GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2007

H                                                                                                                                                   D

HOUSE DRH60080-LE-74  (2/2)

Short Title:     Restore Flexibility to the School Calendar.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representatives Bell and Lucas (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to restore flexibility to the school calendar law.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑84.2(d) reads as rewritten:

"(d)      Opening and Closing Dates. – Local boards of education shall determine the dates of opening and closing the public schools under subdivision (a)(1) of this section. Except for year‑round schools, the opening date for students shall not be before August 25, and the closing date for students shall not be after June 10.10.

On a showing of good cause, the State Board of Education may waive this requirement opening and starting dates set forth in this subsection to the extent that school calendars are able to provide sufficient days to accommodate anticipated makeup days due to school closings. A local board may revise the scheduled closing date if necessary in order to comply with the minimum requirements for instructional days or instructional time. For purposes of this subsection, the term "good cause" means that schools in any local school administrative unit in a county have been closed eight days per year during any four of the last 10 years because of severe weather conditions, energy shortages, power failures, or other emergency situations.

The State Board also may waive this requirementthe opening and starting dates set forth in this subsection for an educational purpose. The term "educational purpose" means a local school administrative unit establishes a need to adopt a different calendar for (i) for a specific school to accommodate a special program offered generally to the student body of that school, (ii) for a school that primarily serves a special population of students, or (iii) for a defined program within a school.school, (iv) on a systemwide basis to align the calendar with that of a community college or university in the geographic area; (v) on a systemwide basis to adjust the examination schedule to benefit students or to accommodate Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations; (vi) on a systemwide basis to accommodate implementation of block schedules; or (vii) on a systemwide basis due to inclement weather or other emergency situations. The State Board may grant the waiver for an educational purpose for that specific school or defined program or on a systemwide basis to the extent that the State Board finds that the educational purpose is reasonable, the accommodation is necessary to accomplish the educational purpose, and the request is not an attempt to circumvent the opening and closing dates set forth in this subsection. The waiver requests for educational purposes shall not be used to accommodate system‑wide class schedulingmere preferences.

The required opening and closing dates under this subsection shall not apply to any school that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003‑2004 school year or to any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003‑2004 school year for a system of modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar."

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2007‑2008 school year.