Senate Bill 171

As I was watching the General Assembly proceedings from last week, I noticed that SB 171 slipped through the cracks of the bills I reviewed.  This bill, proposed to the Senate by Senator Delph, (R)-Westfield, proposed that state law would prohibit public schools from starting prior to Labor Day and would mandate that schools would no longer be able to end after June 10.  This bill was highly disputed by Senator Rogers, (D)- Gary, who argued that the reasons for state control over school calendars would actually be better-decided by local districts.  Additional senators, however, argued that corrupt school systems, particularly around Indianapolis, took too much advantage of their power to adjust school calendars.  Senator Leising, (R)-Oldenburg, argued that coordination between school districts as well as increased summer utility costs warrant a state-synchronized school schedule.  After an almost 45-minute debate on local control involving interesting discussion with a number of senators, the bill ultimately failed the Senate, with 23 yeas and 25 nays.

The full text of the bill can be seen at the Senate's website.
Video of the Senate hearing on the the bill from 2/3/11 can also be seen on the Senate's website starting at 1:09:00 and ending at 1:55:00