Georgia House of Representatives
Public Information Office
Room 505, Legislative Office Building
Atlanta, GA 30334
404-656-5082 1-800-282-5800

Parrish Urges Further Dialogue on Statewide Start Date of School Year
Aim is to Determine what is Best for Children

Atlanta – State Representative Butch Parrish, D-Swainsboro, who is chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee, is urging parents, school officials and other interested parties to come together and determine if a statewide starting date for the school year is in the best interest of K-12 students in Georgia.

In the 2003 Session of the General Assembly Rep. Parrish sponsored HB 930, which allowed local boards of education to establish a start date for their schools, but said it could not be earlier than the last Monday in August and not later than the Wednesday after Labor Day. The measure was intended to start a discussion on the matter.

“This is an important issue to families throughout our state,” said Parrish. “It is our intent to have meetings during the interim to study the issue. This way we can bring all interested groups together and begin intense discussions to determine what is in the best interest of the children.”

Proponents of a later start date suggest extending the school start date would allow for continuing education for teachers, increased school attendance, summer job apprentices for students, lower operation costs for school systems, extended vacations for families and increased incentives for tourism destinations. Advocates for the current calendar are concerned a later start date would decrease testing preparation days that would yield lower test scores.

Iowa , Minnesota , Missouri and Virginia are among several states that have statutes setting a statewide start date of after Labor day. Several states around the country have bills pending that are similar to HB 930 and North Carolina recently passed legislation establishing August 24th as the start of their school year.

In addition to being chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee, Rep. Parrish, a lawmaker since 1985, also serves on the House Appropriations and House Rules committees.

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For further information contact Representative Parrish at 404-656-5096