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September 7, 2004

Hurricane lesson: Let school boards set calendars

Hurricane Frances has turned the Labor Day holiday into an extended holiday for students in many Florida counties, as 1.6 million people are without power. Some school districts were hard hit. "Just about every campus has some problem," an official at St. Lucie County Schools on the state's east coast told the Palm Beach Post. Damage at that school district includes a lost roof off a high school gym, and schools are not expected to open there before Sept. 13. Other closed Florida districts may re-open any day. Schools in 56 counties in Georgia are closed today.

We have said it before: Local boards need the power to make their own decisions about school calendars. Starting before Labor Day is one way school districts can build in some insurance should weather-related extended closings be necessary. This editorial from the Virginian-Pilot gets it: "When to start classes, and when to end them, is a decision best left entirely to local school boards, who know what local parents want, and local kids need. The state can—and should—set minimum standards for hours in the classroom, but the particulars should be left to localities."

And let's hear it for schools used as shelters. More than 1,000 people were fed three meals a day at Boca Raton High School for five days.

Posted September 7, 2004 12:00 AM