North Carolina Senate Leader Phil Berger has co-sponsored a bill to give public schools more flexibility in setting their academic calendars.
The state’s restriction on school calendars has long been a bone of contention pitting state lawmakers and the tourism industry against school boards and families, regardless of their political persuasion.
Berger told reporters this week that he sees the bill as a compromise that would also create better enforcement measures to reign in school boards that have intentionally broken the law in recent years.
Related story: 25% of NC public school boards have voted to defy the state calendar law
“I think it represents a significant compromise on the part of the travel and tourism folks,” Berger said. “It is a bill that should address what I understand is the excuse that we hear from the schools: that they want to align with community colleges, they want to do (final) exams before Christmas break.”
Current state law requires schools to start in late August, specifically no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26. That pushes the fall semester well past students’ winter breaks and the spring semester into June. School board members across the political spectrum often complain that the law inconveniences students and families.
Senate Bill 754 would let districts start school up to a week earlier than current law allows, by pushing the earliest date for the first day of school to the Monday closest to Aug. 19. It would also allow districts to end the Friday before Memorial Day. School boards would have an option to change their calendar or abide by the current guidelines.
The bill also comes with teeth — it would require the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to investigate school districts that disobey the law and withhold funding for the district’s central office. Plus, the bill would authorize any North Carolina resident or business owner to sue their local school board if a district is in violation.
Democrats started the school calendar controversy. After decades defending the law, could Republicans “put it to rest”?
The current school calendar law was passed in 2004 by Democratic lawmakers — when they held the majority in the North Carolina General Assembly — with the intent of supporting the state’s tourism industry. Businesses that cater to summer tourists argue the law helps North Carolina families engage in summer tourism as either consumers or workers.
Ever since Republicans gained control of the state legislature in 2011, their leadership has also maintained the law, despite less powerful lawmakers perpetually filing bills to change it.
Last year, a quarter of school boards defied the law, but only two — Union County Schools and Carteret County Schools — have faced lawsuits in recent years.
Berger said Sen. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, Randolph, had conversations with tourism stakeholders and the North Carolina School Boards Association while drafting the bill. NCSBA said it is currently reviewing the bill and reaching out to its members for feedback.
Berger’s support signals that adjusting the law is now a priority for the Republican majority.
“I’m hopeful that we can just put this to rest,” Berger said.
