Petition is circulating to delay school start date for this fall

A Decorah resident has started a petition to delay the proposed start of school for next fall, from Thursday, August 16, to Thursday, August 23.  Decorah Schools traditionally have started on the third Thursday but the calendar this year makes that Thursday seem pretty early to petition organizer Padrin Grimstad. The petition, that as of Monday had about 100 signatures, can be found at http://www.change.org/petitions/save-our-summer.

Grimstad said that she wishes to bring the issue, and the public support behind it, to the school board. She said she had been encouraged by Superintendent Mike Haluska to bring evidence of that support for a later date to the school board at its February 13 meeting. Grimstad says that she does not want the petition to be seen as confrontational, and is hoping that there might even be some ways to address the issue by including more school days in the middle of the year to avoid extensions in the spring.

Superintendent Haluska, while welcoming the input, says the current calendar is not only an administrative recommendation but one that has been fully vetted by the District Leadership Team and the Executive Committee of the Decorah Education Association so it is seemingly well supported by the teaching staff. Haluska cites a number of issues such as Park and Recreation programs that would either need to be shortened or extended beyond practical dates. A primary issue is that of educational environment, and he says it is clear that anything beyond Memorial Day is far less productive than teaching in August, even if it may be hot then. He also adds that history does not suggest that mid August has any more early dismissals than late August, September, or May. A later dismissal in spring could also severely impact on softball and baseball games/practices. Fall sports practice dates begin as early as early as August 8.

Of course there are issues beyond the date itself, such as the unpredictability of snow days and how late school might actually go into the spring. This year the calendar included an extra week during winter break due to the need to schedule asbestos removal at that time to keep the high school renovation project on track. Grimstad said she has also been in touch with Parks and Recreation, as well as some of the other players in the calendar issues, such as Vacation Bible School programs.

No official date has been set yet for the start of school year 2012-13