Dozens of NC school boards approved calendars starting earlier than law permits

About 30 North Carolina public school systems have reported a calendar to state officials that starts earlier next year than state school calendar law allows, according to a new state report.

Those school districts are largely concentrated in central and western portions of the state, as business and tourism groups in the eastern part of the state have favored the later start dates established in the law. But dozens of school districts have pushed back against the law, deciding for years now to set the calendar they want to, largely in an effort to end the first semester for winter break.

"Our Board firmly believes that this calendar best meets student needs as it allows us to have equivalent semesters where students complete testing before the winter break," Granville County Schools spokeswoman Courtney Currin told WRAL News.

Granville has started early for years now, and its county commissioners have passed a resolution supporting it, noting that fall sports practices must start in early August regardless, and that an earlier start to the second semester would allow students more time to prepare for national Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.

The 2004 law requires traditional public schools to start school no later than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end school no later than the Friday closest to June 11. Next school year, that would be Aug. 24 through June 11, which is a Friday.

Charter schools don't have to follow the law, and the law has exemptions for year-round schools, certain low-performing schools and early colleges. School districts can receive "good cause" waivers for their calendars if they are prone to bad weather requiring frequent makeup days, and those waivers tend to be concentrated in the state's most winter-worn counties.

Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, introduced a bill last year that would have allowed schools to start one week earlier than the current calendar law, on the Monday closest to Aug. 19. It also would have punished schools for violating it, stripping them of funds for central office staffing and supplies.

Dozens of House members signed onto a different school calendar bill that would have gutted the state's ability to dictate start and end dates entirely.

Neither bill has been heard in the other chamber.

In a news release announcing the Senate bill in March 2025, Berger suggested the proposal was a compromise.

"This balances the desire of some school districts to start the school year earlier while still supporting our local businesses dependent on summer tourism," Berger said at the time. "We must take the appropriate steps to hold school districts that break the law accountable."

The new report from DPI, which is set to be presented to the State Board of Education on Wednesday, is based on district reports to the department by April 1. It's unclear whether any school boards have since changed their calendars.

The 2004 law has been a sore point for school leaders since it was passed and has led to a rebellion against it that's largely gone unchecked beyond warning letters or the occasional protest from a family against the earlier calendar.

In Carteret County out east, the school district, not long ago, opted for a start date of Aug. 13 and was sued by families and business owners, ultimately forcing the district to set a calendar that complied with the law.

Coastal counties are largely following the calendar law next year.

Granville County Schools says it hasn't faced any challenges from parents for starting early.

The same goes for Person County Schools, which is once again starting early. In a statement to WRAL News, the school system, like Granville, cited wanting to end the fall semester before winter break.

They noted many of the local charter schools start earlier, as well.

And on top of that, Person County Schools says the earlier calendar helps them save money.

It aligns with the calendars of the community college system. If it didn't align, the district would have to pay about $30,000 for buses to transport students to the community college when the school system is not in session.

But on the coast, business owners and tourism leaders say they want to start school later so that the businesses have sufficient labor during late August's warm days that attract more beach visitors than in May and early June. And a later start to the school year can keep North Carolina families trickling over the coast during that time, too.

About two-fifths of the coast's overnight visitors come from North Carolina, according to Visit North Carolina. About a quarter come from Virginia and Pennsylvania, where schools start in the later days of August.