Senate panel advances two-year option letting districts start school before Labor Day

Senate File 1336, which would permit Minnesota school boards to choose an earlier school-year start for the 2026–27 and 2027–28 school years, advanced from the Senate Education Policy Committee on March 12 after the committee adopted an A2 amendment.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Swazinski, argued the measure simply restores local control rather than imposing an earlier start statewide. “This isn’t a mandate for an early start date. It simply allows local school boards to use the best decisions possible,” he told the committee. The A2 amendment, which the sponsor said reduced paperwork burdens on districts and the Minnesota Department of Education, was moved by Senator Swazinski and adopted in voice vote.

Why it matters: Supporters said allowing local boards to choose earlier starts could increase instructional days before spring assessments, reduce summer learning loss and better align with internship and technical-education schedules. Opponents — principally representatives of Minnesota’s family-owned seasonal resorts — said starting school earlier would sharply reduce August travel and lodging revenue and could threaten small resort economies.

Supporters’…