Senator Trying Again To Save Hoosier Kids' Summer Breaks From Early School Start

When should summer break end? Certainly not in July, a local state lawmaker believes.

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - Indiana lawmakers are once again gearing up to debate about when summer break should end and the school year should begin for Hoosier children.

State Senator Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) is once again trying to get state lawmakers to require Indiana schools to start the year in late August. 

She has filed Senate Bill 128, which would mandate that all public and accredited private schools in the state not hold their first student day until at least the last Monday in August. If passed, the law would take effect for the 2020-2021 school year.

Right now, local schools control their own calendar, and some schools start as early as July. Lawrenceburg Community Schools’ 2019-2020 balanced calendar approved December 10 is set to start classes on July 31, 2019, though most other southeastern Indiana districts wait until the first full week of August.

Leising says she expects plenty of pushback to her proposal; she says local schools are very protective of their local control. A similar proposal she filed during the 2018 session never received a vote.