25% of NC districts defy school calendar law. Will ruling in favor of tourism deter them?
A quarter of North Carolina’s school districts are defying the state’s school calendar law, despite a judge striking down the school schedule in a popular coastal tourism area.
A report approved Thursday by the State Board of Education shows 29 of North Carolina’s 115 school districts planned to start classes in early to mid-August this year without state permission. That list includes Carteret County, whose 2024-25 school calendar was declared illegal on Wednesday by a state judge.
It’s unclear whether the ruling will slow down the growing resistance to the calendar law.
“It’s disturbing that so many school districts are breaking the law but what yesterday’s ruling demonstrates is that any parent can challenge an illegal calendar and the district is left scrambling to set a compliant calendar,” Vince Chelena, executive director of the North Carolina Travel Industry Association, said in an email Thursday. “That’s a risk these districts shouldn’t be taking.”
The Carteret County school board will meet June 13 to discuss whether to appeal the ruling. It may adopt a schedule to comply with the calendar law to avoid adding uncertainty for families. Carteret is home to popular summer beach tourism areas such as Atlantic Beach, Beaufort, Emerald Isle and Morehead City.
Law only covers traditional public schools
State lawmakers have regulated school calendars for 20 years, since the tourism industry raised concerns about classes starting earlier in August.
The state’s traditional public schools can’t open sooner than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 or close later than the Friday closest to June 11. The calendar law doesn’t apply to other public schools, such as year-round schools, early college high schools and charter schools.
The calendar law also doesn’t apply to private schools, including those that accept voucher students from the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program.
“Traditional public schools are the only schools subject to the calendar statute and its late August start date,” Carteret County said in its statement after the ruling. “This forces traditional high schools to either end their semesters in mid-January after the winter break, or have a significantly shortened fall semester. Neither are ideal for our students’ academic achievement, yet they are our only practical choices.”
More districts defy calendar law
Efforts to modify the law have failed, resulting in a growing number of districts ignoring the requirement. Most of he districts defying the law plan to open classes the week of Aug. 12.
Many of the districts defying the law are smaller ones.
The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system is the largest district not following the calendar law. It has 53,000 students and is the fourth-largest district in the state.
Only 65% of the state’s traditional public schools follow the calendar law, according to an analysis of the state report by WFAE. The other schools are either defying the law or received an exemption from the state.
“The law should be amended to allow for an earlier start date even if limits are imposed,” Don Phipps, superintendent of Caldwell County Schools, said at Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting. “But local boards of education should be allowed to choose the best start dates for the school systems they represent.”
Caldwell County does follow the calendar law.
Lawmakers disagree over punishment
There’s no enforcement mechanism under the calendar law to ensure compliance.
Senate leader Phil Berger has previously said he wants to enforce the calendar law. The Senate has rejected multiple bills passed by the House to provide school calendar flexibility.
But House Speaker Tim Moore has previously said he’s not in favor of punishing districts that violate the calendar law.
Due to the legislative disagreement, enforcement has fallen on individual residents who’ve been willing to sue school districts for not following the calendar law. The Carteret lawsuit was brought by three businesses that benefit from the tourism industry — Atlantic Beach Surf Shop, Marsh’s Surf Shop and Sanitary Fish Market & Restaurant.
The Union County school board reversed its decision to defy the calendar law this school year after it was sued.
Who will enforce the law?
Raleigh attorney Mitch Armbruster represented both the Union County and Carteret County parents and business owners who sued their respective school districts.
“It should not be the job of the public to have to sue their school boards for not following the law,” Armbruster said in an email Thursday.
Armbruster said he’s been contacted by parents and teachers in a number of districts since the Union County lawsuit. He said many of the people who’ve contacted him fear retaliation against their children and their jobs if they were to sue.
“Now that there’s a court ruling that a calendar that starts before Aug. 26 is void, I don’t see why children and parents can’t refuse to attend school in any district without a waiver that starts before Aug. 26,” Armbruster said. “They can’t be disciplined for it. Obviously that’s not an ideal situation, and many parents (as would I) would still send our kids to school because they need to be there for the start of the year.”
Database editor David Raynor contributed to this report.
Defying the state
A report by the State Board of Education said these North Carolina school districts planned to start classes in early to mid-August this year without state permission:
Cabarrus County
Carteret County
Cleveland County
Clinton
Elkin City
Gaston County
Granville County
Halifax County
Harnett County
Henderson County
Hyde County
Iredell-Statesville
Kannapolis
Lee County
Lexington
Lincoln County
Mooresville
Mount Airy
Person County
Polk County
Rutherford County
Sampson County
Stanly County
Stokes County
Surry County
Warren County
Washington County
Winston Salem-Forsyth
Yadkin County
