Post Labor Day School Battle Surfaces Again in MI

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A perennial fight that seems to be renewed with every new legislative session is back bubbling under once again. The never-ending dispute over whether Michigan public schools should be precluded from beginning the new school year until after the Labor Day holiday weekend is being renewed in the Michigan Senate through Senate Bill 271.

The Michigan Lodging & Tourism Association has sounded the alarm and in our region the clarion call has been picked up by the Southwestern Michigan Tourist Association headed up by Millicent Huminsky who is calling on State Senator John Proos and his colleagues to step away from the issue and keep the current rules in place.

The MLTA says that Michiganders overwhelmingly want to keep all of their summer vacation, especially in the month of August, and polls support that contention year after year.

From her office on Pipestone Road just off of I-94 in Benton Township, Huminsky says, “This means that in addition to valuable family time, a later school start grows tourism, which is Michigan’s third larges industry.” She tells us, “We just learned at the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism last week that tourism in 2015 generated in excess of $20-billion in economic activity, supported over 214,000 jobs and contributed more than $1-billion in state tax revenue.”

For the record, Huminsky adds, “Since the start of Post Labor Day school openings, the month of August saw greater economic activity at local hotels that rivaled that of July.” That is a huge statement, as we all know how tight lodging gets during the key summer months.

Senate Bill 271 was introduced by Senators Knollenberg, Pavlov and Hopgood last Thursday and was referred to the Committee on Education. It would amend Public Act 451 of 1976, The Revised School Code, by amending section 1284b, was amended by Public Act 235 of 2006. That section deals with assuring that there is no school on the Friday before Labor Day, and adds further that no public school or academy could be in session “on any Monday or Friday in August.” Additionally, school employees would be exempt from going to work “on any Monday or Friday in August.”

The apparent problem that the hospitality industry has with this interpretation is that it seemingly leaves class sessions and school employment open on any other day in August except those lined out on Mondays and Fridays inasmuch as it doesn’t specifically preclude schools from beginning ahead of the Labor Day holiday.

Considerable study has been conducted off and on for years and the general public overwhelmingly supports the concept of delaying the start of school until after the Labor Day holiday is complete.

Huminsky, in her role as Executive Director of the SWM Tourist Council dispatched an urgent e-mail request to all members of her organization asking them to e-mail Senator Proos asking for him to oppose SB 271, saying, “It is vital to our tourism industry to be able to keep students employed through Labor Day. Please take time to do this today — the committee will be voting on this tomorrow (Tuesday, 3/28/17).”

Stay tuned.