealtruth]

44. Same here!

[MADem]

52. I think they do that shit down south because they want to get out earlier.

When I went to school in USA, it was always right after Labor Day as well. Often there was a half-day in there (I always wondered if that was a little break for teachers and students to sob bitterly as they adjusted to their new reality).

[Orrex]

4. Is that enough time to indoctrinate children for NCLB testing?

[NoPasaran]

5. Growing up, no matter where I lived

School always started sometime around Labor Day and ran to the end of May. My Connecticut cousins started after I did and their term ran into June.

[Pisces]

10. The kids spend the same amount of time in school. This means they get out in late June, while the

kids who start early get out in late May. Same learning time. How does this negatively impact the children?

[Gormy Cuss]

14. If the school year is the same length, the "longer family vacation" window argument falls flat.

The families can use the parks in June just as easily as August. It would then be more of an issue of teen labor being unavailable during a peak summer month.

[bowens43]

11. I have lived in several states and have never seen school start the 1st week of august

everywhere I have lived its after labor day

[RebelOne]

15. Nope. Not here in Georgia. School in some counties started the first week of August,

All other county started this week.

[Rochester]

17. It started the Wednesday after Labor Day

for me when I was in school, and ended the third week of June.

[MrSlayer]

19. First week of September for me and mine.

I knew Florida schools went back in August but they get out in May. They have the same summer break as everyone else.

[okwmember]

21. Not sure what they're talking about.

I've lived in Florida my whole life and the school year has only started earlier and earlier. We used to start at Labor Day. They did change the rules a couple of years ago to say that no school system could start before a certain date, because so many counties had pushed the start dates too early in August and kids around the state were having vastly different school years.

Students of schools that started early in Aug also got screwed because they missed out on the tax holiday for school supplies and clothes that the state traditionally offered. Of course now that's also been moved to the first weekend in Aug. when it used to be a whole week.

Last year my kids started Aug 21 and ended June 10, which was really odd to have them come back on a Monday for the last day of school.

[City Lights]

23. I no of no one who started school during the first week of August.

When I was a kid we never started until after Labor Day. Today, kids around here start in mid to late August.

Do kids in your part of the country start the first week of August?

[Spirochete]

24. First week of August?

Shit, they had to drag me back, kicking and screaming, the day after Labor Day. They'd have never gotten me back there in August.

[Igel]

25. The school calendar has always been about economic pragmatism.

It is at is it in many states to go with the agricultural calendar. By the end of August many crops are about done and the rush season for ag workers is over. It spread by "tradition" to places where the seasons are different and the agricultural calendar is really at odds with the school calendar.

It's only with increased urbanization that we care about being able to take traditional vacations. And those only matter for traditional vacations.

My personal belief is that the school year should vary by environment. It makes no sense to me in Houston to have June, July, and most of August off. You just don't want to be outside during those months here. All the schools have to be air conditioned anyway--the high Ts continue in September and October--so we should be in school then. Have the big break start just before Thanksgiving and give them off until February. Have them go to school February through October with two weeks off around the 4th of July with fall and spring breaks at Memorial Day and Labor Day.

[MineralMan]

28. Interesting. Back in the 1950s and 60s, when I was in public school,

school started after Labor Day. We didn't start school in August at all. When I went to a state college, the fall semester began close to the end of September, and never before.

I don't remember any school startings in August. Maybe I'm just old and outdated.

[oldhippie]

29. Major Fail ...

... on traditional start date of school. Pretty clear from the comments in this thread what the "traditional" date is.

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. Last week of August to first week of September

Where I live for the last 25 years. The variation depends on the unified school district, most start after Labor Day.

[spartan61]

33. My grandchildren in GA

started school this past Wednesday, August 7th. When I taught in CT, the teachers came back the week before Labor Day and the children started school the Wednesday before Labor Day. Michigan has passed a law that returns the first day of school for students as the day after Labor Day. Go Michigan!!

