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Bill to push back start of school moves forward

Local representatives disagree with fellow House members

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Students statewide would not go back to school before the third Monday in August under a bill the state House gave key approval to Wednesday.

The legislation won a second reading on an 82-33 vote and should get routine final House approval today. The bill will then go to the Senate.

This year, Beaufort County schools on the traditional calendar started on Aug. 9, about a week earlier than the House proposal would allow.

Several legislators, including two from southern Beaufort County, said the issue of school start dates should be left to local school districts to decide.

Rep. Richard Chalk, R-Hilton Head Island, said he voted against the proposal because it takes away local control, even though in theory he supports later start dates.

Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, who didn't vote due to other commitments, said the decision on when to start school should be made locally.

The state leaves scheduling decisions to districts now, including when to cancel or make up classes tied to bad weather.

Ginger Hopkins, Beaufort County district's assistant superintendent for academics and accountability, said one of the biggest arguments against later starts is that they make it more difficult for high schools to finish the first semester before the Christmas holiday break.

When the legislature limits the district's flexibility, it also limits its ability to make the best decisions for students, she said. But, she said, if the measure becomes law, the district would make the calendar work.

Rep. B.R. Skelton, R-Six Mile, said, "The local school board can best decide what the calendar is going to be."

Skelton said the bill is a sign the legislature is usurping local authority and stepping into a district's administrative responsibilities. In his district of Pickens County, they are in the midst of hiring a new superintendent.

"I wonder if the state would be willing to take over hiring that superintendent?" he asked.

Rep. Ronny Townsend, an Anderson Republican and chairman of the House Education and Publics Works Committee, said the Legislature sets standards for schools. A limit on how early they can start classes would be no different from those, he said.

Townsend said legislators had tried to persuade school districts to settle on limits to how early classes would start. But some schools still had start dates as early as July 28, Townsend said.

As a consequence, some schools had a few more weeks of class time to prepare for the statewide Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test, a benchmark of student and school performance administered in May.

"I believe that because of that wide range of starting dates that we are not really judging our entire state education system fairly," Townsend said.

The proposal would not prohibit districts from offering a year-round calendar, which typically begins in early to mid-July.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Diane Knich at 706-8141 or . To comment on this story, please go to islandpacket.com.