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Franchot Releases Economic Report Of Schools Starting After Labor Day

Aug. 22, 2013

Citing the benefits to Maryland families, small businesses, and tourism overall, Maryland comptroller Peter Franchot released this week an economic impact report completed by the Bureau of Revenue Estimates regarding a post Labor Day start date for all Maryland public schools.

Alongside Ocean City mayor Richard Meehan, Senator James N. Mathias Jr., and numerous members of the local business community, Franchot announced that a delayed school start in Maryland would result in an additional $74.3 million in direct economic activity, including $3.7 million in new wages, and a separate $7.7 million in state and local revenue.

“The chance for families to spend precious time together and to build lifelong memories during that final, end-of-summer vacation has been lost by the decision to begin school a week, or even 10 days, before Labor Day,” said Franchot. “Not only does this cut into the opportunity for Marylanders to spend more time together as a family, but it also has a negative impact on small businesses. In these tough economic times, we need to do all that we can to support small businesses and promote economic activity, not cause unnecessary harm to them for no apparent reason.”

With Maryland having nationally renowned vacation destinations like Ocean City, Deep Creek Lake, and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, tourism is the fourth largest industry in the state. With Maryland welcoming over 32 million domestic travelers annually in recent years, the tourism sector employs more than 340,000 Marylanders.

While Labor Day weekend in Maryland is most commonly associated with family trips to resort destinations, it also coincides with other major events occurring throughout the state, including the Maryland State Fair in Timonium, the Grand Prix of Baltimore, and four weeknight home games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Instead of reducing the 180-day school year, Franchot says he is confident that the state’s school systems would be able to adjust their calendars throughout the academic year without losing time for instruction in the classroom. The flexibility of adjusting winter and spring breaks or eliminating some of the school closure dates scattered throughout the school calendar would be left to each of Maryland’s 24 school systems, he said.

“This isn’t just necessary because of the $7.7 million in state and local tax revenue it would create for the priorities we care about, or the $74.3 million in direct economic activity it would generate in the midst of a sluggish recovery,” said Franchot. “Beyond the money or economic impact, it’s about Maryland families who save up a little each paycheck in order to spend one week each year in Ocean City or Deep Creek Lake, or catch an Orioles game, or visit the Maryland State Fair before the children return to school.”

More here.

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Economic Impact of Post Labor Start for Maryland Public Schools

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Currently, all Maryland school districts begin the school year earlier than Labor Day.While the majority of Maryland’s twenty-four school districts begin one week prior to Labor Day,some begin even earlier. After weighing the number of additional school days by affected households, Maryland school districts would average an additional 8.7 days of summer vacation if the next school year began on September 3,the day after Labor Day…

…Under Maryland law,schools are required to be open for at least 180 actual school days and a minimum of 1,080 school hours.In order to adhere to the statute, this report assumes additional summer vacation days added to an individual school district would be accounted for during each school district’s current school year calendar.Thus, the school calendar change would allow for an expansion in the number of summer vacation days, as opposed to a shift from one part of the summer to another.

Read the report here.