Facing late Labor Days, legislation would allow districts to start school year early

Minnesota has a long-standing tradition of school starting after Labor Day. But in 2026 and 2027, a late Labor Day means students won’t head back to school until a week into September.

But the question of whether schools should be allowed to start earlier than Labor Day when the holiday falls later in September played out with educators and resort owners falling on opposing sides of the issue Tuesday.

Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins) wants to give school districts flexibility to decide locally on whether to start earlier than Labor Day for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years. She sponsors HF1124, which would allow school boards to vote to begin the school year before Labor Day during those two school years.

The House Education Policy Committee laid the bill over, as amended, for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.

Kristi Peterson, president of the Minnesota School Boards Association and vice chair of the Shakopee School Board, said that school needs aren’t one-size-fits-all across the state and Labor Day doesn’t always align with a school district’s current needs. The bill doesn’t require school districts to begin before Labor Day but rather gives them local control over their school calendar based on their needs, she said.

“I strongly support House File 1124 because it provides schools with much needed flexibility to structure their academic calendar in a way that best serves our students, our families and educators,” she said.

But resort owners say that a school start before Labor Day would be detrimental to their industry and Minnesota’s economy.

The hospitality industry accounts for 12% of jobs in Minnesota and contributes $2.3 billion in tax revenue to the state, according to Hanna Zinn, director of government relations for Hospitality Minnesota.

Resorts deal with a short 12-week summer tourist season that’s already shortened by spring sports and graduations in June and fall sports starting in August, said Joe Henry, executive director of the Lake of the Woods Tourism Bureau.

“In addition, high school workers are very key to our hospitality businesses and making it so a lot of these workers would have to go back to school prematurely would not be good for our industry,” Henry said.