[WinkyDink]

43. I wonder what GA's point is.

[millennialmax]

39. In all the areas surrounding me, schools start the first week of August.

I remember going to school as early as August 3rd and my online friends would have another month off.

[hobbit709]

40. We always started the Wed after Labor Day. The only people that got Spring Break were college

[WinkyDink]

41. I'm in PA. we NEVER began school until after Labor Day until very recently. Nothing "traditional"

about August AT ALL. Our public pools were still open.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

45. Is this something new? We always started school after Labor Day,

even back in the '50s. The original reason kids didn't go to school in the summer was because they were needed to help on their family's farm; it had nothing to do with family vacations.

[GP6971]

51. No local

farms where I grew up and vacations didn't really start until after summer school and we always started school the Wednesday after Labor Day (NJ)

[chervilant]

49. While this OP is getting derided

because of your title (which I have to agree is inaccurate), the fact remains that "summer breaks" are determined by economic parameters, and long have been. When I was a child, our parents wanted us home for the summer to do the myriad farm chores commensurate with the growing season. I remember one spring when the schools extended the semester into June, because we'd missed six weeks of school during a particularly harsh winter. That year, several of my peers were kept home during haying, plowing and planting.

It does not surprise me that the tourist industry weighs in on when school districts should begin their academic year. But, I agree with a poster upthread about shifting the "long" break to the winter months -- just be prepared for our outdoorsy children to rebel.

[TheKentuckian]

53. This tradition is unknown to me

[BuelahWitch]

55. It was always the Wednesday after Labor Day

when I was growing up. We had a really bad snow storm in '77 in W. PA, and then the next year, and every year after that, it started a bit earlier. But I don't ever recall the beginning of August as the "traditional" start of the school year. Heck, I feel sorry for the kids now who have to go back the second week or so of August!

[raging moderate]

57. No air-conditioning= dripping kids sleeping in class

Last edited Sun Aug 11, 2013, 03:21 PM - Edit history (1)

I worked in many schools for almost 35 years. When school began in August, the children spent much of the time red, dripping with sweat, and their heads nodding, falling into actual sleep occasionally. Especially the kindergarten kids. Most public schools cannot afford air-conditioning. Most of my schools didn't have screens, either, which meant humming wasps buzzing among the children. Teachers spent a lot of time getting the kids to drink lots of liquid and move around to stay awake.

[tularetom]

58. Tuesday after labor day for me

Both in TN and CA.

Two reasons. First, many kids worked on family farms and second, no schools had air conditioning in those days and August days here in Central California were often over 100 degrees.

Side note: we spent every summer hour we could in the local movie theater. It was the only place in town that had AC.

[yeoman6987]

59. Start School First Week of August

I hope they NEVER do this. I would rather a law saying that they can't begin school until the first Wednesday after Labor Day. Summer break should be from mid-June until around September 8th (depending on when Labor Day falls).

[raging moderate]

61. Chicago 1953-1966: Day after Labor Day to about June 20-22.

And we all learned enough so that most of us went to college or trade school later. Of course, I was in a mixed but tolerant neighborhood that was book-rich although money-poor, with many people who worked hard, helped their children with their schoolwork, and spent a lot of time at the public libraries. Not much TV or other distractions back then.

[HockeyMom]

62. New York has always been after Labor Day

since I started school in the 50s. My son-in-law is a teacher today there. Florida? At least where I worked in Collier, they used to end in May and go back the 2nd week in August, but that has been pushed up to June and starting 3rd week in August. I doubt Disney vacations has anything to do with it. You live in Florida, there are big time discounts for Florida residents and it applies all year. Plenty of other times families can go.

[liberal_at_heart]

63. Our school district had to start adding days to the end of the school year for snow days.

They were shortening winter and spring breaks to make up for them, but the parents that are rich enough to take their kids on vacation complained so much that now they tack the days onto the end of the school year. I sure wish we could get those rich parents to complain about funding, curriculum, or state standardized testing. Maybe if the rich parents complained something would actually get done. As for our school year up here we have two month summer vacation, two winter breaks, and a spring break. It seems to work out pretty well.