| School
Calendar Changes:
The General
Assembly in 2004 mandated that most public schools start
classes no earlier than August 25th and end no later
than June 10th, beginning with the 2005-06 school year.
Since implementation, this mandate has negatively impacted
students, teachers and the learning process in public
schools.
Fact
Sheet:
Impact on Students:
1. High School Reform- The calendars for
high schools, community colleges and universities are
out-of-sync by approximately two weeks. This causes
scheduling problems for high school students who take
courses on higher education campuses to assist with
college preparation and/or job-readiness. The issue
is most pronounced in the second semester, when college
courses begin before high schools complete their final
exams in mid-January. It also is hindering the high
school reform effort, which depends in large part on
the ability of high schools, community colleges and
universities to have cooperative arrangements and coordinated
calendars.
2. Testing Concerns- High school students
on the block schedules must take high-stakes end-of-course
exams in January after the winter holiday break. Many
students and teachers have complained that this timing
is not optimal for ensuring student success. Similarly,
the amount of instructional time students have before
taking Advanced Placement and International BAccalaureate
tests has decreased and has drawn concerns among some
of the state's highest achieving students.
Impact on Teachers:
1. Teacher Workday- The calendar law's reduction
in five teacher workdays and restrictions on when remaining
workdays must occur limits the time teachers have throughout
the school year to meet with parents, complete progress
reports and offer remediation to struggling students.
2. Professional Development- The reduction
in workdays limits the opportunity for schools systems
to provide professional development training that helps
teachers upgrade their skills and maintain their licensure,
thus requiring them to earn most of their renewal credits
on their own time and expense. Teachers' availability
to enroll in higher education courses also is reduced,
since their teaching schedule conflicts with their college
course schedule. These limitations are being exacerbated
by the "highly qualified" requirements of
No Child Left Behind.
State Action Requested:
The 2007 General Assembly
should take the following steps to ensure that the school
calendar facilitates rather than impedes the delivery
of a quality education to students across North Carolina:
1- Restore the ability of local school districts to
set the school calendar based on the specific needs
of their students and their communities.
2- Realign the public school calendar with the calendars
of community colleges and universities to facilitate
dual enrollment and enhance educational opportunities
for students.(Support House Bills 359 and 473
and Senate Bill 461.)
3- Reinstate the five teacher workdays eliminated by
the 2004 school calendar changes, since those days are
essential for professional development of school personnel.
(Support House Bill 360 and Senate Bill 191.)
Five
Bills Seeking Improvements in School Calendar:
H359, Restore
Flexibility to the School Calendar – Sponsored
by Reps. Larry Bell, D-Sampson, and Marvin Lucas, D-Cumberland,
the bill would restore flexibility to the school
calendar by allowing school districts to receive a new
system-wide waiver for a specific educational purpose,
as approved by the State Board of Education. The
proposed new waiver would allow an entire school district
to align its calendar with that of a community college
or university in the geographic area, to adjust the
examination schedule to benefit students, or to accommodate
Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations,
block schedules, inclement weather or other emergency
situations.
H360, Add Professional Development Days to School Calendar
– Sponsored by Reps. Larry Bell, D-Sampson;
Marvin Lucas, D-Cumberland; Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland;
and Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg; the bill would add
five professional development days for teachers and
would repeal the requirement that schools prepay teachers
a full month in August, even though most are beginning
work now no earlier than Aug. 20th. The proposal
to add the five teacher workdays is a recommendation
of the House Select Committee on the Education of Students
with Disabilities, since that committee determined that
additional time is needed in the school calendar for
teachers to receive ongoing training, especially for
effectively teaching increasing numbers of children
with disabilities.
H473/S461, Change School Starting Date –
These two identical bills would change the earliest
possible starting date for most public schools from
Aug. 25 to the second Monday in August. The legislation
is sponsored by Reps. Ray Rapp, D-Madison; Bob England,
D- Rutherford; Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg; and
Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe; in the House and by Sens.
John Snow, D-Cherokee; and Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood,
in the Senate.
S191, Increase Number of Teacher Workdays –
Sponsored by Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph, the bill
would add five professional development days for
teachers.
School Calendar Public
Hearing Scheduled for March 28th:
Dear NCASA
Members,
The House Education Committee on Tuesday postponed
a planned vote on House Bill 359, Restore Flexibility
to the School Calendar, after Rep. Bill Daughtridge,
R-Nash, who opposes changes to the calendar, called
for a full public hearing on this issue. The House Speaker
upheld the request for a hearing, which has been set
for 4-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 28 in the Legislative
Auditorium, second floor of the Legislative Building
in Raleigh.
That hearing will be packed with tourism industry representatives
and parents from the Save Our Summers group, which pushed
for the current school calendar mandate in 2004. NCASA
members must turn out in large numbers as well as bringing
to the hearing school board members, teachers, students
and parents who support efforts to restore flexibility
to the school calendar for addressing specific educational
concerns.
