GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2017

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 121

 

 

Short Title:      School Calendar Flex./Certain School Systems.		(Local)
Sponsors:	Representatives K. Hall, Stevens, and Bert Jones (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to:	Education - K-12

February 20, 2017

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to provide additional flexibility to certain local boards of education in adopting the school calendar.

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 be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26, and the closing date for students shall be no later than the Friday closest to June 11. On a showing of good cause, the State Board of Education may waive the requirement that the opening date for students be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and may allow the local board of education to set an opening date no earlier than the Monday closest to August 19, 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 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.

For days on which a student is absent from school prior to September 1 due to a family vacation, the student shall receive an excused absence and be given the opportunity to make up any tests or other work missed."

SECTION 2.  This act applies only to Caswell County Schools, Elkin City Schools, Mount Airy City Schools, Rockingham County Schools, Surry County Schools, and Stokes County Schools.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2017‑2018 school year.