2/9/12 Virginia House passes bill eliminating post-Labor Day school opening | LoudounTimes.com 1/2 loudountimes.com/…/virginia_house_passes_bill_eliminating_post-labor_day_school_opening123/ Mobile Website | Login | Register Staff Directory | Advertise | Subscribe | About Us Advanced Search SEARCH 1 1 Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012 by Laura Peters | 0 comments | Email this story House Bill 1063, which would allow local school boards to set the school calendar and the opening of the school year, passed 76-23 in the House of Delegates on Feb. 2. The bill is awaiting debate in the state Senate. Del. Bob Tata (R-85th) i ntrodu ced the bill at the requ est of Gov. Bob McDonnell. The bill, also sponsored by Del. Barbara Comstock (R-34t h) w ould eliminate the post-Labor Day ope ning requir ement, which is als o known as “Kings Dominion Law.” The Kings Dominion Law prohibits school systems to start their school year before Labor Day. Many counties ha ve re ceived waivers in order t o counter the law an d start their school years earlier, whic h ha s been the cas e in Loudoun County f or some years. A Fairfax Times article written in August 2011, said 25 years ago, state lawmakers received generous campaign donors from owners of theme parks – giving the name to the law. Since 2001, Kings Dominion has given legislators and other state officials more than $225,000 in campaign contributions, according to the Fairfax Times article. “Over the past two years I ha ve heard from many teachers a nd parents throughout the 34t h District who would like the school years to begin before Labor Day so that our stud ents have the same opport unity to learn as a majority of stu dents in the commonwealth a nd the country,” C omstock said in a release. According the Wa yde B yard, Loudou n County S chools public information officer, in the past 10 years the s chool year ha s s tarted before Labor Day five time s. Byard said that in some of those years it h ad been the Loudoun County School Board’s action to keep t he sch ool year beginnin g before or afte r Labor Day and other years the county had waivers to al low them to start the year prior to the holiday. The 2012 an d 2013 school year ha d been waived allowin g Loudoun County School students to start class in August, Byard said. “Currently 77 of 134 school districts in Virginia have been granted waivers to allow schools to begin before Labor Day,” Comstock explained, “which is unfair to students in the remaining 57 districts who have to wait until after Labor Day to begin school, yet take all the standardized tests at the sa me time .” Comstock said the bill would give local school districts flexibility to dete rmine the best time for stude nts to s tart the school year. The bill received strong bipartisan support and wa s endorsed by McDonnell, the Fairfax County Chamber of Comme rce, the Virgin ia School Board Associa tion, Fa irfax an d Loudou n School Boards, the Virginia Education Association and the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. Stay Connected Follow Us on Twitter News | Sports Like Us on Facebook Most Popular in News Monday, Feb. 6 | 23924 vie ws Waterford parents go to court for kids’ constant tardiness Tuesday, Feb. 7 | 10 918 views Purcellville woman arr ested ov er kids’ tardiness in school Wednesday, Feb. 8 | 8021 vie ws School board adopts fiscal 2013 operating budget Monday, Feb. 6 | 5300 views Inmate dies from med ical c ondition at Loudoun jail Monday, Feb. 6 | 4648 views Suspect arrested for connection to 2007 Ashburn gang assault News Opinions Sports Entertainment Blogs Video Classifieds Advertise Virginia House passes bill eliminating post-L abor Day school opening Stand with Pres. Obama Stand with the Pre sident: Call upon Congress to ban insider trading. barackobama.com/ban-insider-trading