Will Minnesota's early school start dates harm its fragile tourism industry?

Tourism leaders say an earlier school start could impact Minnesota's already fragile hospitality industry. 

With the Minnesota State Fair only a few days in, thousands of Minnesota students are already heading back to the classroom.

A temporary change in state law allows districts to start school as early as Sept. 1, and four of the state's 10 largest districts are taking advantage of the change.

That includes Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan which has started before Labor Day for the last three years due to construction schedules, along with Elk River and Wayzata.

Joe Henry, executive director of Lake of The Woods Tourism, says the impact can extend to the state fair.

"These students are very important to the resort community because not only are they workers, but if these kids go back to school, that hampers any kind of family trips that happen," Henry said. "It's not only attendance at the state fair. It's people that want to participate in 4-H and they have be in school so they can't."

The change is temporary for this school year and the next. State Rep. Cheryl Youakim sponsored the bill and says it give districts flexibility with Labor Day falling later than usual.

"Minnesota is the second to last in the number of student contact days in a school year at 165 days," Youakim said. "We need to look at a longer school year to help with student achievement. Our students' education should be the central focus of the discussion."

Henry says it's too early to measure the tourism impact, but feels the summer is already getting squeezed.

"The summers are becoming shorter and shorter the way it is with, you know, school sports and later graduations, and, you know, we're just trying to preserve the fact that this is an important part of our culture," Henry said. "We want to keep it that way."