North Carolina Senators filed 760 bills over the first eight weeks of this legislative session; 50% were filed early last week just before the chamber’s bill filing deadline on March 25th. The NC House of Representatives’ bill filing deadline has been extended to April 10th. The bill that received the most attention last week directly impacts all North Carolina school districts.
 
SB 754: School Calendar Flexibility; A New Alternative (Sens. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham; Amy Galey, R-Alamance; and Michael Lee, R-New Hanover) leaves the current school calendar start and end dates intact but creates a new alternative option including:
 

• Allows for an opening date for students no earlier than the Monday closest to August 19 with a closing date no later than the Friday before Memorial Day.
• Requires an equal number of days in each semester.
• Eliminates the “good cause” waivers widely utilized by western NC school districts that miss significant days due to inclement weather; the waiver currently allows qualifying districts to start school no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 19.
• Stipulates that if additional instructional time is needed to comply with the minimum instructional requirements due to severe weather or other emergencies, the local school board may revise the closing date, with approval of the State Board of Education.
• Expands who has standing to sue the local board of education for not complying with the school calendar law.
• Requires the State Board to withhold the central office administration funds of any school district that is not in compliance with either this new calendar option or current calendar law requirements that would continue.
• Applies beginning with the 2025-26 school year.

 
Please send NCASA your feedback about the proposed legislation and communicate your thoughts to your Senators first and then House members before the bill moves forward, likely ahead of the May 8 bill crossover deadline.
It will also be helpful to thank bill sponsors for their first significant proposal for an earlier start to the school year and the desire of NCASA and our members to work with them to fine-tune the proposal in the best interest of students. Additional updates will be provided as developments occur.

In addition to Senate Bill 754, several other “Senate Bills to Watch” include:
 

• S55: Student Use of Wireless Communication Devices – requires governing bodies of PSUs to adopt a wireless communication policy prohibiting students from using such devices during instructional time, except in certain circumstances (made crossover – House Rules)
• S227: Eliminating "DEI" in Public Education – prohibits discriminatory practices and divisive concepts in public school units. (made crossover - House Rules)
• S389: Add Homeschools to Opportunity Scholarships - allows Opportunity Scholarships (vouchers) to be awarded to home schoolers; allocates $220 million in FY 25-26 and $240 million in FY 26-27 for this purpose. (Senate Rules)
• S441: Revive High-Need Retired Teachers Program - revives expired S.L. 2019-110 to allow educators who retired on or before 2/1/2019 to return to work full-time without earnings cap in high-needs schools, defined as either is, or was at any time since 7/1/2017, a Title I school or received a School Performance Grade of D or F. (Senate Rules - partially addresses NCASA priority)
• S470: End Block Scheduling - requires local boards of education to have a class schedule where no period or subject runs for more than 50 minutes of instructional time per day. (Senate Rules)
• S598: Change to Low-Performing Schools Designation – revises the definition of “low-performing school” to exclude those that receive a School Performance Grade of D or F but also meet expected growth. (Senate Rules – addresses NCASA priority)
• S689: 2025 Charter Schools Review Board Omnibus - requires all rules or policies adopted by the State Board of Education regarding charter schools to first be adopted by the Charter Schools Review Board; instead of making recommendations to the State Board, the Review Board would propose, recommend, and approve policies along with rules regarding all aspects of charter school operation (Senate Rules)