Traditionally, the back-to-school season is synonymous with fall. But in Texas, it usually arrives amid peak summer heat.
“Why are we cooling down the largest buildings in almost every community in the state of Texas during the hottest month of the year?” said Texas Representative Jared Patterson.
During the next legislative session, the Frisco Republican plans to introduce a bill that would delay the first day of school until after Labor Day.
As a father of three kids in the public school system, he said it would ensure playground equipment isn’t dangerously hot, that football players and those who perform under Friday night lights stay safe and that schools aren’t placing unnecessary stress on the state’s power grid.
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“By the end of this current school year, we'll go from the eighth largest economy in the world to the seventh largest economy in the world. And so while ERCOT is announcing that we're going to practically double our peak demand in ERCOT over the next decade, we've got to be looking at every opportunity we can to cut back during peak times and peak months of the year when power prices are at their highest,” he said.
Still, Rice University Professor of Environmental Engineering Daniel Cohan said closing schools in August isn’t necessary.
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“What's coming online with solar, with storage, with some other projects being planned, that's growing faster than demand is growing, especially on summer afternoons when it's sunny, and so those solar panels are generating a lot,” said Cohan. “It's around 9 p.m. these days that are actually the tightest times for the grid because the sun has set and winds may be slow at that point.”
Cohan pointed out that at that point in the day, schools are empty.
The grid aside, when asked about pushing back the start of the school year and football season, former athletic director for Highland Park ISD Johnny Ringo said heat always provides challenges.
“It’s of the utmost importance, the safety of the kids,” he said.
Ringo said a shift could have possible implications for football playoff scheduling with games that often run up within a week or two of Christmas break along with academic finals.
They’re considerations to be weighed against a booming demand for energy.
“This is just another opportunity for another tool in the box to help us relieve stress on the grid,” said Patterson.
Should the start date be pushed back to September, Patterson proposed either shifting the last day of school to the end of June or increasing the length of the school day to ensure students get the required amount of time in the classroom.
Several years ago, Texas shifted from requiring 180 days of classroom instruction to 75,600 minutes.
