School start date

Cherokee County was one of only eight school districts statewide which started the current school year after Aug. 12.

This trend towards starting school early in August will change next fall when all 85 South Carolina school districts will be under a uniform school start date signed into law last week by Gov. Mark Sanford. Beginning in fall of 2007, no school district is allowed to start its school year any sooner than Aug. 15. Year-round schools are exempt from the change.

Beach tourist groups have pushed for the state to adopt a uniform start date, arguing starting school early has a negative impact on the tourism industry. Teachers in 17 South Carolina school districts reported for work in July this past year in preparation for classes starting on or before Aug. 4.

Cherokee County Superintendent Dr. Bill James said he expects the new state law will have little impact on the school district.

State law requires students to attend school for 180 days. Districts must build in time for snow makeup days, traditional holidays like Thanksgiving and the winter break for Christmas.

County students in most schools will start the 2006-2007 school year on Aug. 17. Luther Vaughan, Mary Bramlett and Alma Elementary students will start classes on July 12 under a year-round school calendar.

All students will have their last day of class June 6.

"We changed from an early start date three years ago so we would have more time to address construction issues at Gaffney High School," James said. "Our students and teachers have grown accustomed to what we're doing."

In Cherokee County, this has meant school construction in the summer and less instructional days for teachers before state tests in May.

Cherokee Masonry will start work this summer on a $5 million project to repair masonry defects around Gaffney High. The district also expects to begin work on a Blacksburg High ninth grade addition, the first project in a new $34 million building program.

"We will need to start school later in August because of our construction projects," James said.

"The one disadvantage in starting school later in August is there are fewer instructional days before testing."

For the third straight year, Cherokee County teachers will have as much as 10 fewer instructional days than surrounding districts in Spartanburg to prepare students for the state's Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test.

"Our teachers have done a great job. Even though we've had fewer instructional days than other districts in recent years, our test scores have continued to show steady improvement over the past five years," James said.

The state's uniform start date means all school districts will have the same amount of time in class before testing. In a twist of irony, Sanford will hold a signing ceremony today for the uniform start date bill in Myrtle Beach where strong support from tourist groups helped give students a later summer.