Community sentiment trumps the tourism industry's request for a post-Labor Day start to the school year.

Every winter, school boards decide the calendar for the upcoming school year. The state's tourism industry wants to push back the traditional August start of school, but it's at odds with the community's desire to end by Memorial Day.

"I think it gets to a point in the spring when they get antsy," said Joe Wangler, a Wachter Middle School parent.

He has a son at Wachter and a daughter at Moses Elementary School. He favors school starting in August and ending by Memorial Day.

Wangler's sentiments are similar to those the Bismarck School Board considered when it narrowed down four calendar proposals in November. The board narrowed the selection to two calendars with August start dates. The other options started school in September and ended in June.

The board's action came down to the results of a parent survey given at parent teacher conferences in November, in which a majority favored ending school by Memorial Day.

"A majority want to end by Memorial Day, but 40 percent is significant," board member Dan Kuntz said about the survey results at a November board meeting.

Results of the Bismarck Public Schools parent survey that was given at parent teacher conferences showed most parents did not want to start school later in the fall and end in June. Out of 5,057 responses, 60 percent did not favor a later start, while 40 percent did want the later start.

There was some variation by school. More parents at Centennial, Grimsrud and Highland Acres elementary schools preferred the later start date, while Roosevelt Elementary School and South Central High School were spilt on the start date. Simle Middle School parents did not vote because conferences were held before the survey was given.

The results run contrary to what the state's tourism industry would like for a school calendar. Proponents such as Sen. Tracy Potter, D-Bismarck, who works at the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation, points to lost revenue and student workers when school starts in August. The industry is more profitable in August than in June, he told the board this fall.

There is no easy solution to satisfy those in favor of ending by Memorial Day and those wanting an after Labor Day start. The required days off built into a school calendar would make it impossible to start after Labor Day and end by Memorial Day. The consequence is school would go into the first or second week of June if it started in September.

The state requires a calendar to have 180 days scheduled for teachers to work, and there must be classroom instruction on 173 of those days. The Bismarck School District schedules 186 days, so that it can offer more teacher training days.

Required days off during the school year include seven holidays, two days for the North Daktoa Education Association conference and two days off to make up for overtime the teachers work for parent-teacher conferences.

The holidays the district is required to take off are Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, Good Friday and Memorial Day. Summer school takes off Independence Day, which is the eighth required holiday off.

Additional days off include the day after Thanksgiving, the days off during winter break between Christmas and New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, and the day off for spring break. In all, that is about eight days off that are not required by law.

The reason the district takes those days off is because of parent or staff preference, or cultural sensitivity, in the case of Martin Luther King Day.

"We have a lot of different cultures represented in the district," she said.

The district has taken Martin Luther King Day off since the state recognized the holiday.

Wangler, the Wachter parent, also favors many of the days off. The time off for winter break is definitely appreciated by his children.

"They enjoy the time off," he said.

A poll is under way on the Bismarck School District Web site on the remaining calendar options. Voting ends Friday. The results will be given at the next Bismarck School Board meeting on Monday.

The two calendar choices have an August start date and end by Memorial Day. One option starts Aug. 27 and ends May 27. The second option starts Aug. 31 and ends May 28.

To view the calendars up for voting, visit www.bismarckschools.org and click on "parents."

The Mandan School Board recently approved its calendar for 2009-10, and it starts in August and ends in May.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@bismarcktribune.com.)