No decisions yet on school start date

The Iowa Legislature has not yet come to any definitive decision on its role in the school start date debate. Hence the Decorah School Board has set Monday, April 13, 6:05 p.m., as the date for a public hearing regarding its potential request regarding a waiver for school start date. The District has identified several potential start dates, including August 17 or 19 as the earliest dates. The District Leadership Team will work further on recommendations.

There had been some legislative discussion regarding setting a compromise start date, but those discussions have stalled.

As of now, the District has not submitted a request for waiver for early start from the Department of Education. If they do, and the Department of Education denies the appeal, there would be no need for a hearing and the District would need to live with state guidelines. Current law states that schools cannot begin classes before the week of September 1 unless they provide evidence of "significant negative educational impact." District officials have repeated said they could prove that negative impact.