Back to School? Online Petition Seeks Earlier Seneca Valley Start Date

While it’s too late to make a change before the upcoming school year, mom Denise Shank is hoping an online petition she started during the summer will convince district officials to begin classes at an earlier date in 2012.

“I didn’t think we’d get it changed for this year, but if even we can just make people more aware for next year,” she said.

Shank, of Zelienople said she was dismayed when she learned students would start back to school on Sept. 7, which is after Labor Day. The last day for students will be June 15, 2012, according to the district’s website.

“Seneca Valley usually starts at the end of August,” Shank said. “The majority of the people I talked to said they were surprised when they heard this.”

Shank said she believes having students take classes until mid-June might hurt their chances of enrolling in summer classes or college courses that start before Seneca Valley lets out for the summer. She also said students might be at a disadvantage in the job market because students in neighboring districts where classes end earlier in the summer might snap up the positions.

After talking to parents with similar beliefs, Shank started the online petition in June. It quickly got 257 signatures, she said.

Shank said the goal is to get 1,000 signatures and present the petition to school board members. 

Other reasons listed on the site about why an earlier school start date is preferable are that families are unable to book vacations in June when rates are less expensive, and that teachers who have children enrolled in other districts that break earlier will have to pay for additional child care services.

School Board President Bob Hill agreed with Shank that it’s too late to undo this year’s back-to-school date, which was set last fall.

He said officials chose to bring students back to class after the Labor Day holiday because of pleas from the business community. With a school date set in late August, employers such as , the and others that rely on summer help to run their businesses would have to cut service earlier than anticipated, he said.

“We put them back to school before Labor Day, and they go into winter operating mode much earlier than they have to,” he said. “If you think back, school always started after Labor Day. That’s seems to be the message we have gotten traditionally.”

With the amount of help-wanted signs he typically sees throughout the community, Hill said he doesn’t think Seneca Valley students would have trouble finding work after mid-June.

He added Seneca Valley consists of tightly-knit communities and that the area’s employers know when to start hiring students.

“A lot of the business owners know the families of the kids they’re hiring,” he said.

Shank said she knows many people might prefer a return to the classrooms after Labor Day – and that’s fine with her. 

“I didn’t think we could get it changed for this year, but this a nice way to make people aware of it, even if they don’t agree with it,” she said. “This way, the people who are interested will know about it.”