The Iowa House passed a bill mandating that public schools can't start classes before Aug. 23, but schools are no closer to actually being able to set their calendars.

That's because the House version of the bill is still at odds with a version previously passed by the Senate.

The Senate bill would allow school districts and accredited nonpublic schools to set their own school start dates based on local interests and preferences.

The House version would institute a penalty for schools that begin before Aug. 23. Representatives did amend the legislation so that it would allow elementary and secondary schools to use a year-round calendar, though it stopped short of granting that same exemption to high schools.

IOWA POLL: Iowans split over school start date decision

Rep. Greg Forristall, R-Macedonia, said he has been working with the governor's staff to develop legislation that Gov. Terry Branstad would support.

"I've been working on this for over two months, and I'm quite certain that I've pushed the governor's staff as far as it will go," Forristall said. "So any substantial changes (from what the House passed Tuesday) would mean that we would go with the current law, which means that school can't start until the week that includes September 1. It also means that the year-round schools would no longer be legal."

The issue arose late last year when the governor's office announced it would no longer automatically grant waivers to school districts seeking to begin classes before Sept. 1, as it previously had.

DATABASE: 2014-2015 Iowa school start dates

Among other things, school leaders say those waivers allow them to align their calendars with local community colleges so high school students can enroll and gain college credit.

But that flies in the face of state tourism interests, including the Iowa State Fair, which says it loses out on revenue when students go back to school sooner in August.

Several representatives said they would vote against the bill because it would not include high schools in the exemption for year-round calendars. Forristall said he even would support exempting high schools with year-round calendars, but was confident the governor would not support it.

Others spoke in support of local control for school districts seeking to set calendars that work best for their communities, saying they would vote against the bill.

The bill ultimately passed 71-29 with bipartisan support. Two Republicans voted against the legislation.

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