Twice in 2023, members of the North Carolina House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed two bills addressing flexibility for school calendar start dates, but those bills are still awaiting approval from the North Carolina Senate before they become law.
Rep. Jake Johnson told the Times-News on Jan. 14 when the House goes back in session in the spring, they will attempt to get those bills passed once again.
“It is my understanding that the school calendar flexibility bills that House colleagues and I filed and passed out of the House in the long session are still sitting in the Senate,” he said.
The Henderson County Board of Education voted on Jan. 8 to start school two weeks before the state law mandates for both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years. For the 2024-25 school year, the first day of school will be Aug. 12.
Many school districts across the state did the same, with some starting two weeks early and some a week early for the 2023-24 school year. Johnson said as for now until the bills pass on the school calendar flexibility, districts that decide to do that for the 2024-25 school year will once again be breaking the law.