"Over the past decade, Iowa schools have moved the start of school earlier each year. Iowa law states that classes may begin not earlier than a day during the calendar week in which September 1st falls, unless September 1st is a Sunday and in that case, classes may begin any day during the week before September 1st. The Iowa Department of Education has indiscriminately granted waivers to all school districts that submit a school start date waiver request. THIS HAS RESULTED IN OUR SUMMERS BEING CUT SHORTER EVERY YEAR!" - Travel Federation of Iowa

Have you walked or driven around the area over the past two weeks - ghost town. Why? School is in session therefore no more vacations which equals a HUGE loss in revenue for not only the Iowa Great Lakes Area, but the entire state of Iowa.

Every year schools throughout the state of Iowa are starting earlier and earlier. Why you ask? Because the Iowa Department of Education is allowing these schools to apply for waivers to start school as early as August 10th! Of course all of the school districts have "reasons" for starting as early as August 10th, the reality of the situation is starting school that early is not necessary.

Some of you may wonder why the Iowa Department of Economic Development and Tourism Industry are so passionate about school start dates and why the law needs to change. Its simple. Okoboji and the entire Tourism Industry throughout the state of Iowa thrives on the summer season: Memorial Day to Labor Day. Every day/week that school starts BEFORE Labor Day businesses, communities, and the state are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. For example, the Iowa Great Lakes loses an estimated $1,000,000 for every day that school starts before Labor Day. Lets break it down even further:

$1,000,000 x .05 = $50,000 in lost sales tax

$1,000,000 x .01 = $10,000 in lost School Infrastructure Local Option Tax

$1,000,000 x .01 = $10,000 in lost Local Option Sales Tax for cities and counties

That is a total of $70,000 in LOST TAXES for one community, for ONE DAY!!

A non-financial issue with the early school start date is the travelers who are still vacationing during the last two weeks of August. There have been several instances over the past two weeks just in Okoboji where Minnesota travelers are VERY upset due to the fact that not all of our area attractions are up and running. This is an issue in all areas of the state - not just Okoboji. Needless to say those of us working in Chamber Offices and Welcome Centers hear a lot of complaining when someone plans a vacation and their plans are ruined due to attractions not being open. Think about the Griswolds and Wally World - enough said.

Of course the Iowa Department of Education and School Board officials all have reason why school needs to start early. One of the biggest arguments is teachers think students need to take semester exams before winter break. The Travel Federation of Iowa has done extensive research on this topic and here is one fact they found - "The top ten academic states in the nation, according to four commonly used state education ranking systems, have two things in common: 1) the majority began the school year in late August or early September 2) Semester exams are given after winter break."

The Iowa Department of Economic Development and Travel Federation of Iowa will continue to bring the school start date issue to light once the legislature is back in session come January 2010. Last year was the first year a bill made it out of committee, but unfortunately never brought up on the floor. The hope for 2010 is for even more progress to be made.

A special thank you to our local Representative, Mike May, who has dedicated a lot of time on this issue and has helped draft new bills to help correct the current law.

If you are interested in voicing your opinion about the school start date law its easy! Visit www.travelfederationofiowa.org and sign up to contact state legislators.

Stacy