Arlington ISD Parents Upset With Next Year's School Start Date
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ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Arlington ISD is getting a hard lesson in complying with state law while not angering parents with next year's schedule.
The law says schools have to start on the fourth Monday in August. But August starts on a Tuesday, meaning the fourth Monday is at the end of the month on August 28th. And many parents don't like starting school that late and what it means for the school year.
"I thought it was ridiculous!" exclaimed AISD parent Becky Milne.
Milne was one of many Arlington parents who took to social media upset with a calendar committee's plan for the new school year.
Following state law, the district would start its year a week later than normal on August 28th. That would mean school would let out a week later in June, too. And the Christmas break wouldn't start until three days before Christmas.
"We are not going to have enough time to go and actually spend time with family and enjoy the time and not actually rush through it," said Milne's daughter Maren Hoffa.
"It came out of nowhere from my perspective," Milne said. "I was like, 'wait a minute. Wait a minute!' "
Parents lit up social media. The holiday schedule was a big problem, especially for parents with split custody of children before and after Christmas.
"For parents who have multiple custody situations, there were lots of concerns about starting that late," said school board member Bowie Hogg. "And then also finding childcare daycare later in the year as it went on."
By state law, school has to start on the fourth Monday of August and that's what the district's planning committee did. But after the public outcry, the board is telling the committee to scrap the plan.
"Those are the options they came back with us on," Hogg said. "And I commend them for working hard but, I would say let's go back to the drawing board and keep looking at some other ideas," Hogg said.
Thus, Arlington and many other school districts will likely have to ask the state if they can start a week early. The school board will see the new calendar in January.
