Summer is here and schools are opening with conflicting start dates

The children of Melodie Wright were among the initial students in the nation to head back to school. Her son commenced 10th grade while her daughter entered second grade in Birmingham, Alabama during the initial week of August, more than six weeks prior to the official conclusion of summer.

Numerous students nationwide, including those in Alabama, are preparing with school supplies, meeting their teachers and peers, and adapting to school rules since the school year began. In other parts of the United States, children are heading to beaches on the Pacific and Atlantic shores, as some regions, including Death Valley and Puerto Rico, experience scorching temperatures.

Wright believes that the start of the school year is too premature. She desires more time to spend with her kids and would prefer to commence school after Labor Day, aligning with the calendar year of other regions.

On the other hand, Keary Noy, another parent in Alabama, holds a different perspective. For her, the earlier the start of school, the better. While her son’s charter school shifted its start date to early August, she would have favored a July initiation.

The commencement of the school year varies across the nation. Research indicates that the start dates typically conform to regional norms.

According to a 2023 analysis by the Pew Research Center of school calendars, students in Southern states are more likely to begin school in early August. The findings were based on 1,573 public school district calendars from the 2023-24 school year.

The Pew analysis reveals that school districts in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania typically have the latest start dates for returning to school. Most districts generally start during the second and third weeks of August, as indicated by Pew.

The majority of schools around Regana Bracey in New Jersey will resume classes post Labor Day.

Bracey, a member of a parent group focused on educational reform, recalls the stark contrast in start dates when visiting relatives in the South during her childhood, where her cousins were already back in school by late summers.

“My cousins ended earlier in May and had a longer summer break. I envied that. Conversely, they resumed school earlier,” she expressed.

Years later, the diversity in defining “summer break” months seems customary.

Discover the 17 states providing them:Back-to-school shopping 2024 sales tax holidays

Why do certain schools start earlier than others?

The National Center for Education Statistics states that the majority of states mandate schools to offer approximately 180 days of instruction, with some exceptions.

However, there is a lack of consistency nationwide concerning calendar start dates. Approximately 15 states have laws specifying the start or end dates of public school calendars. Another 27 states allow districts to determine their return from summer vacation, as outlined in an Education Commission of the States 2023 report comparing calendar policies nationwide.

Schools transitioning to requiring students to attend classes during parts of the summer emerged in the late 1800s and early 1900s, shifting from one-room schoolhouses to age-based classrooms. This shift came about due to decreased urban school attendance during summer months.

Previously, school calendars aligned with agricultural patterns or operated year-round.

“In fact, rural schools typically conducted sessions in summer and winter, with children assisting on farms in spring and fall for planting and harvesting,” stated the Pew Research Center article. “Urban schools, on the contrary, operated almost year-round, albeit many children attended sporadically or only part of the year.”

Schools Experimenting with Later Start Times in Various US Regions

Some regions are exploring keeping children comfortable during the summer, especially as areas adapt to rising temperatures at the beginning of the school year. Several buildings lack sufficient air conditioning to ensure students stay cool enough to focus on learning.

In response to a parent survey, the School District of Philadelphia adjusted its calendar last year to start post Labor Day for the 2023-2024 academic year, which was a later start compared to the previous year.

Despite the delayed start, Philadelphia schools released students early due to high temperatures at the beginning of the recent school year.

This year, some regions, including Milwaukee Public Schools, will commence classes on September 3rd. Certain schools in the area previously followed an early starting calendar, beginning in mid-August, but had to cancel classes due to excessive heat in the initial days of the school year.

Contributing: Rory Linnane, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel