Moms Con: Opening School Before Labor Day

On January 27th Virginia State House Bill number 1433 died in subcommittee. The purpose of the bill, sponsored by Delegate Thomas A. Greason ( R)-House district 32, would have been to give local school boards the power to open schools before Labor Day. Since 1986, a Virginia law, known as “The Kings Dominion Law” because of the backing it receives from the Virginia Travel and Tourism industry, has kept Virginia schools from opening prior to Labor Day.

A recent FCPS survey found that that a majority of parents and FCPS employees support the idea of opening schools before Labor Day. The McLean Citizens Association Education Committee also supported the bill.

When the public school system opens and closes can have a significant impact on families, even those with children in private schools. The timing, availability and cost of family vacations, summer camp and day care are among the issues that are often affected by the public school calendar.

The McLean Patch Mom’s have been considering the pros and cons of opening school before Labor Day.

McLean Patch Mom Anne Wydler has 2 young daughters at The Langley School: 

When I was growing up, summer was for relaxing.  I didn’t do academic camp - I didn’t do summer camp at all - I swam, played with my sisters and read.  Now that I have daughters, they participate in summer camp (but not academic), enjoy a lot of swimming and do a lot of reading.  We’re always happy when August rolls around so hot and hazy and we’re not gearing up to go to school, like they are in my native Tennessee.  It’s never made sense to me that in the hottest part of the country, kids go to school in the hottest month of the year.  It’s a strain on county/state resources and frankly, the kids don’t get to have outside recess when the weather is so hot - better time spent at the pool or beach.

We also enjoy the luxury of knowing exactly when school is going to start from one year to the next so we can schedule family vacations or other activities for the summer.  In all honesty, we do a lot of travelling at the end of August specifically because most other school systems are already back in session - we enjoy smaller crowds and better prices, which means we can do more.  In this area, many families spend a month away and having a whole calendar month to do that is advantageous.  There’s a lot of learning that goes on outside of school hours - especially when spent with family.

Additionally, starting the school year and then promptly having a break for Labor Day adds disruption to the classroom.  How many productive school days can be held before Labor Day?  Many families will use that “last long weekend of summer” as a getaway - so the Friday before will be a wash and then of course Labor Day itself.  Do we really need to rush back from the lazy days of summer for a week of “learning” and preparing for our first long weekend?