Des Moines, Iowa — This fall’s start date for Iowa schools is still up in the air.
A bill that would have set “on or after August 23rd” as the school start date in Iowa has been tabled in the Iowa Senate. On the 10th of March, 32 of the 50 members of the senate voted in favor of letting school boards decide when school starts in the fall. This week, Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, asked his senate colleagues to vote in favor of that “local control” approach.
But when it came time to vote, a majority of senators sided with the House approach to set “on or after August 23rd” as the standard for a school start date. That prompted Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal to use a parliamentary maneuver which has tabled the bill. He’s not saying when it may be brought back up for a vote. He says he’s “in no rush”.
