GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 163
Short Title: SchCalFlex/Chatham/Aug 10 & Assmnts. (Local)
Sponsors: Senator Murdock (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
February 26, 2025
*S163 -v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY TO CHATHAM COUNTY SCHOOLS IN ADOPTING 2
THE SCHOOL CALENDAR. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-84.2(d) reads as rewritten: 5
"(d) Opening and Closing Dates. – Local boards of education shall determine the dates of 6
opening and closing the public schools under subdivision (a)(1) of this section. Except for 7
year-round schools, the opening date for students shall be no earlier than the Monday closest to 8
August 26, August 10, and the closing date for students shall be no later than the Friday closest 9
to June 11. On a showing of good cause, the State Board of Education may waive the requirement 10
that the opening date for students be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and may 11
allow the local board of education to set an opening date no earlier than the Monday closest to 12
August 19, to the extent that school calendars are able to provide sufficient days to accommodate 13
anticipated makeup days due to school closings. A local board may revise the scheduled closing 14
date if necessary in order to comply with the minimum requirements for instructional days or 15
instructional time. For purposes of this subsection, the term "good cause" means that schools in 16
any local school administrative unit in a county have been closed eight days per year during any 17
four of the last 10 years because of severe weather conditions, energy shortages, power failures, 18
or other emergency situations. 19
The required opening and closing dates under this subsection shall not apply to any school 20
that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or to 21
any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of 22
modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar." 23
SECTION 2. G.S. 115C-174.12(a)(4) reads as rewritten: 24
"(4) All annual assessments of student achievement adopted by the State Board of 25
Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11(c)(1) and (3) and all final exams for 26
courses shall be administered within the final 10 instructional days of the 27
school year for year-long courses and within the final five instructional days 28
of the semester for semester courses. Exceptions shall be permitted to 29
accommodate a student's individualized education program and section 504 30
(29 U.S.C. § 794) plans and for the administration of final exams for courses 31
with national or international curricula required to be held at designated times. 32
A local board of education that has implemented a school calendar that 33
concludes the fall semester prior to December 31 may administer assessments 34
prior to the conclusion of that semester." 35
SECTION 3. This act applies only to Chatham County Schools. 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 163-First Edition
SECTION 4. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with 1
the 2025-2026 school year. 2