Competing bills loosening the NC school calendar law differ, move through the legislature
School boards would have a bit more leeway in deciding when to start and end the school year under a bill the Senate passed Wednesday.
Senate bill 754 would let schools start up to a week earlier than currently allowed. It passed the Senate with on a 39-7 vote.
Since 2004, a law backed by the tourism industry required schools to start no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end no later than the Friday closest to June 11.
Over the years, House members approved bill after bill to lift those restrictions. The Senate resisted any changes and the House bills died there.
Local school boards have been defying the law. One quarter of the state's 115 school districts voted last year to defy it, according to WFAE.
Sen. Amy Galey (R-Alamance) told senators the bill was a product of weeks of discussions with the NC School Boards Association and the state's travel and tourism industry. The industry has a strong financial interest in school calendars, she said.
The change senators endorsed Wednesday would allow traditional calendar schools to open no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 19 and close the academic year no later than the Friday in May before Memorial Day.
In the House, the chamber's K-12 Education Committee on Tuesday approved repealing the calendar law with a bill allowing local school boards to decide on their own when the school year starts and ends. The House Rules Committee was set to vote on the bill Wednesday evening, likely its last stop before it reaches the House floor.
The Senate bill establishes the State Board of Education as a gatekeeper. It will decide whether districts deserve to open a week early. The bill includes penalties for school districts that defy the law. The board would be required to withhold financial support for districts' central office administration until the districts comply. Individuals and businesses within school districts would be able to sue those that don't comply with the law. Courts would be able to award claimants up to $10,000 and attorney's fees.
It has been lawsuits in some districts that forced local boards to open schools later than they wanted. The Union County school board backed away from its plan to start school early in 2023 when two parents sued, WFAE reported. The Carteret County school board dropped its plan to appeal a court decision last year that its school calendar was illegal. Businesses sued the Carteret board over a decision to start school in mid-August, the News & Observer reported.
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