Year-round schools in North Carolina will be allowed to keep their schedules

Legislature drops proposal that would have forced many schools to adopt a traditional schedule.

A proposal that could have forced dozens of year-round schools in North Carolina to switch to a traditional calendar is dead for now, but the tourism industry isn’t giving up on the issue.

The Raleigh News & Observer reports that a state budget compromise unveiled this week doesn’t include wording from a Senate plan that would have restricted the kinds of schools allowed to have year-round schedules.

That provision would have permitted year-round schedules only at schools using multitracks in which students are split into four rotating groups.

Families at single-track year-round schools, in which all students are on the same schedule, feared their schools would be forced to adopt a traditional calendar. North Carolina has 88 such schools.

A group called Save NC Year-Round Schools expressed relief that the change was not imposed on single-track schools.

Tourism representatives advocated for placing restrictions on year-round schools because they believe long summer breaks make it easier for families to take vacations and engage in other tourist activities.

In 2004, the state legislature exempted year-round schools when it passed a law preventing traditional-calendar schools from starting before late August and ending after mid-June.

Legislators also exempted a type of year-round schedule called modified-calendar schools but said no more could be added. But the calendar law doesn’t define what are considered year-round or modified-calendar schools.

About the Author

Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy has been writing about education for American School & University since 1999. He also has reported on schools and other topics for The Chicago Tribune, The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Times and City News Bureau of Chicago. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.

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