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Where did they do early starts? I think they do that some in the mountains because of snow (I think they have a special dispensation), but just wondering what other districts go back early in August? I know some other parts of the country wait until after labor day, but we've been going back in August for the past 50 yrs here in NC, and the areas that I'm familiar with have always been later in August, but maybe there were other areas where it was earlier?
Not 50 years--I came through school right here in Raleigh, and we always started the Tuesday after Labor Day. Usually we'd have a half-day Orientation Day on the Friday before, but that was either the very end of August or even in September, depending on when Labor Day fell.
I know they had begun moving it back a week or two, not long after I graduated, but at the time, it was the tobacco farmer groups who held sway over such things and didn't want school pushed back into August because cropping tobacco was a common summer job for teenagers in more rural counties. This was into the 1980s if not later.
I went to public school in NC and always started in August as far back as I can remember, never in Sept. And that was in the 70s through the 80s. I remember being surprised to learn that kids in other areas of the country didn't start school until after Labor Day. Isn't Labor Day ALWAYS in Sept? First Monday in Sept, right, like Memorial Day is the last Monday in May??
We always started back after Labor Day. I went to Raleigh Public Schools. It was all about tobacco like Francois said. A lot of city kids had relatives in the country that farmed tobacco. It provided us summer jobs and there was plenty of work left to do right up until Labor Day. Ah the hot, hazy, lazy days of summer working in the tobacco fields: My sister didn't graduate from high school until 1977, and she was barning tobacco until Labor Day until that time. I believe schools didn't start back in August until sometime after that year.
We always started back after Labor Day. I went to Raleigh Public Schools. It was all about tobacco like Francois said. A lot of city kids had relatives in the country that farmed tobacco. It provided us summer jobs and there was plenty of work left to do right up until Labor Day. Ah the hot, hazy, lazy days of summer working in the tobacco fields: My sister didn't graduate from high school until 1977, and she was barning tobacco until Labor Day until that time. I believe schools didn't start back in August until sometime after that year.
makes sense, that's probably around the time I started in WCPSS. 1976 was the merger and the I would have started Kindergarten
I went to school in Fayetteville, so things might have been different there. I don't have really clear memories of the exact date school started in 1st grade (which was 1970), so it _could_ have been in Sept, but I do remember later being very surprised to learn that kids in other areas started school after Labor Day, so I think it's unlikley. As far as I can remember in Fayetteville it was always in August. I'll hafta ask the spouse tonight about his experience. He grew up in Charlotte.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Not that it's really relevant, but in Pennsylvania where I grew up, we ALWAYS started the Wednesday after Labor Day. I thought it had to do with harvesting, too, but don't know for sure. I don't recall any schools in PA starting in August back in the day, but they might now.
Anyway, more on topic, Virginia has similar tourism laws on the books regarding the school calendar. In Virginia, it's referred to as the "Kings Dominion Law" because they have a powerful lobby in Virginia. The rule there is that schools cannot go back until after Labor Day, although districts can get waivers based on prior years' snow days (something like a district had to have used 8 or more snow days in 5 out of the past 10 years). I believe there is more flexibility on the end date as I know we used to go until late in June there (June 20-something, for sure). This becomes a problem when Labor Day falls late in the year, like this upcoming year, so schools in Virginia cannot start until Sept. 8. Then it lets out very late which also makes parents upset and becomes a problem if there are a lot of snow days. I know we had a problem with it one year, where the state ended up just waiving a few days.
I attended school in Wake County in the early/mid 70s and I remember one year they pushed the start of school back because tobacco season ran late. I also remember that our school (Northwoods) was not air conditioned (but the trailers were, so everyone wanted to have class in a trailer).
As a teacher, I would do away with workdays altogether....including the ones in August and June. In n.j, we had 1 day prior to school opening to set up our classroom and then 1 day after school got out to shut down for summer ...and it was fine. Early release days were used to do report cards and conduct conferences. Then they could build in snow days....if it's a mild winter and there were few or no snow days, we just got out of school earlier.
Same in NY. No workdays during the school year, and no early releases. They have a superintendents day twice a year and the teachers use it for parent-teacher conferences. I do not understand why we have to be out of school for a workday or early release. Makes no sense.
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