Union County wants to start school year earlier than North Carolina allows. Can it?
The Union County Board of Education will consider two options for the 2023-24 calendar: one that complies with state law and one that defies it.
Board members asked staff last week to develop a draft of the 2023-24 calendar with the first day of school falling on Aug. 9. The last day of school would be May 22, 2024.
“I think we should do it. (For the parents), this would mean next summer would be shorter than normal because we would be going back to school earlier than we normally do,” said Kathy Heintel, who was unanimously named chair of the board after winning her reelection bid.
If the Union County board opts for the early start — it’s meeting 8 a.m. Tuesday — it would join a growing number of local districts opting to start the school year earlier than what state law allows.
North Carolina’s calendar law requires most districts to wait until late August to bring students back. Districts can’t start earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end no later than the Friday closest to June 11. Even if a waiver is approved, the start date can’t be earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 19, according to state law.
Protecting NC tourism
The requirement is meant to protect the tourism industry, but it’s an unpopular mandate among many school districts. One argument in favor of a change: an earlier start would allow educators to give first semester exams before winter break.
“Other districts have taken this lead and it allows them to conclude end-of-semester testing and classes before the Christmas break,” said board member Gary Sides, who made the motion to have the district draw up the alternative 2023-24 calendar. “As a parent of a high school student I can personally attest to the learning loss because I can promise you my son isn’t taking his Chromebook with him to the beach over Christmas break.”
Legislators from across North Carolina for years have tried to change the state law — some specific to individual counties and others regional or statewide.
This year, three districts near Charlotte started school early: Gaston, Cleveland and Rutherford counties. The Cabarrus County School Board this year unanimously approved an early start to the 2023-24 year. Rowan-Salisbury Schools has a special status that allows it to start early.
If Union County, the sixth-largest district by student population, moves forward with an early start, it would be the largest in the state to defy state law.
“There are some districts that did this last year,” Sides said, “and nothing happened. Academically, it’s the right thing to do.”
A law with no teeth
Vince Chelena, executive director of the North Carolina Travel Industry Association, told The Charlotte Observer the law couldn’t be any more clear about when schools can start the academic year.
“We hope that Union County Schools, who are responsible for educating our children and instilling character and civic mindedness, will choose not to break North Carolina law,” Chelena said. “If Union County Schools want to change this law or any other law, they can request it from the legislature. However, to brazenly break state law is wrong and teaches students, who are our future leaders, a detrimental lesson.”
Chelena says the NCTIA will work with school systems to advocate for tests prior to the December break, even using remote learning when necessary and “forgiving inclement weather days.”
“We renew that offer again as the 2023 General Assembly is set to begin in January,” Chelena said.
Districts are standing up against the state law, which was passed in 2004, partly because it doesn’t have ramifications.
Allison Schafer, general counsel to the State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction, says the state board does not have a written policy for what to do if a district does not comply with calendar laws.
The calendar law itself does not provide for any sanction, so officials are limited in their enforcement authority, she said. But she also reminds school board members and superintendents they take an oath of office promising to obey all state and federal laws. Failure to do so can place them in “legal peril,” Schafer said.
“They are responsible for complying with the laws as written, regardless of whether they agree with them,” Schafer said. “The repercussions for failing to follow the law can go beyond any possible actions by the State Board of Education or Department of Public Instruction. For example, impacted individuals or groups can bring lawsuits against a local board to require the board to comply with the law and/or seek damages.”
‘No calendar law is perfect’
One draft of the 2023-2024 UCPS calendar has students starting school Monday, Aug, 28. The last day of school would be Friday, June 7, 2024. The end of the semester would fall on Jan. 24.
Sides wants district staff to include in the draft calendar the first semester concluding Dec. 14, before the holiday break.
The John Locke Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Raleigh, is in favor of allowing school districts to get their own school calendar because they’re the most in tune with the dynamics of local communities, says Robert Luebke, director of the Locke Foundation’s Center for Effective Education.
“No calendar law is perfect,” Luebke said. “However, local communities stand a better chance of developing an acceptable calendar than one generated by education officials in Raleigh, who are not likely to have knowledge of or sensitivities to important local concerns.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Union County wants to start school year earlier than North Carolina allows. Can it?."
