Des Moines, Iowa — A move to get rid of the state law that forbids schools from starting the fall term before August 23rd has stalled in the Iowa House. The tourism industry objects, arguing families quit traveling and they lose student employees if school starts earlier in August.
Craig Patterson is a lobbyist for Okoboji Tourism.
Representative Thomas Moore, a Republican, is a retired teacher and coach from Griswold.
Moore is chairman of the subcommittee that discussed getting rid of the mandatory school start date. He announced at the end of a hearing that the bill would not advance. Margatet Buckton is a lobbyist for the Urban Education Network, representing 22 school districts where nearly one in every four students are enrolled. She says having less time away from school avoids learning loss.
In 2015, former Governor Terry Branstad criticized schools for starting before the State Fair was over — and he signed a law that has forbidden all public and private schools from starting before August 23rd. The mandatory starting date law does not apply to districts that have year-round school.
