Tri-City Herald
The North Franklin School District thought it was getting out in front when it settled its school calendar for next year early.
Unfortunately, there was an unintended consequence. The district ran right into the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo. Anyone who thinks this is a trivial matter is wrong.
Fairs, like schools, are important business.
The district set school to start Aug. 25, the same day the fair opens. Since so many North Franklin students participate in the fair, and many work as hard on their animals and exhibits as on their school work, this was a big problem.
The North Franklin district serves Connell, Eltopia, Mesa, Basin City and lots of real estate in between.
The school district and its teachers union set the dates last winter.
Now North Franklin Superintendent Gregg Taylor told the Herald’s Franny White that the district will have to consider changing it.
“We have a significant number of students that do FFA and 4-H,” Taylor said. “It would be a real hard challenge to start school without those kids being there.”
Moving the fair dates is not an option. They are allocated by the state Department of Agriculture years in advance following a rigid schedule. The fair will be Aug. 25-29 next year. As always, it will end on the weekend before Labor Day weekend.