Bill Text: NC H94 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Local Flexibility Re: School Calendar
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 22-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-10 - Assigned To Commerce and Job Development Subcommittee on Business and Labor [H94 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2011-H94-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2011
H 1
HOUSE BILL 94
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Short Title: Local Flexibility Re: School Calendar. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representatives Lucas and Bell (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, see Bill Information on the NCGA Web Site. |
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Referred to: |
Commerce and Job Development, if favorable, Education. |
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February 16, 2011
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to permit local boards of education to set school calendars for their local school administrative units.
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 15. First semester
examinations shall be given before winter break. 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 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 either that:
(1) 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; or
(2) schools in any local school
administrative unit in a county have been closed for all or part of eight days
per year during any four of the last 10 years because of severe weather
conditions. For purposes of this subdivision, a school shall be deemed to be
closed for part of a day if it is closed for two or more hours.
The State Board also may waive this requirement for an
educational purpose. The term "educational purpose" means a local
school administrative unit establishes a need to adopt a different calendar for
(i) a specific school to accommodate a special program offered generally to the
student body of that school, (ii) a school that primarily serves a special
population of students, or (iii) a defined program within a school. The State
Board may grant the waiver for an educational purpose for that specific school
or defined program 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.
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 2011‑2012 school year.
