Later start for schools urged as cost-saving idea

Arizona should look at a statewide school calendar with classes beginning around Labor Day to help save energy and cut power bills, according to one Scottsdale school board member.

The statewide calendar is one of the Scottsdale Unified School District's governing board's legislative priorities for next year after board member Dieter Schaefer brought up the idea as a way to save energy costs by keeping schools closed through the month of August.

Schaefer said he envisions this year as the time to start discussions with legislators, educators, test institutions, athletic coordinators and others, to get the ball rolling. It could take at least a couple of years to change the calendar, which Schaefer acknowledged was an optimistic estimate.

Scottsdale could make the calendar change on its own, but, Schaefer said, the state could save a lot of energy and money if this wasa statewide issue.

"That is putting more money into the classroom," Schaefer said. "I don't want to reduce the academic teaching time. But if we can reduce our energy usage, we can put that money in the classroom."

The Scottsdale district has been in touch with Salt River Project and Arizona Public Service Co. to get an analysis of how much it and other districts around the state could save if schools didn't open until Labor Day and started summer vacations close to Memorial Day, said David Peterson, the district's assistant superintendent of operations. Peterson expects to get that report back in three or four weeks.

Peterson didn't have an estimate as to how much the district could save, but said it intuitively makes sense that energy costs would decrease because schools wouldn't open until after the hottest part of the year.

Utility costs have been a big concern for the Scottsdale district recently. It stood to lose more than $5million in funds next year when a provision that lets school districts get some of their funds for power bills through local property taxes is scheduled to end.

A provision was added to the state budget at the last minute that replaced most of that funding. The board made it a top legislative priority Tuesday to protect that money.

Several districts also are in serious discussions to hire a lawyer to act as a lobbyist to the Arizona Corporation Commission as it discusses power rate hikes, Peterson said. He declined to name the other districts involved in the discussions.