Decorah School Superintendent says the district will probably appeal the state-ordered September 1st start date for classes

decorahnews.com contacted Decorah Community Schools Superintendent Mike Haluska regarding his opinions of the mandated September 1 start date and the Decorah response.

Much depends upon how much the Governor and the Department of Education continue to push the issue, but for now it appears likely that Decorah will appeal the mandate. Department of Education Director Brad Buck said they would issue further guidance in early 2015 regarding the waiver process so nothing will happen very soon.

Haluska said, "We can clearly show data indicating the earlier we begin the school  year, the better our students perform on the AP (Advanced Placement) tests and the spring ACT.  The AP tests are really key, because the dates of the AP testing is established nationwide.  If we can get nearly two additional weeks of coverage and preparation, our students perform better."

If the September 1 start date had been applied this year, the final day of school could have been scheduled for June 5, not factoring in additional snow days. Snow days would have taken the calendar to June 17.

Beyond the change of school dates, there are other potential repercussions. Haluska said that a late spring dismissal could reduce baseball and softball programs for those below the varsity level. The timing of Park and Rec programs, as well as church school activities would need to be shuffled. Student availability for jobs would last later into August, but obviously students might not be ready for summer work until mid June.

A later start means that fall sports schedules could be reduced or carried into later fall, with the challenges of winter weather. If fall sports schedules remained the same, with a later school start date, those students and parents would have even less family time. Any transition would be a challenge since some sport schedules are set far in advance.

While there are concerns about earlier start dates, like a group that presented to the Decorah Community School Board a couple years ago, nobody, including the Department of Education, seems to be pushing for what research suggests as the most effective approach from an educational perspective - year round schooling. Some have suggested that a significant change in school calendars could open the door for consideration of other calendars that are more educationally based.