News 12 at eleven o'clock -- Friday, September 3, 2010

RICHMOND COUNTY, Ga. --- Across the country, thousands of kids are gearing up for their first day of school next week.

But in Richmond County, classes have been going for weeks. And several school board members want to change that.

At Barton Chapel Elementary School, Sylvia Cromartie has been teaching math for weeks. But as for the students:

"They're still on summer vacation," she says, describing their hyper behavior. "So they're thinking: my body is here, but my mind is not."

She says an early back-to-school date and hot weather can add up to a learning distraction.

"With the heat index the way it is, there are no outside activities, and the students do need physical activity," she says, adding that time in the gym is not enough.

The solution, she says, is to push the calendar year back. And she's not alone.

"This is the hottest part of the summer," says school board member Barbara Pulliam. "I don't see why we couldn't go back after Labor Day, or a little bit before."

Pulliam raised the issue at the August school board meeting. It would mean starting the school year in September and ending in June.

"It's a lot cooler. It's more comfortable," Pulliam says.

Now, the board's student services committee is looking into the plan, but it is not a new idea. The biggest road block is coordinating a revised calendar with Georgia's standardized testing schedule.

Pulliam believes it could be a realistic change.

"Other places are using it. We need to look and see how to make it work for us," she says.

And Barton Chapel Elementary School principal Joretta Akpo-Sanni has yet another idea:

"I really agree with year round school," she says. "That way, the children are continuously learning."

"Even if you had year round school, it still would be more practical to not be in school the first part of August," Pulliam says.

The change could also save money on air conditioning during the hot summer weeks.

The idea is still being considered by the school board. The first steps would be getting approval from the Georgia State Board of Education and the Georgia Department of Education.

News 12 spoke with school board member Jack Padgett, who also favors "traditional school days." He cited other school districts around the state, like Atlanta and Savannah, that started later than Richmond County.

Pulliam says she would like to see the plan in place by 2012.