Bill to Remove August 23rd School Start Date Stalls in Iowa House

(Des Moines, IA) — A move to get rid of the state law that forbids schools from starting the fall term before August 23rd is stalled in the Iowa House. The tourism industry objects, arguing families quit traveling and they lose student employees if school starts earlier in August. Craigh Patterson of Okoboji Tourism told lawmakers, “every day that Okoboji loses from that summer season, it’s over a million dollars in hidden revenues that doesn’t come in.” Representative Thomas Moore is a retired teacher and coach from Griswold. Moore said, “We don’t want to infringe on our business partners that are paying the taxes and making the money for the state government. We also want that local school board to be able to make what the best decision for them is and so it’s a ‘Catch 22’ situation, I guess.” Moore announced the bill would not advance.