School districts can now start their school year as early as August 10, thanks to a new law signed by the Governor. It’s aimed at getting students more class time before testing. But parents in Lake County said potential changes are coming too late, messing up their summer plans.
“One of the benefits of moving the start of the school year up a little (from August 24) is it could potentially give us two more weeks instructional time with students before we get into testing,” said spokesperson Sherri Owens.
The change would also allow the school district to finish the first semester before winter break, meaning students wouldn’t have a couple weeks off before returning and having to gear up for exams.
The school district put the idea to a vote of parents and teachers over the weekend. They received nearly 11,000 responses and 3,000 comments. Overwhelmingly, 71 percent of people said they weren’t in favor of the change, mostly because of plans they had already made for the summer.
The superintendent announced Monday that there would be no changes to the school calendar this year. The 2015-2016 school year will start august 24.
“They’ve got Boy Scout camps that will finish August 10 and when they get out of Boy Scouts they will be going right back to school. So it’s going to ruin a lot of things this year,” said Nick Crispino, a father of four.
Brevard County Schools will start August 12, while Seminole County will start August 17. Marion County is hoping to start the same day pending School Board approval.
Meanwhile Orange, Osceola and Volusia Counties say they may consider changes in 2016, but will keep their calendars as is for the coming school year, starting August 24.