Lincoln schools look at earlier start date

LINCOLN — Lincoln students may start school a week earlier in August than state law allows.

The School Board on Jan. 23 unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the district to submit a request for an Act 1240 waiver for an early start date for the 202425 school year.

Arkansas law says the first day of school shall be on or after the Monday in which Aug. 19 falls, not earlier than Aug. 14 or later than Aug. 26. For the 2024-25 school year, Aug. 19 falls on a Monday. Act 1240 of 2015 allows districts to seek waivers of state laws and rules.

The resolution says an early start date during the week of Aug. 12 would provide more instructional days prior to state testing in the spring and would balance the required days per semester so that first-semester exams are before Christmas break.

The district is asking staff and parents to fill out a survey about the proposal, one of the requirements for a waiver request, so the board can make an informed decision about the start of school this fall.

The board was told the Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative is going to file the Act 1240 waiver for an early start on behalf of all its school districts, but each school board must first pass its own resolution. If the Arkansas State Board of Education approves the waiver request, each district then could decide whether to use the waiver or not.

Lincoln had six snow days in January, and the district will make up some of that instructional time by adding four days to the end of the school year. The 2023-24 school calendar shows May 17 as the last day of school, with May 21-24 as inclement weather makeup days.

The district is considering using Mondays to make up the remaining days. It is currently on a four-day-perweek school calendar.