GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 284
Short Title: Addtnl Time for School Cal Good Cause Waiver. (Local)
Sponsors: Representative Pickett.
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Education - K-12, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
March 6, 2025
*H284 -v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL TIME ON THE SCHOOL CALENDAR FOR PUBLIC 2
SCHOOLS SHOWING GOOD CAUSE DUE TO INCLEM ENT WEATHER OR 3
EMERGENCIES. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-84.2(d) reads as rewritten: 6
"(d) Opening and Closing Dates. – Local boards of education shall determine the dates of 7
opening and closing the public schools under subdivision (a)(1) of this section. Except for 8
year-round schools, the opening date for students shall be no earlier than the Monday closest to 9
August 26, and the closing date for students shall be no later than the Friday closest to June 11. 10
On a showing of good cause, the State Board of Education may waive the requirement that the 11
opening date for students be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and may allow the 12
local board of education to set an opening date no earlier than the Monday closest to August 19, 13
August 12, to the extent that school calendars are able to provide sufficient days to accommodate 14
anticipated makeup days due to school closings. A local board may revise the scheduled closing 15
date if necessary in order to comply with the minimum requirements for instructional days or 16
instructional time. For purposes of this subsection, the term "good cause" means that schools in 17
any local school administrative unit in a county have been closed eight days per year during any 18
four of the last 10 years because of severe weather conditions, energy shortages, power failures, 19
or other emergency situations. 20
The required opening and closing dates under this subsection shall not apply to any school 21
that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or to 22
any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of 23
modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar." 24
SECTION 2. This act applies only to Ashe County Schools, Allegheny County 25
Schools, and Watauga County Schools. 26
SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with 27
the 2025-2026 school year. 28