H359, Restore Flexibility to the School Calendar, sponsored
by Reps. Larry Bell, D-Sampson, and Marvin Lucas, D-Cumberland,
would restore flexibility to the school calendar by
allowing school districts to receive a new system-wide
waiver for a specific educational purpose, as approved
by the State Board of Education. The proposed new waiver
would allow an entire school district to align its calendar
with that of a community college or university in the
geographic area, to adjust the examination schedule
to benefit students, or to accommodate Advanced Placement
and International Baccalaureate examinations or block
schedules.
The committee heard testimony on this issue for its
entire meeting Tuesday and heard many compelling arguments
for approving H359. Those speaking in favor of the bill
included a Pamlico high school student, a Gaston high
school student, the North Carolina Teacher of the Year,
the North Carolina Superintendent of the Year, a spokesman
for the state community college system and a representative
of the North Carolina School Boards Association.
Their voices will not be enough to ensure House support
of this legislation unless every NCASA member makes
it a top priority to participate in the March 28th hearing
and to ensure that your House member knows this issue
is important to your schools and your students!
Those who would like to participate in the hearing
on March 28 should contact Katherine Joyce at 919-828-1426
or kjoyce@ncasa.net
no later than March 26 so that a list of speakers in
support of the bill can be provided to the chairmen.
NCASA staff and other bill supporters will be in the
1000 Court of the Legislative Building (right-hand side
of red stairs) handing out stickers for hearing attendees
to wear to show their support for H359. Please stop
by there before heading upstairs to the auditorium.
All others are urged to submit written comments on
this issue to Rep. Marvin Lucas at the following address:
300 N. Salisbury Street, Room 417A, Raleigh, NC 27603-5925.
These written comments will be part of the official
public hearing record that the committee will review
when it meets again to debate this issue and to vote
on it.
In addition, every NCASA member should contact your
House member(s) immediately and encourage them to support
House Bill 359. House member contact information is
at: http://www.ncasa.net/associations/2410/files/2007%20HOUSE.xls.
Thank you for your help on this important issue for
public schools.
Sincerely,
Bill McNeal
Executive Director
NC Association of School Administrators
School calendar bill
gets House approval, heads to Senate
Katherine
Joyce, NCASA Assistant Director
The State House, after two days
of debate and votes this week, approved House Bill 359,
Restore Flexibility to the School Calendar. The legislation
has been sent to the Senate Committee on Education/Public
Instruction for further debate, which Senate Leader
Marc Basnight has indicated he will not prevent even
though he personally opposes changing the school calendar
law.
The House votes, which were 74-39 and 77-35, reflect
the House’s support for enabling local school
districts to be exempted from the state-mandated school
start date of Aug. 25, if the district has a valid academic
reason for needing an earlier start. The bill would
allow districts to ask the State Board of Education
for a system-wide waiver from the start date for reasons
such as aligning the school district’s calendar
with that of a college or university, adjust the examination
schedule running a block schedule or allowing extra
instructional time before Advanced Placement and International
Baccalaureate exams. Currently, a school district may
receive a waiver for only one school or program, thereby
creating other scheduling problems and costs for the
school district and the families it serves.
Many House members this week spoke in favor of restoring
local flexibility to the school calendar as called for
in H359, co-sponsored by Reps. Larry Bell, D-Sampson,
and Marvin Lucas, D-Cumberland, and ultimately helped
ensure the legislation’s approval by the House.
In addition, lobbyists for the North Carolina Association
of School Administrators (NCASA), the North Carolina
School Boards Association, the Public School Forum,
the North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals’
Association, the Professional Educators of North Carolina
and Union County Schools have worked together for several
weeks to initiate this legislation and get it moving
forward in the House. NCASA sends a special “thank
you” to every member who made House contacts on
this legislation, including those who participated in
NCASA’s March 29th Legislative Visit Day, when
the bill received a favorable vote in the House Education
Committee to move on to this week’s floor debate.
Before approving H359, the House adopted an amendment
offered by Rep. Lucas, which clarified that the new
system-wide waivers must be for academic reasons and
to require that all school districts appoint a school
calendar committee that includes at least one county
commissioner. Two other amendments failed. Those included
a proposal by Rep. Bonner Stiller, R-Brunswick, to have
the bill not become effective until the 2008-09 school
year, and an effort by Rep. Pat McElraft, R-Carteret,
to expand the list of individuals who would have to
be included on the school district calendar committee.
The bill, if approved by the Senate and signed into
law, would become effective with the 2007-08 school
year. The legislation as amended by the House is available
at the following link: http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2007/Bills/House/HTML/H359v3.html.
To see how your House members voted on this bill, view
the following links:
Second-reading (74-39):
http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/voteHistory/RollCallVoteTranscript.pl?sSession=2007&sChamber=H&RCS=128
Third reading (77-35):
http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/voteHistory/RollCallVoteTranscript.pl?sSession=2007&sChamber=H&RCS=141
NCASA members and other supporters are to be commended
for their hard work on this important legislation, which
has passed two major hurdles in the last two weeks.
Please note, however, that much work remains to be done
before this legislation can become law to provide needed
flexibility in the school calendar.
All NCASA members should contact your Senators as quickly
as possible and urge them to support the bill and to
work to ensure that the Senate schedules a committee
debate on it soon! Contact information for all Senators
is available at: http://www.ncasa.net/associations/2410/files/2007%20SENATE.xls.
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