It's a question without an easy answer: when to start school.

It can't be answered without considering when school ends, and that's why the Bismarck School Boards wants to get the parent perspective on the calendar.

"The issue that affects the board is always … the back-and-forth all the time about ending before Memorial Day," board member Dan Kuntz said.

The Bismarck School Board approved Monday night a parent survey to be done at parent teacher conferences during the next two weeks.

Generally, the school year starts before Labor Day to end by Memorial Day. Another attempt by the tourism industry wants to push the start date to after Labor Day, which would end school in June.

This is contrary to what parents have told the board before: end by Memorial Day. Anecdotal evidence mostly supports this, hence the survey.

It isn't just the board being unreasonable, but what the parents want," for a start date, Kuntz said.

Tourism would rather have the Labor Day start because the late days of August are more profitable than the late days of May, Sen. Tracy Potter said at a school board meeting two weeks ago. He is executive director of the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation.

The district can't please the parents and the tourism representatives because of the number of required instructional days combined with the required days off. It leaves the district with an either/or decision: start late and end late or start early and end early.

This year, however, was earlier than many people expected because of an earlier Labor Day. The district caught flak for that, as well. Some parents were concerned about warm classrooms and no air conditioning in some schools.

The survey given at parent teacher conferences is intended to be brief. The district wants to address the nuances of the calendar with parents at a later time. Board member Marcia Olson was concerned parents would make a decision on the start and end date when it might not be explained why.

Another question parent will be asked is how they feel about early dismissal days, or half-days. It could be one way to fit more teacher training into the calendar.

The board will consider a calendar for 2009-10 later this year.