Lawmaker Wants School To Start Later Than Mid-August

by Karen Kasler

Once again, kids are going back to school in Ohio. And once again, a state lawmaker is saying that school shouldn’t be starting in the middle of August.

Republican Sen. Gayle Manning of North Ridgeville says parents are telling her it’s too hot to start school now, and that many families still want to squeeze in a vacation.

So she’s proposing that if districts want to start earlier than Labor Day, they would have to get their communities to approve that.

“These school board members need to make sure that their family members, that’s what they want.”

And she says that also satisfies communities’ demands for local control.  

Manning’s bill doesn’t specify when the school year should end, which she thinks gives it a better chance than previous bills.

Opposition to similar measures has centered on concerns about a Labor Day to Memorial Day school year wouldn’t be long enough to get educational goals accomplished.