This Friday marks the first day of school for many K-12 students in Iowa. But Wilma Porter of Cedar Rapids remembers going to school after Labor Day in the 1950s and 1960s. Porter wondered how the first day of school was in mid-August when it’s so hot outside. So she wrote to Curious Iowa, a Gazette series that answers readers’ questions about our state, its people and its culture, to get the answer.

Under current Iowa law, August 23 is the earliest day a school year can begin. It hasn’t always been this way. In fact, the current law is a compromise between schools and Iowa’s tourism industry.

Why did classes previously start after Labor Day?

The summer tourism season begins on Memorial Day and lasts through Labor Day.

According to a November 13, 1984, Gazette report, schools in Cedar Rapids traditionally started after Labor Day until the 1970-1971 school year. Before 1985, school start dates in Iowa varied between mid- and late August or after Labor Day. Iowa’s tourism industry argued that August school start times reduced summer travel, resulting in millions less in tax revenue.

In response to Porter’s comment on the heat, former Senator Joe Brown (D-Montezuma) remarked in 1984 that it was easier to teach students when they were not “sticking together” in school during the August heat.

In 1985, then-Governor Terry Branstad signed a law requiring that schools not start until September 1. The law allowed school districts to apply for an exception if they could prove that starting school in September would be detrimental to education.

Chelsea Lerud, executive director of Iowa Travel Industry Partners, told the Gazette, “Basically every school in the state of Iowa has taken advantage of this exemption. So there has been no uniformity.”

Starting school in September meant the school year would begin later in the spring and districts had less flexibility with snow days. In 1985, Iowa law required 179 instructional days. Today, Iowa law requires the school calendar to contain no fewer than 180 days, or 1,080 instructional hours.

When was the law changed to August 23rd?

Fast forward to 2015, when the tourism industry once again took up the issue of back-to-school dates. The Gazette had previously reported that in the 2014-2015 school year, only 14 of 338 districts had school start dates after August 23.

That’s why Iowa’s tourism industry has teamed up with the Save Iowa Summers coalition to push for change. Lerud said the goal is to eliminate the exemptions and keep school starting after Labor Day.

“Well, the schools were not happy about it,” said Lerud. “And so negotiations took place and August 23 is the compromise that was reached at that time between the schools and the tourism industry.”

August 23 is not just any day. It is the latest date the 11-day Iowa State Fair could end. The State Fair is Iowa’s largest event, attracting more than a million visitors annually.

This year, August 23 falls on a Friday. For districts like Solon Community School District, this means the first week of school is only one day.

“We start as early as possible so that August 23rd is set, no matter what day of the week it falls on… We are doing everything we can to create a calendar that includes 180 days of contact for students before Memorial Day weekend,” Solon Community School District Superintendent Davis Eidahl told The Gazette. “After Memorial Day, student attention and productivity drop off.”

Although classes don’t start until the 23rd, Eidahl said 70 percent of Solon high school students have already reported to school to participate in fall sports, marching band, flag guards and other activities.

“During the first week of August, students’ schedules are packed with extracurricular activities,” Eidahl said. “Students might as well be in class.”

Has the problem reappeared since 2015?

The issue was raised again in 2018, 2020 and even during this year’s legislative session.

Eidahl said protecting the State Fair and other community summer events is important, but districts would prefer more flexibility in setting school start dates.

Last year, Senator Dawn Driscoll (R-Williamsburg) introduced Senate File 2010, which would change school calendar requirements to require classes to begin no earlier than the first Tuesday after the last day of the Iowa State Fair.

Eidahl said the bill made “a lot more sense than taking effect on a different day of the week every year.”

“We hope that the bill authored by Senator Driscoll in the last session will be introduced and passed in the next session.”

Lerud stressed that the problem goes beyond the Iowa State Fair, saying that amusement and water parks, golf courses and the summer workforce are all affected by the start of the school year.

“Every day in August that school starts early means more than $22.36 million in lost revenue for the state,” Lerud said.

According to a report by the Iowa Tourism Office, more than 68,000 Iowa residents were employed in the tourism industry in 2022, and tourism spending generated a total of $1.1 billion in state and local taxes.

“We are importing these tax dollars, which frankly gives schools the critical tax dollars they need to function and provide an education to Iowa students,” Lerud said.

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