The Kings Dominion Law

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Here is a poll we could all visit, to skew the results in our favor, if anybody wants to go vote on it for our parks to stay open through august. It is a simple 1 click.
http://www.restonnow.com/2014/08/21/poll-should-virginia-do-away-with-kings-dominion-law/
 
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I grew up in Chesapeake and we never had summer assignments. I would have been ticked off if we had started school before Labor Day. I currently live just outside of Nashville and school started here on Friday August 1 for half a day. Then they went the following Mon-Wed and were off on Thurs because of voting day and then back on Friday.
 
One of the summer assignents I have is for an AP class, the other two are for the Math and Science academy that I'm enrolled in.
 
Ah, New Jersey. Where there are no summer assignments or politicians trying to force public schools to start before labor day...

Wait, my cousin in 4th grade has one and Christie is trying to undermine the NJEA. I'll take that back, school sucks. Politics getting involved in schooling sucks extra hard.
 
Guys, the government dubbed the bill as the "Kings Dominion" law because of the parks close location to the capital of the state, Richmond. This was not a bill just for Kings Dominion. It was for ALL attractions across the state that employ high school aged folks during the summer tourist season. This includes Busch Gardens, parks, pools, beaches, resorts. Anyplace that staffed high school aged temporary workers during the summer months.

There are public school systems in the state that go back to school a couple weeks before labor day weekend. My co-worker has his kids in the Green county school system (county north of Charlottesville, VA). They started the school year on Monday, August 18th. Most counties/towns/cities in the western part of the state start school before Labor Day weekend. This is due to a greater chance of snow closings in the winter.

A good number of places in North Carolina that have year round school. You go to school 14-16 weeks and then get 3-4 weeks off and then start the cycle over again. This includes going during part of the summer.
 
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mwhinva said:
Guys, the government dubbed the bill as the "Kings Dominion" law because of the parks close location to the capital of the state, Richmond. This was not a bill just for Kings Dominion. It was for ALL attractions across the state that employ high school aged folks during the summer tourist season. This includes Busch Gardens, parks, pools, beaches, resorts. Anyplace that staffed high school aged temporary workers during the summer months.
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I don't think anyone believes the bill is solely for Kings Dominion; however, I am certain they were a major driving force in getting the bill enacted.

mwhinva said:
There are public school systems in the state that go back to school a couple weeks before labor day weekend. My co-worker has his kids in the Green county school system (county north of Charlottesville, VA). They started the school year on Monday, August 18th. Most counties/towns/cities in the western part of the state start school before Labor Day weekend. This is due to a greater chance of snow closings in the winter.
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Yes, I believe school systems can request to start their school year earlier and the governor must approve; however, I don't think he would reject any request because the bill only really becomes a concern around the larger employers like Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens.

mwhinva said:
A good number of places in North Carolina that have year round school. You go to school 14-16 weeks and then get 3-4 weeks off and then start the cycle over again. This includes going during part of the summer.
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I actually kind of liked the idea of year round school, because you get four breaks per year essentially, and schools already have that. The difference the breaks are unevenly distributed. Winter is two weeks, Spring is one week, Fall is a weekend, Summer is months. Year round schools just evenly distributes the breaks.
 
Here's an older article that I stumbled upon from Labor Day. Interesting that BGW and WCUSA refused to comment on attendance. I dont see the harm in commenting on whether the final weekend attendance at the park is good or bad statistically. Afraid to show their support of the KD law maybe? I guess it could offend somebody. http://wtvr.com/2014/08/27/does-amusement-park-attendance-justify-holding-back-schools/
 
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Mazakman said:
Here's an older article that I stumbled upon from Labor Day. Interesting that BGW and WCUSA refused to comment on attendance. I dont see the harm in commenting on whether the final weekend attendance at the park is good or bad statistically. Afraid to show their support of the KD law maybe? I guess it could offend somebody.  http://wtvr.com/2014/08/27/does-amusement-park-attendance-justify-holding-back-schools/
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I remember the last article pointed out that AB made large contributions to politicians as well as free admission tickets. They always seem to like to keep those things more of a secret than I feel is necessary.
 
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Here we go again.
http://wydaily.com/2015/01/29/local-legislators-school-leaders-divided-on-future-of-kings-dominion-law?cat=localnews/

LeMunyon whatever, is comparing our schedules to those in Florida. Saying 'they don't use this system and the sun still rises'. Their parks are not limited to seasonal operation. You cant even compare the two at all from an economic standpoint. Why do I understand this and he does not? I don't even get paid to understand this stuff!

Edit.. The comments are surprisingly intelligent also.
 
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Awwwww I feel so bad for those poor school administrators having to craft a schedule around this law. Poor them, having to do their jobs and everything, such a rough life.

So, the state has been able to work with this law for years and years on end now, everything has worked itself out, but now we have to change it because schedule-makers want their jobs to be easier? Also, somehow my school system manages to go three extra days of school(183) in the alotted time period that every other school-system does 180. This just sounds like a bunch of complaining from lazy, tedious people.

Another thing, that time after the end of year tests is very useful, as most of the time we get taught a pre-unit for the course coming up next year.
 
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Looks like the KD law stands for at least the rest of 2015. The article states that the repeal of the law has repeatedly been shot down by legislators over the years. http://www.insidenova.com/news/local/northernva/no-school-before-labor-day-kings-dominion-law-stands/article_41baeef6-a41c-11e3-9d76-0019bb2963f4.html
 
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My friend is a high school teacher who grew up in Ohio and she loves to rant about how late a start VA school systems get. Mostly because she teaches AP classes, and the AP tests are nationally scheduled. So those school districts that start the year earlier get more instructional time before the test date, tend to do better, etc.

I can see her point, but as someone who grew up in the South and knows how important the tourism industry is in this area . . . eh whatever. It's brutal to sit in a classroom in the August heat.
 
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I see and understand both sides of it also. I support the law. I support summer break as I had while growing up. I support being allowed to learn at your own pace within reason. I do not support federal testing used to 'judge and compare' kids and their teachers. This is useless to the kids who are smart, and only hinders the slower learning kids and their teachers. I will never support these tests. I have my values, and the tests go against them. Just the word 'standardized' makes my spine quiver. We are not robots and neither are our kids.
 
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