School leaders encouraged for possible earlier start

Oconee school officials finished their meeting with the county’s state lawmakers, encouraged that from the new legislative session there could be agreement to allow the public schools to start the next school year on the same date. Earlier this year the Oconee public schools were granted a waiver for their secondary schools to start the 2020-21 year on August 10, but that waiver doesn’t apply to elementary students who are not scheduled to start classes until a week later. The county’s three state lawmakers indicated their support for a second week in August start date, as long as it would apply to all grade levels. State Senator Thomas Alexander started the discussion this morning by saying that a legislative committee yesterday took up a bill to mandate that the public school year may start as early as the second week in August. And officials at this morning’s meeting indicated the possibility that the legislature could address the start dates early in the session that starts next month. Oconee Superintendent Dr. Michael Thorsland and the county board, for academic reasons, are pushing early starts to the school year. But it’s an issue that is touchy across the state because an early start dates cuts into the time some students have for summer jobs and impacts the vacation plans of some families.