Here’s a home video I took of my Grandkids Lily and Shawn boarding the bus for their first day of school last week. I only show it to you as a lead in to my rant of the day – why do schools now start so early for kids? If you google “should school start before or after labor day” there are close to 300 million hits which tells me I’m not the only one wondering about this. (There is even a Facebook page titled “Start School After Labor Day.” However, there’s a FB page for everything now, so maybe that is not such a noteworthy thing anymore.)
Easy explanations for pre-Labor Day starts involve snow days, make up days, earlier spring dismissals etc.. However, it has definitely made the Labor Day holiday less of an event than it used to be. Here is a report cited by Maryland’s Comptroller claiming that an additional $74 million to Maryland coffers would ensue if schools were not re-opened until after Labor Day (click here.)
Thus, moving the school start date to after Labor Day would be a good idea financially. However, don’t hold your breath. After all, when has Maryland ever done anything just for the money?
(Where is that sarcasm font!?)