In a page-one article in this week's Webb City Sentinel, Webb City R-7 Superintendent Ron Lankford explains the effect the new school start law will have on his school district, noting that his office had had calls from parents ever since the bill was signed into law by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.
School in Webb City will start the same day it starts in Joplin, Aug. 15, because the new law does not take effect until Aug. 28. Area schools, including Webb City, will likely go through the extra steps the law requires, including calling a special meeting, then voting to start at about the same time they start each year.
"Basically, when we get to August," Lankford says, "what I hear from parents is they are ready for school to start.
"I can assure you kids are more ready to come back in August than stay until the first of June."
Then Lankford made the same observation that has been expressed in similar words in this blog since Sen. Jack Goodman first filed the legislation:
Lankford says her understands there are some areas of the state, Branson in particular, where teachers and students have jobs connected to tourism, when starting school closer to Labor Day would be the right thing to do.
But "why should Craig, Mo. (in the northeast corner, and others such as Webb City) set its calendar based on Branson, Mo?"
1 comment:
Why should even Branson, Mo. set its school start date at the whim of some tourist from Iowa that could give a damn less about Branson schools. Tourists and education are two different things, which one should take priority....Education always. Tourists are always out wandering around, they are here at Christmas time, do you think we should put off the starting of school until after Christmas? Absolutely no one should worry a hoot about tourism when it comes to the importance of schools.
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