KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Students in Alcoa started the new school year Wednesday. Going back to school in late-July is routine in Alcoa, where they system has long opted for shorter summer breaks to take longer breaks in the fall and spring.
In most of East Tennessee, students are relishing the final days of summer break. Classes resume in Knox County on Aug. 5.
Around this time each summer, we hear people say the school year always creeps earlier and earlier to eat away at students' summer break.
But is that true? To verify, we spoke to the following sources:
- Josh Flory, Knox County Schools communications specialist
- Ryan Sutton, Anderson County Schools communications director
- Jennifer Johnson, Tennessee Dept. of Education communications director
First of all, the question of whether school is starting earlier depends on how far back you want to compare.
Decades ago, almost all school systems took full summer breaks in a time when children helped tend family farms and there was no air conditioning in classrooms. In the 1950s, classes often started at the end of August or the beginning of September.
In recent years, there was no drastic change in when the school year begins in Knox County and surrounding counties.
It is true that Aug. 5 is the earliest start date for Knox County Schools. But it is not drastically different than recent years when classes began on Aug. 7 and Aug. 8. Flory said the fluctuations are cyclical.
"While the first day for students this year is August 5, the first day for the 2020-21 school year is August 10," said Flory. "Every year, Knox County Schools assembles a committee of about 25 people – including parents, principals, teachers and education support organizations – that produces a recommended calendar for the Board of Education to approve."
The slightly early start in Knox County enables the schools to begin winter break with a full week off. Flory said that was a priority because attendance was lower if winter break starts mid-week.
Over a 15-year span, Knox County Schools typically starts classes at some point in the second week of August. There was a three-year stretch from 2009-2011 when classes began on or after Aug. 15.
Sevier County generally starts later than most school systems with classes beginning in mid-August. This year classes resume Aug. 14 in Sevier County.
In the last five years, several county school systems have consistently started in the first week of August. Here's a sampling of the first days of school in 2019:
- Anderson County Schools: Aug. 2, 2019
- Blount County Schools: Aug. 1, 2019
- Loudon County Schools: Aug. 5, 2019
- Knox County Schools: Aug. 5, 2019
- Maryville City Schools: Aug. 6, 2019
- Oak Ridge City Schools: Jul. 29, 2019
- Sevier County Schools: Aug. 14, 2019
In Anderson County, school has resumed at the beginning of August for 25 years and lets out before the end of May.
"In order to get the kids out before Memorial Day, what we do is have a week for Thanksgiving and week for Fall Break and we get out a few days before Christmas," said Ryan Sutton.
The commissioners office for the Tennessee Department of Education says it's up to each district when to schedule classes. The main requirement is to have 180 instructional days per year, according to Jennifer Johnson.
THE VERDICT: FALSE
No, school does not starts earlier every year. This year is a couple of days earlier than usual in Knox County on Aug. 5, but next year classes start Aug. 10.
At the bottom of this article are more historical lists of the start dates for several local county systems.
If there's something you'd like us to verify, let us know! You can share your questions with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also email them to us at verify@wbir.com.
ALCOA CITY SCHOOLS START-DATES
- 2015: July 30
- 2016: July 25
- 2017: July 24
- 2018: July 25
- 2019: July 24
ANDERSON COUNTY SCHOOLS START-DATES
- 2015: August 4
- 2016: August 3
- 2017: August 4
- 2018: August 3
- 2019: August 2
BLOUNT COUNTY SCHOOLS START-DATES
- 2015: August 3
- 2016: August 1
- 2017: August 9
- 2018: July 30
- 2019: August 1
LOUDON COUNTY SCHOOLS START-DATES
- 2015: August 7
- 2016: August 1
- 2017: August 7
- 2018: August 6
- 2019: August 5
SEVIER COUNTY SCHOOLS START-DATES
- 2015: August 17
- 2016: August 17
- 2017: August 16
- 2018: August 14
- 2019: August 14
KNOX COUNTY SCHOOLS START-DATES
- 2006: August 11
- 2007: August 9
- 2008: August 11
- 2009: August 17
- 2010: August 17
- 2011: August 15
- 2012: August 14
- 2013: August 12
- 2014: August 11
- 2015: August 10
- 2016: August 8
- 2017: August 7
- 2018: August 8
- 2019: August 5
- 2020: August 10