Statewide school schedule isn't going away

Published May 7, 2015

Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, May 5, 2015.

It's almost over. Time for the kids to sing that little ditty about no more pencils, no more books. Time for older students to get summer jobs and parents to book a summer vacation trip.

That's true for everyone, because all of North Carolina's school systems are on the same calendar. But as happens in every legislative session since a statewide calendar was adopted 11 years ago, groups want to let local school systems set their own calendars again.

In some districts that would mean classes starting in early August, playing havoc with vacations and with the economy in tourism regions where businesses and families depend on young workers every summer. That's a big reason why the statewide calendar became law.

Senate leader Phil Berger says the current system is working just fine and he's not inclined to change it. This pretty much means the calendar-reform effort is dead.

Senate Rules Chairman Tom Apodaca points out that schools can choose to open 185 traditional days or just hit 1,025 hours of instruction on any schedule. That's flexibility enough, he says.

http://www.fayobserver.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-statewide-school-schedule-isn-t-going-away/article_a9f9be37-b745-50bf-a48e-7a34d1938e44.html