AN ACT TO allow certain local school administrative units to align the school calendars of those units with local community colleges.

Whereas, the State‑mandated, late‑August start date creates barriers to dual enrollment by putting high schools out of alignment with community colleges, which typically begin the first semester earlier in August, and begin the second semester two or three weeks before high school students complete the fall semester; and

Whereas, academic alignment would benefit all students in local school administrative units who are enrolled in classes through a local community college by allowing them to align their fall and spring semesters with the fall and spring semesters of the local community colleges; and

Whereas, academic alignment would allow local school administrative units to work with local community colleges to meet workforce development needs more effectively by helping high school and college students develop the skills necessary for business and industry; Now, therefore,

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.section in accordance with the following requirements:

(1)        Except for year round schools, the 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.June 11, except in the following circumstances:

a.         The school is a year‑round school.

b.         The school's calendar is aligned so that it is no earlier than the opening date of a community college serving the county in which the school unit is located, in whole or in part.

(2)        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, subdivision, 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.

(3)        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.

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 applies only to Chatham County Schools, Edgecombe County Schools, Elkin City Schools, Martin County Schools, Mt. Airy City Schools, Surry County Schools, and Union County Public Schools.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2021‑2022 school year.