Schools shift calendars to comply with new law

School systems across the state are being forced to amend the 2012-2013 school calendars after the Alabama Legislature passed the Flexible School Calendar Act.

The bill is designed to extend the summer break by two weeks in an effort to increase revenue through tourism dollars.

The bill designates start and end dates for the school year. With its passage, school should not start earlier than two weeks before Labor Day and end before Memorial Day each year.

“The Legislature is working as if they’re oil speculators,” said Enterprise City Schools Superintendent Dr. Aaron Milner. “They’re betting that more money will come through tourism. I understand that their concern is tourism, and I understand them wanting to generate revenue for the state of Alabama. My argument would be at some point the Legislature is going to have to address the real issues in tax reform in the state of Alabama to ensure that the Education Trust Fund is adequately funded.”

The new law shifts the requirement from days of school to hours of instruction. Schools are now required to provide 1,080 hours of instruction per school year rather than the former 180 days of school.

After the bill was passed by the House and Senate, Gov. Robert Bentley attempted to return the bill with an amendment that would allow a local school board the option to opt out completely, however, the House and Senate voted to not concur with the amendment. Bentley’s veto was over-ruled.

The bill does provide some flexibility for local school systems to adjust the days within the given start and end dates and extend the hours for teaching.

“It’s ironic that this is called the Flexible School Calendar Act because I lack to see the flexibility in it,” Milner said.

Because the given dates would not allow for the required 180 days of school, it means holidays will have to be cut.

Milner said he and the central office staff participated in a webinar from state superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice, who recommended schools maintain 180 days of school.

After considering eight different calendars, the Enterprise City School Board met May 22 and approved a revised calendar, which does maintain a 180-day schedule.

However, as a result of the act, the 180 days is now pressed between the required start and end dates, which cuts several holidays.

Milner said it’s unfair for the state to dictate how a school system’s calendar should be arranged because each school system is different. He sites the proximity to Fort Rucker as a reason why the system allots more time for holidays due to the frequency of students traveling during those times.

According to the new calendar students will no longer get the full week for Thanksgiving, and instead will get Wednesday through Friday off.

Christmas break will no longer last two weeks, and will now run from Dec. 24 through Jan. 2. Spring break will remain a full week from March 25-29.

“I don’t like that I’ve taken some of the holidays away through my recommendation, but we felt as a central office staff and as a superintendent that we were left with no choice,” Milner said.

The Coffee County School Board is meeting May 24 where Superintendent Dr. Don McPherson said he plans to propose a 178-day calendar that begins Aug. 20 and ends May 24.

As with the Enterprise City School System’s new calendar, the Coffee County School System is also having to cut holidays shorter.

McPherson expressed his gratitude to state Rep. Barry Moore, state Sen. Jimmy Holley and Bentley for supporting the local school board point of view, but it is unfortunate the majority of the Legislature did not.

The Legislature failed to recognize that residents in the Wiregrass area don’t travel to Gulf Shores or Orange Beach for vacation, most travel to the Florida beaches, McPherson said.

The bill affects the entire state, but it is essentially regarding only Mobile and Baldwin counties, he said.

As a result, all state school systems are in the process of conducting calendar revisions to accommodate the new law.