OCALA, FL (352today.com) – A change in the start date for Marion County Public Schools kindergarten students in the future?

It was a topic of discussion at the MCPS school board meeting Aug. 12, 2025, regarding language concerning the start date in the state statute.

The Marion County Public School Board had a legislative meeting Aug. 13, with State Sen. Stan McClain, and has a work session scheduled for Aug.. 14, where they can look more closely at the possibilities.

“I did want to ask, if we wanted to collectively go ahead and say, our kindergarten start date, we want to change to Aug. 10 instead of Sept. 1,” said Dr. Allison Campbell, MCPS board member dist. no. 1. “It’s something that we talked about yesterday briefly, in the very first bullet initiative of our legislative priorities talks to kindergarten. Let’s go ahead and change the date, if you all agree.”

Dr. Sarah James cautioned the board regarding a specific date because of the language, suggesting it should be worded the first day of school because every district starts on a different day, and sometimes Aug. 10 falls on a weekend. James, MCPS school board member dist. no.5,  is an advocate of the first day of school, with that being her personal preference.

In the statute, it’s indicated that the school year has to begin Aug. 10 or after, it can’t begin before, said Campbell.

James could see the pain point from a parent’s perspective, if Aug. 10 is the date. If a child’s birthday is Aug. 12, and they miss the cutoff to start Kindergarten, and school begins on Aug. 12, because of where the days fall on the calendar, it creates an unanticipated predicament.

The language of starting Sept. 1 seems to be outdated and antiquated, said Nancy Thrower, Marion County School Board member Dist. no. 4.

“We do need to change it, Sept. 1 isn’t even relevant,” said Thrower.

Discussion on the date continued regarding the language because of stagger starts, where a 10-day window was brought up. The topic is open to broader conversation.

The Florida School Board Association requested that the legislative priorities be sent by Sept. 5. FSBA members can also submit their own individual ideas until that date.