| 12 | 13 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 |
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| 13 | 14 | | AN ACT TO PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY TO CHATHAM COUNTY SCHOOLS IN ADOPTING 2 |
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| 14 | 15 | | THE SCHOOL CALENDAR. 3 |
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| 15 | 16 | | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4 |
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| 16 | 17 | | SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-84.2(d) reads as rewritten: 5 |
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| 17 | 18 | | "(d) Opening and Closing Dates. – Local boards of education shall determine the dates of 6 |
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| 18 | 19 | | opening and closing the public schools under subdivision (a)(1) of this section. Except for 7 |
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| 19 | 20 | | year-round schools, the opening date for students shall be no earlier than the Monday closest to 8 |
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| 20 | 21 | | August 26, August 10, and the closing date for students shall be no later than the Friday closest 9 |
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| 21 | 22 | | to June 11. On a showing of good cause, the State Board of Education may waive the requirement 10 |
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| 22 | 23 | | that the opening date for students be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and may 11 |
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| 23 | 24 | | allow the local board of education to set an opening date no earlier than the Monday closest to 12 |
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| 24 | 25 | | August 19, to the extent that school calendars are able to provide sufficient days to accommodate 13 |
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| 25 | 26 | | anticipated makeup days due to school closings. A local board may revise the scheduled closing 14 |
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| 26 | 27 | | date if necessary in order to comply with the minimum requirements for instructional days or 15 |
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| 27 | 28 | | instructional time. For purposes of this subsection, the term "good cause" means that schools in 16 |
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| 28 | 29 | | any local school administrative unit in a county have been closed eight days per year during any 17 |
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| 29 | 30 | | four of the last 10 years because of severe weather conditions, energy shortages, power failures, 18 |
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| 30 | 31 | | or other emergency situations. 19 |
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| 31 | 32 | | The required opening and closing dates under this subsection shall not apply to any school 20 |
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| 32 | 33 | | that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or to 21 |
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| 33 | 34 | | any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of 22 |
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| 34 | 35 | | modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar." 23 |
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| 35 | 36 | | SECTION 2. G.S. 115C-174.12(a)(4) reads as rewritten: 24 |
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| 36 | 37 | | "(4) All annual assessments of student achievement adopted by the State Board of 25 |
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| 37 | 38 | | Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11(c)(1) and (3) and all final exams for 26 |
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| 38 | 39 | | courses shall be administered within the final 10 instructional days of the 27 |
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| 39 | 40 | | school year for year-long courses and within the final five instructional days 28 |
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| 40 | 41 | | of the semester for semester courses. Exceptions shall be permitted to 29 |
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| 41 | 42 | | accommodate a student's individualized education program and section 504 30 |
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| 42 | 43 | | (29 U.S.C. § 794) plans and for the administration of final exams for courses 31 |
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| 43 | 44 | | with national or international curricula required to be held at designated times. 32 |
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| 44 | 45 | | A local board of education that has implemented a school calendar that 33 |
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| 45 | 46 | | concludes the fall semester prior to December 31 may administer assessments 34 |
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| 46 | 47 | | prior to the conclusion of that semester." 35 |
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