GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

S	1 

SENATE BILL 977*

Short Title:  School Team Authority/Sch. Calendar.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senators Carter, Garrou; Metcalf and Robinson.

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Referred to:  Education/Higher Education.

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April 15, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ENHANCE THE AUTHORITY OF THE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TEAM WITH REGARD TO THE SCHOOL CALENDAR.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 115C-84.2(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	School Calendar. – Each local board of education shall adopt a school calendar consisting of 220 days all of which shall fall within the fiscal year. A school calendar shall include the following:
(1)	A minimum of 180 days and 1,000 hours of instruction covering at least nine calendar months. The local board shall designate when the 180 instructional days shall occur. The number of instructional hours in an instructional day may vary according to local board policy and does not have to be uniform among the schools in the administrative unit. Local boards may approve school improvement plans that include days with varying amounts of instructional time. If school is closed early due to inclement weather, the day and the scheduled amount of instructional hours may count towards the required minimum to the extent allowed by State Board policy. The school calendar shall include a plan for making up days and instructional hours missed when schools are not opened due to inclement weather.
(2)	A minimum of 10 annual vacation leave days.
(3)	The same or an equivalent number of legal holidays occurring within the school calendar as those designated by the State Personnel Commission for State employees.
(4)	Five days, as designated by the local board, for use as teacher workdays, additional instructional days, or other lawful purposes. A local board may delegate to the individual schools some or all of the five days to schedule under subdivision (5) of this subsection. A local board may schedule different purposes for different personnel on any given day and is not required to schedule the same dates for all personnel.
(5)	The remaining days shall be scheduled by each individual school by the school improvement team in consultation with the principal. Days may be scheduled for any of the purposes allowed under subdivision (4) of this subsection. Days may be scheduled for different purposes for different personnel and there is no requirement to schedule the same dates for all personnel.
Local boards and individual schools are encouraged to use the calendar flexibility in order to meet the annual performance standards set by the State Board. Local boards of education shall consult with parents and the employed public school personnel in the development of the school calendar.
Local boards and individual schools shall give teachers at least 14 calendar days' notice before requiring a teacher to work instead of taking vacation leave on days scheduled in accordance with subdivision (4)	or (5) of this subsection.  A teacher may elect to waive this notice requirement for one or more such days."
Section 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1999, and applies to all school years beginning with the 1999-2000 school year.