North Dakota School Year Begins After Labor Day Initiative, Measure 8 (2014)

Measure 8 Type State statute Origin Citizens Topic Education Status Defeated d

2014 measures June 10 Measure 1a November 4 Measure 1 d Measure 2 a Measure 3 d Measure 4 d Measure 5 d Measure 6 d Measure 7 d Measure 8 d Endorsements Expenditures

The North Dakota School Year Begins After Labor Day Initiative, Measure 8 was on the November 4, 2014 ballot in North Dakota as an initiated state statute, where it was defeated. The measure, upon voter approval, would have mandated that public school classes begin after Labor Day.

Without Measure 8, law allowed each school district in the state to be free to design their respective school calendar, including the academic year’s starting date.

Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia were the only states that required school classes statewide to begin after Labor Day, as of November 2014.

Election results

North Dakota Measure 8
Result		Votes	Percentage
d No		136,963	55.57%
Yes		109,489	44.43%

Election results via: North Dakota Secretary of State Office

Text of measure

Ballot title

The official ballot text was as follows:

“

Initiated Statutory Measure No. 8 This initiated measure would amend section 15.1-06-03 of the North Dakota Century Code to require school classes to begin after Labor Day. YES - means you approve the measure summarized above. NO - means you reject the measure summarized above.

”

Support

Start ND School after Labor Day led the campaign in support of the measure.

Supporters

• North Dakota Libertarian Party

Arguments

Start ND School after Labor Day provided a frequently asked questions page on their website. The group outlined a number of supporting arguments and rebuttals on the page:

“	Why are we doing this? What is our purpose? We are a group of parents who feel that schools should resume after the Labor Day holiday. We would like our summer break to include some of the best weather that N.D. has to offer. The thought of having our kids go to school in the middle of August with temperatures in the 90's does not provide a healthy learning environment. How will this affect sporting schedules? Our measure will have nothing to do with sports. The starting and finishing dates of those activities are set by the North Dakota High School Activities Association. Does this mean that school will not dismiss until mid June? No. That is a common tactic that opponents will use to direct us off course. We do not state in our measure when we would like an end date to school. Our concern is with the start date. Each individual school district would then set their own calendar to however best suits their needs. Will this affect early standardized test scores? States who start after labor day such as MN and WI have successfully administered assessment tests in the fall. Any information should be on their state websites. These states can be used as examples to show the effectiveness of an after Labor Day start. Aren't some North Dakota schools starting after Labor Day? Yes. A few schools have adopted a start after Labor Day calendar for the 2014-2015 school year. This is just for the one school year and is subject to change from year to year. The initiated measure we are presenting is to start school after Labor Day for ALL North Dakota schools.	”
—Start ND School after Labor Day

Other arguments in support of the initiative included:

• Linda Striebel, chairperson of Start ND School after Labor Day, said, “We know that there are a lot of rural schools that don’t have air conditioning. They are ready for the winter months but not for August. Parents we’ve met during this process have talked about the heat and that being a health issue. Another thing is not being able to be out and enjoy the great summer activities in August that North Dakota has to offer.”

Campaign contributions

Total campaign cash as of December 3, 2014
Support:	$2,150
Opposition:	$0

Supporters had received $2,150 in contributions as of December 3, 2014.

PAC info:

PAC	Amount raised	Amount spent
Start ND School After Labor Day	$2,150	$2,250
Total	$2,150	$2,250

Top contributors:

Donor	Amount
North Dakota Tourism Alliance Partnership	$2,000
Al Leier	$150

Opposition

Opponents

• North Dakota School Board Association
• North Dakota Association of School Administrators

Arguments

• Jim Johnson, a member of the North Dakota School Board Association, said, "We have a lot of teachers that take summer school classes at the local university and colleges, so they need to be done teaching by the time classes start and you have a lot of other businesses that would be impacted. A lot of organizations use high school students." He also noted, "When Labor Day is falling on September 7th, that will put a really late start date out there. That is why I think local control is best, let the community and family involved make the decision."
• Other opponents argue individual districts should maintain control of school calendars. They also say students have "spring fever," and that starting the school year later means ending the school year later.

Media editorial positions

See also: Endorsements of North Dakota ballot measures, 2014

Opposition

• Bismarck Tribune said, "Measure 8 should be left for individual school districts to decide — we support a no vote. Different geographies create different needs related to both the start and end of the school year. We believe local control is important and that school start dates based on local community input are necessary."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in North Dakota

The Office of the Secretary of State approved the initiative petition for circulation on September 20, 2013.

The initiative's supporters needed to collect a minimum of 13,452 valid signatures by August 6, 2014. On August 6, 2014, supporters turned in approximately 15,781 signatures to the North Dakota Secretary of State. Of the 15,781 signatures turned in, 14,907 were deemed valid. The initiative was certified for the ballot on September 5, 2014.

See also

Suggest a link

• North Dakota 2014 ballot measures
• 2014 ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in North Dakota

External links

Support

• Start ND School after Labor Day
• Start ND School after Labor Day Facebook