East Lansing Schools May Start before Labor Day this Fall

East Lansing Schools Superintendent Dori Leyko is proposing to move up this fall’s back to school date to August 28.

The Board of Education is meeting at 7 p.m. tonight in the lower level of East Lansing High School to discuss the change in the calendar as part of its regularly scheduled meeting. The Board will also discuss Leyko’s proposal to reduce the number of new Schools of Choice slots by two students next year, lowering the number to 82 students.

The last day of classes for the 2017-18 year is June 15. By moving up the start date, students and staff will have a shorter than normal summer vacation of only 10 weeks. Last year’s summer was also cut short by a week.

The 2016-17 school year ended June 16 which was a week later than usual because of a new State standard requiring all schools to have a minimum of 180 “days of instruction” which was a five day increase from the 175 days required in 2015-16. In 2015, the last day was June 10.

With a start date of Sept. 5, 2017, East Lansing was one of only a few schools in Ingham County that began classes after Labor Day. Dansville, Haslett, Okemos, Leslie, Mason, Waverly, Webberville and Williamston all started classes before Labor Day after the Ingham County Intermediate School District applied for and received a waiver from the Michigan Department of Education allowing all schools in the district to choose their own start dates.

Before that, all schools in the State were required by law to delay starting until after the Labor Day holiday in an effort to boost State tourism. That law went into effect for the 2000-2001 school year, but waivers have been issued since 2006.

Gail Gillengerten, Administrative Assistant for Leyko, refused to speculate as to the expected end date for the 2018-19 school year, saying only that the District will have the required instructional days and hours and will align with the Ingham ISD common calendar, which sets the dates for winter and spring breaks.