Bells to Ring Later at City Schools

The Daily Oklahoman
Editorial 2003-01-17

IT TOOK a crisis to prompt what should make a lot of sense to patrons of the Oklahoma City public schools. The beginning of the next school year is returning to September because of the multimillion- dollar budget crunch affecting the school district. There are other reasons for why school shouldn't start in mid-August, but a savings in utility bills of at least $150,000 is as good as any.

Thus school board members followed the lead of their peers in Tulsa, which decided to start the current school term last Sept. 3 instead of Aug. 19. Doing so is expected to save some $200,000 in Tulsa, which is experiencing the same kind of budget problems as Oklahoma City. What is saved in air conditioning bills in both districts won't solve such crises, but it will help, possibly by saving some teaching positions.

Oklahoma City's decision to delay the start of the 2003-04 term from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 will mean district employees will miss a pay period. The district is working with the local teachers union to find ways to offset the crunch.

Schools in Oklahoma must offer 175 days of instruction, which in recent years are stretched, in some cases, from the second week of August until near Memorial Day.

Along the way are numerous breaks that, if shortened or eliminated, could return the school year to a more traditional schedule of a generation ago. We see nothing wrong with school districts wanting to compress school calendars from the first of September to the end of May. It not only would result in lower utility costs, but would allow older students to work a bit longer in summer jobs and give families a few more days together.

Proponents also contend that a start date after Labor Day would increase first-day attendance in the state's most urban school districts, where thousands of students often don't show up in mid-August.

While school calendars have shifted through the years, one thing has not changed. August in Oklahoma is still August, a most unbearable month of high temperatures, humidity and low winds. All signs may point to back to school, but it doesn't feel like it.

Setting a school calendar should remain the prerogative of individual school districts. But the lead taken by Tulsa and Oklahoma City schools might make it easier for smaller districts to come to the same conclusion, that a later start to the school year makes sense.