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Chicago Tribune

Earlier school starts not universal in Northwest Indiana

Despite steamy temperatures and tempting beach days, Northwest Indiana students are soon heading back to school. Gary's 21st Century Charter School kicks off the school year Monday, and Gary Community School Corp. students return Thursday. At least one district is pushing back from early August starts. 'In my opinion, I think it's kind of crazy,' said Portage Township School Board president Andy Maletta. He led a policy shift that moved back the start of school in Portage to Aug. 18. Portage has the latest start among traditional school districts. Discovery Charter School, in Porter, opens Aug. 19. It's still earlier than the 'old days' when school typically didn't start until after Labor Day. Many Illinois schools still adhere to that schedule. 'We heard a lot from families about why it's starting so early,' said Maletta. He said, from conversations with tourism officials, the early starts have a detrimental impact on the local economy. 'They have to close down beaches as they lose lifeguards,' he said. Other superintendents think worry over learning loss and the need to prepare students for state accountability testing make the earlier start necessary. River Forest Superintendent Kevin Trezak said testing does play a role as a key concept in its calendar. He said the district tries to provide more class time in the third grading period because of the significant testing milestones. Unlike Portage, River Forest gives final exams prior to the holiday break to give students a better chance to perform well. 'In theory, this helps to eliminate the learning loss a student might experience while being out of school during this time,' Trezak said. Maletta said he doesn't think bumping school back affects achievement levels. 'There' a great deal of tourism here, we have national park here, and Deep River Water Park in Lake County. It's the best weather of summer and we shut it down,' he said. 'We've heard from families and parents how happy they are we're starting later,' said Maletta. 'I think it's a good thing. I'll continue to push it as long as I'm on the school board.' Meanwhile, students and educators will be confronted with a spate of new state laws created in this year's General Assembly session. Attendance, a key factor in the state's proposed new A-F accountability measures, will be monitored at every checkpoint level. The new attendance law calls for K-12 intervention early and for schools to report habitually truant students to a local prosecutor's office. Students with 10 or more unexcused absences must be reported. In Porter County, Prosecutor Gary Germann said his office and the juvenile probation office address the issue together. He said systems are in place to assist parents and students. There's also a temporary ban on suspending or expelling chronically absent students. The ban expires in July 2026. 'Absenteeism is a problem and one of two priorities for our network this year,' said Kevin Teasley, founder and CEO of the GEO Foundation that operates the 21st Century Charter School. He said the school's deans and social workers try to analyze the problems. 'We try to figure out why. The other piece is after school tutoring, making sure it's real tutoring.' The state's new A-F accountability system brings back letter grades in 2027 for the first time since 2018. It tracks students in 'checkpoints' in certain grades throughout their school careers. Unlike traditional school leaders, Teasley is looking forward to some provisions in Senate Bill 1 that provide charters with property tax revenue for the first time, beginning in 2028. Teasley said 21st Century, the largest charter in Gary, is trying to raise funds for an athletic center and waiting for interest rates to go down. 'We only have one gym for K-12 for 1,200 students,' he said. Traditional school leaders are bracing for the impact of revenue losses expected from Senate Bill 1, aimed at property tax reform. Lake Central, Hanover Community in Lake County, and the Duneland School Corp. in Chesterton all are seeking renewals of their operating referendums to ensure that that level of revenue continues as property taxes decrease. Lake Central, for example, could lose as much as $12.3 million in property taxes beginning in 2026 due to Senate Bill 1. A section of the new law now limits referendum votes to general elections. Previously, they could be held during spring primary voting, also. Lake Aug. 7: Gary Community School Corp. Aug. 11: East Chicago Aug. 12: Hanover Community Aug. 13: Highland, River Forest, Lake Station, Hobart, Hammond, Crown Point, Lake Ridge, Griffith, Merrillville, Tri-Creek, Lake Central, Munster, Whiting Porter County Aug. 13: Boone Township, Duneland, East Porter, Porter Township, Union Township, Valparaiso Aug. 18: Portage Township Charter schools Aug. 4: 21st Century Charter Aug. 7: East Chicago Urban Academy Aug. 11: Charter School of the Dunes, Aspire, HIAT, Steel City Charter (K-3) Aug. 12: Gary Lighthouse, Steel City (4-6), East Chicago Lighthouse Aug. 13: HAST, Steel City (7-11) Aug. 14: Steel City (12) Aug. 18: Thea Bowman Aug. 19: Discovery