MONROE - School districts in southern Wisconsin, including Monroe, are banding together to ask the state for the ability to choose their own school start dates, according to Monroe District Administrator Cory Hirsbrunner.
State law currently prohibits schools from starting before Sept. 1 each year unless the state Department of Public Instruction decides a district has "extraordinary reasons" for requesting a waiver. The districts are part of a growing movement seeking to change the law, with some school groups saying support is higher than its ever been.
Rep. Jim Ott, R-Mequon, is circulating a bill to end the restriction, but similar bills he introduced in previous years went nowhere.
Hirsbrunner said in an email that districts want more local control and flexibility for their calendars, which is why they planned to sign a letter and send it to the state DPI and possibly state legislators.
"Most districts" in Cooperative Educational Service Agency 2 would be signing it, Hirsbrunner said at a recent Monroe school board meeting. CESA 2 includes districts in Green County.
Board members consented to adding Monroe to the letter after Hirsbrunner asked for input. She didn't attend the CESA meeting on Thursday where the letter was expected to be available but said she indicated to the CESA 2 group that Monroe was supportive of the effort.
Schools in northern Wisconsin have already made a similar effort, according to Gary Albrecht, CESA 2 agency administrator. He said he's talked to "many, many superintendents" who support having local control over their calendars.
"District leaders feel that communities and school districts throughout Wisconsin are highly unique - with individual business, agriculture, and recreation interest and needs - and therefore, should be able to set their school calendars in sync with the needs of students, families, and the economic drivers of their communities," Albrecht said in an email.
Hirsbrunner said the Monroe school district has never gotten a waiver to start school before Sept. 1 as far as she can remember.
A state DPI representative, Thomas McCarthy, said in an email that all waiver requests are evaluated individually.
- The Associated Press contributed to this story.
State law currently prohibits schools from starting before Sept. 1 each year unless the state Department of Public Instruction decides a district has "extraordinary reasons" for requesting a waiver. The districts are part of a growing movement seeking to change the law, with some school groups saying support is higher than its ever been.
Rep. Jim Ott, R-Mequon, is circulating a bill to end the restriction, but similar bills he introduced in previous years went nowhere.
Hirsbrunner said in an email that districts want more local control and flexibility for their calendars, which is why they planned to sign a letter and send it to the state DPI and possibly state legislators.
"Most districts" in Cooperative Educational Service Agency 2 would be signing it, Hirsbrunner said at a recent Monroe school board meeting. CESA 2 includes districts in Green County.
Board members consented to adding Monroe to the letter after Hirsbrunner asked for input. She didn't attend the CESA meeting on Thursday where the letter was expected to be available but said she indicated to the CESA 2 group that Monroe was supportive of the effort.
Schools in northern Wisconsin have already made a similar effort, according to Gary Albrecht, CESA 2 agency administrator. He said he's talked to "many, many superintendents" who support having local control over their calendars.
"District leaders feel that communities and school districts throughout Wisconsin are highly unique - with individual business, agriculture, and recreation interest and needs - and therefore, should be able to set their school calendars in sync with the needs of students, families, and the economic drivers of their communities," Albrecht said in an email.
Hirsbrunner said the Monroe school district has never gotten a waiver to start school before Sept. 1 as far as she can remember.
A state DPI representative, Thomas McCarthy, said in an email that all waiver requests are evaluated individually.
- The Associated Press contributed to this story.