Debate is again raging in the Texas Legislature over when the school year should begin, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Since 2007, state law has forbidden public schools from starting before the fourth Monday in August, but bills in the Senate would change that to the third Monday in August, or return the control over start dates to local school districts.
The entertainment industry reacted strongly to the idea.
Terri Adams, who is the Chief Operating Officer of New Braunfels Based Schlitterbahn, said losing a week's worth of vacationers, not to mention losing the school students who make up much of their staff, would be devastating to the travel industry.
"The fourth Monday in August has given us a predictable calendar to schedule our employees," she said. "It has allowed the Henry family to expand. That is why and how they could expand in Texas, grow the parks, grow the resorts, and expand into new properties."
She says with Schlitterbahn employees attending many different school districts, if they all had different start dates it would provide logistical problems for the parks, and would cost the students badly needed summer job income.
Supporters say starting earlier would give school districts that get frequent snow days more leeway to plan, so they are not attending class well into June in snowy years, as well as giving districts the opportunity to take days off to celebrate local holidays.An earlier start date would also align better with college and community college schedules, giving teachers an easier time of taking classes during the summer. It would also allow the end of the first semester to coincide with Christmas break.
But Ashley Harris of Visit San Antonio says starting school even one week earlier would cost valuable family travel days in August, which is a very busy tourism month.
"June is soft season, July and August are the busiest times of the year," she told the committee. "This is not a Texas phenomenon, this is nationwide numbers."
Harris said any attempt to cut short the summer tourism season would not only cost the San Antonio economy millions of dollars, she reminded the Senators that the tax money derived from the state's healthy travel industry helps fund public schools.
"State hotel occupancy tax contributes more than one billion dollars to general revenue programs, such as public education," she said. "Simply put, the compromise is working."
State Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville) pointed out another problem with an earlier school start. He says migrant workers frequently don't return from working in farm fields across the Midwest until late August. He said any attempt to move the school start date earlier would leave those workers behind in their studies.