News Photo by Crystal Nelson Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service Superintendent Scott Reynolds speaks on Friday during a public hearing to renew a waiver to start the school year before Labor Day.

ALPENA — School districts in Alpena, Alcona, and Montmorency counties will continue to start school before Labor Day.

The Michigan Department of Education on Friday granted the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District a waiver renewal that allows school districts in its service area to start school before the holiday. The AMA ESD’s existing waiver expired and the new, three-year waiver would become effective this fall.

The waiver is needed because a state law requires public schools in MIchigan to start school after Labor Day. However, school districts can obtain a waiver to get around the rule.

Alpena Public Schools, Alcona Community Schools, Atlanta Community Schools and Hillman Community Schools need the waiver so the beginning of the school year aligns with the start of Alpena Community College’s fall semester. All four schools partner with Alpena Community College to offer dual enrollment for their students and offer or are working to offer early middle college for their students.

Dual enrollment allows students to attend college classes and earn college credit while in high school, whereas early middle college is a five-year program that allows students to earn an associate degree or a professional certification.

Alcona Community Schools Superintendent Dan O’Connor said the district was on the verge of hatching its early middle college program the last time a waiver was approved. He said the district’s first cohort of students will be entering the fifth year of the early middle college program this fall and district officials anticipate 25% of each graduating class to participate in early middle college moving forward.

“This is pretty vital to keep us on the same track as our college partners locally, especially considering that we have one college partner within 90 miles,” he said. “That is very crucial for us to be able to have our students have a successful experience in that program as well as assist in the recruiting process of those students as we move forward.”

About one in five APS students are either participating in dual enrollment or the early middle college program, according to Alpena Early College Coordinator Lee Fitzpatrick. He said the aligned starting dates of both the college and area high schools “makes things work” and gives students a better chance of success.

Carl Seiter, superintendent with the Hillman and Atlanta school districts, said the districts offer dual enrollment and are waiting for the early middle college program to be approved. Seiter there are currently 41 students who have successfully completed 235 college credits between both schools.

“As this snowball gets rolling downhill and gets bigger and bigger, I really look for our kids that are starved for opportunities to take full advantage of this and the parents are just beyond ecstatic with this opportunity for our kids,” he said.