When I was in high school in the late 1900s, we started band on August 1st.

But, back then, school started the third week of August.

Other schools near us started as early as August 2nd - that meant they got literally one day of summer band camp, since the rule previously was a hard start date of Aug 1.

Then they passed a law that said school could only start in the fourth week of August. This persisted for about 15 years, and most people started band on the last couple days of July for rookies and full band August 1st.

Then District of Innovation ideas took over, and now we're back to starting school at the beginning of August. The STAAR test is still in April - so schools want more instructional days BEFORE the test.

Want to get kids out of the heat? Get rid of District of Innovation. Bring back the mandatory start date. The tourism industry will thank you - they're the ones who pushed for it in the first place.