School board prepares to send proposal to change mandatory school start restriction

State says Sept. 1 date hurts tourism, though fall sports start mid-August.

The La Crosse school board hopes the state will remove it’s rule forcing schools to start classes after Sept. 1.

Tuesday the board made some language changes to the resolution, asking the state legislature to remove the restriction.

“We know that in many cases many of our students are already back and already going because of sports,” Superintendent Randy Nelson said. “And, it just seems like we could start school at that time, but I think another big factor of this is making sure that our local school boards really have the local control to establish their calendars.”

Parents have informally told school officials they are ready for their kids to go to class prior to Sept. 1.

A bill is going through the legislature to change that, though Nelson says it has its challenges.

“There is also the tourism industry, and that’s typically the organizations and the issues that really kind of pushes back against us,” Nelson said. “It’s not a slam dunk. It’s something that they’ll still have to consider.”

The legislature says it would hurt tourism, preventing families from taking a late-summer vacation.

Those families would have to have children not in any sports, however.

In the fall of 2017, football practice can begin as early as Aug. 1. Other sports also start well before Sept. 1, such as girls golf (Aug. 7), girls tennis and swimming (Aug. 8) and cross country, boys soccer and volleyball (Aug. 14).