New state act makes separate Spring Breaks no longer an issue
Jessica Powviriya
Issue date: 4/8/09 Section: News
Students who tried to schedule Spring Break plans with friends who attend Northwest Arkansas Community College encountered a major predicament this year: the UA has a different Spring Break than the neighboring community college, as well as public schools throughout NWA.
That problem will be soon forgotten.
Arkansas Sen. Shane Broadway, vice chair of the Joint House and Senate Energy Committee and a member of the Senate Education Committee, introduced Senate Bill 226, which would give all Arkansas public schools the same Spring Break.
"There were issues of parents teaching at one school while their children were students at another," Broadway said.
The idea originated in the Department of Higher Education, the Arkansas Education Association and the Arkansas Activities Association. The organizations saw that potential could exist where schools and colleges could have the same break, Broadway said.
"(There needed) to be a coordination of school schedules plus extracurricular activities," Broadway said. "The state basketball finals were the same week as benchmark exams. (The act) ensures the students won't miss exams while still competing."
The Arkansas Senate passed the bill, as did the House. It was delivered to Gov. Mike Beebe March 12 and became Act 424 four days later.
The act has charged that each public school district that allows a five-day holiday for Spring Break must schedule it starting the Monday of the 38th week of the school year. The reasoning behind choosing the 38th week was that more than 90 percent of high schools and colleges were already using that week to have Spring Break, Broadway said.
The act will be implemented for the next two school years and will be reviewed by an eight-member advisory committee on the impact on state tourism and the coordination of academic, extracurricular and athletic school activities.
In 2011, the Arkansas Legislature will make a decision depending on the recommendations of the committee that will affect the next academic school year.
That problem will be soon forgotten.
Arkansas Sen. Shane Broadway, vice chair of the Joint House and Senate Energy Committee and a member of the Senate Education Committee, introduced Senate Bill 226, which would give all Arkansas public schools the same Spring Break.
"There were issues of parents teaching at one school while their children were students at another," Broadway said.
The idea originated in the Department of Higher Education, the Arkansas Education Association and the Arkansas Activities Association. The organizations saw that potential could exist where schools and colleges could have the same break, Broadway said.
"(There needed) to be a coordination of school schedules plus extracurricular activities," Broadway said. "The state basketball finals were the same week as benchmark exams. (The act) ensures the students won't miss exams while still competing."
The Arkansas Senate passed the bill, as did the House. It was delivered to Gov. Mike Beebe March 12 and became Act 424 four days later.
The act has charged that each public school district that allows a five-day holiday for Spring Break must schedule it starting the Monday of the 38th week of the school year. The reasoning behind choosing the 38th week was that more than 90 percent of high schools and colleges were already using that week to have Spring Break, Broadway said.
The act will be implemented for the next two school years and will be reviewed by an eight-member advisory committee on the impact on state tourism and the coordination of academic, extracurricular and athletic school activities.
In 2011, the Arkansas Legislature will make a decision depending on the recommendations of the committee that will affect the next academic school year.
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