01/30/06 School board keeps potato harvest break

They talked about it again this year. The Snake River school district at Blackfoot was asked by a study committee to put an end to the so-called spud break. That's been a fall tradition for the nearly 800 students who attend Snake River High School. Superintendent Russell Hammond says the issue comes up about every four to five years with parents asking the question, do we still need the two week potato harvest break? HAMMOND "Actually those who responded the most to our survey were those who wanted to see the potato harvest stay. The others didn't respond in as big a numbers. I read that as they really didn't care. The others of course cared because it was important to them." Hammond says the school board decided to keep the spud break next school year, now set for the last week in September and the first week in October. 247 students who responded to the school district survey said they were able to earn money during those two weeks and they wanted the break to continue. HAMMOND "We have producers that really rely on those students. In my own case, my own children, I have seven children; they all worked in the harvest. They probably made their first year college tuition in the potato harvest through high school. I appreciated the opportunity that they had." Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott