AN ACT TO PROVIDE CERTAIN LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS FLEXIBILITY 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, August 1, 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.

SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑174.12(a)(4) reads as rewritten:

(4)      All annual assessments of student achievement adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C‑174.11(c)(1) and (3) and all final exams for courses shall be administered within the final 10 instructional days of the school year for year‑long courses and within the final five instructional days of the semester for semester courses. Exceptions shall be permitted to accommodate a student's individualized education program and section 504 (29 U.S.C. § 794) plans and for the administration of final exams for courses with national or international curricula required to be held at designated times. A local board of education that has implemented a school calendar that concludes the fall semester prior to December 31 may administer assessments prior to the conclusion of that semester.

SECTION 3.  This act applies only to Granville County Schools, Montgomery County Schools, Person County Schools, Stanly County Schools, and Vance County Schools.

SECTION 4.  Community colleges serving Granville, Montgomery, Person, Stanly, or Vance County are encouraged to cooperate with the local boards of education to develop school calendars that best suit the needs of students who attend class in both the local school administrative unit and the community college.

SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2023‑2024 school year.