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HF11 • 2026

A bill for an act modifying the earliest possible start date of the school calendar for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools.

A bill for an act modifying the earliest possible start date of the school calendar for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools.

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
SORENSEN
Last action
2025-01-14
Official status
Introduced, referred to Education. H.J. 40 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act modifying the earliest possible start date of the school calendar for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools.

A bill for an act modifying the earliest possible start date of the school calendar for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools.

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act modifying the earliest possible start date of the school calendar for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-01-14 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to Education. H.J. 40 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act modifying the earliest possible start date of the school calendar for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

11

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

11

BY

SORENSEN

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

modifying

the

earliest

possible

start

date

of

the

school

1

calendar

for

school

districts

and

accredited

nonpublic

2

schools.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

TLSB

1866YH

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91

jda/jh

H.F.

11

Section

1.

Section

279.10,

subsection

1,

Code

2025,

is

1

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

1.

The

school

year

for

each

school

district

and

accredited

3

nonpublic

school

shall

begin

on

July

1

and

the

school

calendar

4

shall

begin

no

sooner

than

the

earlier

of

August

23

or

the

5

first

business

day

that

falls

three

days

after

the

final

day

6

of

the

Iowa

state

fair

and

no

later

than

the

first

Monday

7

in

December.

The

school

calendar

shall

include

not

less

8

than

one

hundred

eighty

days

or

one

thousand

eighty

hours

of

9

instruction

during

the

calendar

year,

of

which

not

more

than

10

five

days

or

thirty

hours

of

instruction

may

be

delivered

11

primarily

over

the

internet

except

as

otherwise

provided

in

12

section

256.43

or

in

rules

adopted

by

the

state

board

of

13

education

pursuant

to

section

256.7,

subsection

32

.

The

board

14

of

directors

of

a

school

district

and

the

authorities

in

15

charge

of

an

accredited

nonpublic

school

shall

determine

the

16

school

start

date

for

the

school

calendar

in

accordance

with

17

this

subsection

and

shall

set

the

number

of

days

or

hours

of

18

required

attendance

for

the

school

year

as

provided

in

section

19

299.1,

subsection

2

,

but

the

board

of

directors

of

a

school

20

district

shall

hold

a

public

hearing

on

any

proposed

school

21

calendar

prior

to

adopting

the

school

calendar.

If

the

board

22

of

directors

of

a

district

or

the

authorities

in

charge

of

an

23

accredited

nonpublic

school

extends

the

school

calendar

because

24

inclement

weather

caused

the

school

district

or

accredited

25

nonpublic

school

to

temporarily

close

during

the

regular

school

26

calendar,

the

school

district

or

accredited

nonpublic

school

27

may

excuse

a

graduating

senior

who

has

met

district

or

school

28

requirements

for

graduation

from

attendance

during

the

extended

29

school

calendar.

A

school

corporation

may

begin

employment

30

of

personnel

for

in-service

training

and

development

purposes

31

before

the

date

to

begin

elementary

and

secondary

school.

32

EXPLANATION

33

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

34

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

35

-1-

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1866YH

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jda/jh

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2

H.F.

11

This

bill

modifies

the

earliest

possible

start

date

of

the

1

school

calendar

for

school

districts

and

accredited

nonpublic

2

schools.

Current

law

provides

that

the

school

calendar

for

3

school

districts

and

accredited

nonpublic

schools

shall

begin

4

no

sooner

than

August

23.

The

bill

modifies

this

provision

5

to

provide

that

the

school

calendar

shall,

instead,

begin

no

6

sooner

than

the

earlier

of

August

23

or

the

first

business

day

7

that

falls

three

days

after

the

final

day

of

the

Iowa

state

8

fair.

9

-2-

LSB

1866YH

(1)

91

jda/jh

2/

2