Huntsville school officials are telling parents that plans to require a longer summer vacation in Alabama could lead to longer school days, keeping some children as late as 5:30 p.m.

But the state lawmaker behind the bill to lengthen summer break accused Huntsville of using a “scare tactic” to stir up parents. “It’s a complete fabricated lie,” said Rep. Steve Hurst, R-Munford, said of the Facebook post by Huntsville City Schools, a post shared more than 7,000 times in just 24 hours.

Hurst plans to sponsor some sort of legislation mandating summer break run from Memorial Day to Labor Day. But he calls the idea of going to school until 5:30 "plum asinine."

"I would never want children to go to school for eight hours," Hurst said.

But school systems could indeed opt for longer days. A 180-calendar-day school year is not required under state law. Instead, the law requires students to receive 180 full instructional days with six hours of instruction per day, or 1,080 total instructional hours over the course of the school year. More instructional hours per day could allow for a longer summer.

Currently, the school year runs anywhere from 174 days to 180 days among Alabama's school districts, according to information shared by the Alabama State Department of Education. Hurst said school officials could extend the school day, as some currently do, to squeeze in more hours in fewer days, but he doesn't think school days should run two hours longer.

Huntsville school board member Elisa Ferrell said they were alerted to the possibility of an 8-hour school day by the Alabama Association of School Boards, which encouraged local board members to go public and drum up opposition to the calendar bill.

AASB’s Executive Director Sally Smith, who put out the call to action, said she has heard from some lawmakers, whom she declined to name, that an 8-hour school day was a possibility. But what she communicated to board members statewide through a robocall on Monday did not claim Hurst was responsible.

"It is unfortunate that lengthening the school day was associated with Rep. Hurst," Smith said, referring to the wording of Huntsville's Facebook post.

Regardless of who said what to whom, it appears the school district's efforts paid off.

The Facebook post, originally posted just before 1 p.m. on Tuesday, has garnered more than 2,100 comments so far. Most of the commenters reacted negatively to the idea of an 8-hour school day, which the post connected to Hurst’s proposal.

"These hours are insane!!! Kids are already exhausted!!" one parent wrote.

"Holy moly!! This would be a sick joke!!" wrote another commenter.

Others said they'd start homeschooling their children if school lasted eight hours a day.

“This is terrible, my child just got into Triple A for the next school year and we have been applying since preschool! But best believe it this happens, she will definitely begin home schooling,” another parent wrote. That comment was topped off with an angry-faced emoji.

"So basically the kids will live at school? If this happens we'll begin homeschooling."

Huntsville City Schools responded to many of those comments, writing, "Please contact your lawmakers to express your opinions," and included a link to find legislators' contact information.

Huntsville’s post included a projected school calendar for next year, showing 189 weekdays between Labor Day this year and Memorial Day in 2021. That leaves only nine week days for student breaks, if they stuck with the 180-day school year they currently use.

Rena Anderson, the community engagement director for Huntsville City Schools, stood by the post. "We were asked to do a call to action and we did," Anderson said.

Hurst spoke with AL.com last year about a survey showing 85% of voters want longer summers. At that time, he said if just 30 minutes were added to each typical school day, a full school year could be completed in 166 days.

Smith said while her organization opposes any bill that mandates start and end dates for school districts, "We're working to get (lawmakers) to understand what the bookends mean (for students and schools)," she said.

Related: Alabama voters want longer summers, survey says

In 2012, Alabama lawmakers mandated school start dates for two years, starting in 2013. At that time, supporters said it would help tourism recover from the Recession and the aftermath of the oil spill.

Hurst said it’s not only about tourism, which means more money for education, but it’s also about jobs. “This will help with the Governor’s program (to expand the workforce),” he said, “We’re trying to incorporate all of this into workforce development because we’ve got to have these kids ready for jobs.”

Summers end up being wasted, he said, when it could be a more productive time for older students. Right now, with summer so short, he said, "Businesses just don't want to hire a student."

If kids had summer jobs, they'd learn to "put the phone down" and how to get to work on time, what employers refer to as soft skills, Hurst said. "Without it, they don't learn any of it."

Hurst said his proposal leaves control over the school calendar at the local level. “They have total control,” he said, “but just not from Memorial Day to Labor Day.”

Update: According to Lisa Woodard, with State Superintendents Association, Rep. Hurst verified that there is no current... Posted by Huntsville City Schools on Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Updated 5:05 p.m. to clarify that Alabama law requires 180 full instructional days at six hours of instruction per day, or 1,080 instructional hours, over the course of a school year.

Update 2/6/2020 - Wording on Huntsville City Schools’ original Facebook post was changed to remove the association of Rep. Hurst with the possible 2-hour instructional day extension.