School starts too early; keep August a fun summer month

To the Editor:

By now maybe some people have educated you about the school start date being changed. Just in case no one pointed it out I just want you to know that the school start was slowly moved into August by many educational administrators in the southern states as an attempt to improve test scores. At the time they felt that if school started sooner the semester could end before the holiday break and therefore students would test better than waiting two weeks into January and forgetting what they learned. Well, as time went by it did not prove to be a good idea for test taking even though schools were starting early in August … some in July.

August is a summer month and, yes, tourism did severely suffer in the south. Kids sat in classrooms daydreaming about their water park or swimming hole. Somewhere in time about 2007 there was a grassroots effort called “Save Kentucky Summers” and it did make some impact but as you can see not enough to make a difference at the time.

So please rethink your ideas about this being a money maker for the states because it is really an effort to help our educational system better educate our children. August is a fun summer month. School used to start after Labor Day and in some states it still does. It is the end of summer and time to study.

Personally I am thrilled to see this being changed as it is a great idea for our students and you will see it being changed elsewhere. It’s to improve education and, yes, make the tourism industry be a summer money maker. Also the long Fall Break could be reduced to help cover all those snow days in January and February. Thanks for listening and give it some thought … it’s really the students that are important.

Sue Waterhouse
Corbin