The Edina superintendent says "We have to put our kids first." Well I agree. But sometimes putting kids first means giving families time to be together to bond. With work schedules, school schedules, and activities, it well known that there is an assault on the ability for families to take a vacation or enjoy recreational time together. School is definitely important, but that learning can just as well take place after Labor Day. Some people say we're running the school year on an agrarian calendar. I think we're running it on a reality-of-Minnesota calendar. Why steal time from our already short summer, just to give kids more time off during miserable weather seasons over winter break.

The discussion should be around education. As much as some may like the agrarian based schedule from the 19th century, our kids need more days in school to be competitive with other countries. Our business depends on tourism, but our kids future is more important?

THE ONLY SCHOOL DISTRICT that would support starting in August would be the great schools run by Bernadia Johnson in Minneapolis; with a graduation rate of 43%, perhaps they could do a bit better. One question for everyone....what is the future of the 57% who can't even claim a HS diploma?....other than welfare, crime, and food stamps?

Don't start before Labor Day. In our State we do. The education cabal tells us that we need to or we will be going to school into June. What happens, though, is that they fill the school year with "in service" days, teacher training, extra days off to make up for the two afternoons they stay for teacher-parent conferences, "spring break" and others. During the last school year our teachers had 7 days vacation in the fall, 7 days for Christmas vacation, and 7 days vacation for the spring semester. Twenty-one days for a 9 month contract.

Now they want to set the school calendar to match tests??? Testing is controlling the curriculum and now the start date! August is the hottest month in MN. Sweating in the classrooms doesn't promote a better learning environment. Testing, testing, testing is what education has come to and actual learning is pushed aside.

Why don't the people fighting to have school start earlier for the sake of test prep spend their time and effort on fighting the test-taking regime instead? That's the problem with today's education system, not a loss of five days. I could maybe see a justification for the early start for poor students who probably do not get to travel Labor Day weekend anyway, but the test prep/taking isn't helping them much either. Additionally, there are far more important issues at work affecting students' test scores (poverty being #1).

Wow, this article makes me feel old. I attended grade school back in the old days when we always started in August. Never thought much about it when I was a kid - it was just the way things were. Although my own kids might protest about an August start, especially if it doesn't mean an earlier finish in the spring, I know they're ready to go back to school before Labor Day rolls around. Or maybe it's just me that's ready for them to go back.

If parents feel they need a vacation that bad, then just go. School districts have to cater to, and do what they feel is best for ALL of their students and families, not just the most vocal ones.

July and August are clearly the two best months to enjoy Minnesota lakes. With that said, I understand the academic pressure for advanced high school classes that culminate with AP or IB testing. Those tests are in early May. Then they waste the last month of school watching movies and doing other non-academic activities. Our state mandated late start does create a competitive disadvantage with other states when it comes to those test scores. In the seventies, when I was going through school, we always started before Labor Day.

This is so ridiculous, much like the piece last week about taking kids out of school for family vacation. Kids are in school to LEARN. Let the schools decide what the calendar should be. Guess what -- if you start earlier in August, you might get more time off in December/January or even get out earlier in May/June (and you can take that precious vacation then.) Our kids go to Mpls public schools, and they always start the week before labor day. Our quality of life has not diminished.