GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2007
H 2
HOUSE BILL 359
Committee Substitute Favorable 3/29/07
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Short Title: Restore Flexibility to the School Calendar. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
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Referred to: |
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February 26, 2007
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the definition of educational purpose in the school calendar law to provide for three systemwide waivers: (i) to align the calendar with that of a community college or university in the geographic area, (ii) to adjust the examination schedule to benefit students or to accommodate Advanced Placement and International baccalaureate examinations, and (III) to accommodate implementation of block schedules; and to allow any waivers granted by the state board of education for an educational purpose to be effective so long as the educational purpose exists.
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.
On a showing of good cause, the State Board of Education may
waive this requirement the opening and closing 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 closing 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, or (vi) on a systemwide basis to accommodate implementation of
block schedules. 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
scheduling preferences. A waiver granted for an educational purpose
under this subsection shall remain in effect so long as the educational purpose
for which that waiver was granted continues to exist.
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.