SCHOOL CALENDAR MODIFICATION.

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View NCGA Bill Details2017-2018 Session
House Bill 53 (Public) Filed Tuesday, February 7, 2017
AN ACT TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FLEXIBILITY TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN ADOPTING THEIR SCHOOL CALENDARS.
Intro. by Henson, Setzer, Corbin, Presnell.

Status: Ref to the Com on Education - K-12, if favorable, Appropriations (House Action) (Feb 8 2017)
H 53

Bill Summaries:

  • Summary date: Feb 7 2017 - View Summary

    Amends GS 115C-84.2 to require the school calendar adopted by each local board of education to include a minimum of 1,025 hours of instruction (was, 185 days of instruction or 1,025 hours) covering at least nine calendar months. Makes conforming changes to GS 115C-218.85(a)(1), GS 115C-238.53(d), GS 115C-238.66(1)d, and GS 116-239.8(2)c to reflect the change from minimum days or hours to minimum hours of instruction.

    Allows local boards to approve school improvement plans that include days with varying amounts of instructional time, which can mean varying number of instructional hours in instructional days occurring in different semesters of the school year, and varying the number of days per instructional semester if hours of instruction remain equivalent between semesters. Provides that, if a local board adopts a school calendar of less than 185 days of instruction, teachers employed for a 10-month term who work or use annual leave or sick leave for the designated instructional days are deemed to have been employed the equivalent of 185 days of instruction, and must be compensated as if they had worked those days. Further provides that annual leave, sick leave, workdays, holidays, salary, and longevity for teachers who are employed at schools with instructional calendars of less than 185 days are to be equivalent to those of other teachers employed for the same number of months, respectively.

    Changes the earliest date a local board may set for the opening date of its public schools to no earlier than August 10 (was, no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26). Makes conforming changes to delete provisions allowing the State Board of Education to allow a local board to set an earlier opening date on a showing of good cause. Makes further conforming changes to GS 115C-84.2(d). 

    Amends GS 115C-174.12(a)(4), which requires all annual assessments of student achievement and all final exams for courses to be administered within the final 5 or 10 instructional days of the school year for semester or year-long courses, respectively, to allow a local board of education that has implemented a school calendar that concludes the fall semester prior to December 31 to administer assessments prior to the conclusion of that semester.

    Directs the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee to study local school administrative units that have successfully used calendar flexibility under GS 115C-84.2 to hold semester exams prior to December 31, and to report its findings to the 2018 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

    Applies beginning with the 2017-18 school year.