What happens when a local school board and the North Carolina General Assembly disagree over what is best for students?

Henderson County Board of Public Education is hoping the answer is “nothing,” after it voted Oct. 10 to declare its intention to break state law and start school two weeks early next school year. The move, chairman Blair Craven said, is not “to break rules just to break rules,” but to make Henderson County Schools’ calendar mirror college calendars.

“While I cannot condone anyone breaking the law, I have a high degree of sympathy for the Henderson County School Board to make improvements to the school calendar,” State Sen. Chuck Edwards said. “I can see why after their state government has repeatedly failed to listen to their needs, the school board is taking matters into their own hands.”

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Currently, state law says a school calendar start date can be no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26, unless a school has a special waiver. This start date pushes the end of the first semester to mid-January, making it incompatible with college calendars and, according to Craven, forcing teachers to have lengthy reviews before final exams to catch students up after winter break.

“This isn't about wanting to keep kids in school longer, it is about what's best especially for our high school kids. This doesn't really affect our middle schools, elementary schools that much, but for our high school students that are trying to get college credits, who are trying to maybe graduate early, get off to college early or start working early, this matters,” Craven said.

Because high school first semester ends weeks after college second semester has already begun, students who want to dual-enroll or graduate early cannot enroll in college classes in the second semester. By pushing back the start date, the board hopes to end the first semester before winter break.

Next year, the earliest day school can lawfully begin is Aug. 28, two weeks after the Aug. 14 start date the board directed Superintendent Mark Garrett to base 2023-2024’s calendar on. The board does not wish to extend the school year, Craven said, as summer break is also set to begin two weeks earlier.

“We don't need somebody four, five hours away telling us what's best for us here in Henderson County,” Craven said.

Now, the superintendent will oversee two advisory councils composed of teachers and parents that will debate the exact dates on the future calendar and bring it later this year for a first reading before the council. The board has until March 2023 to submit calendars to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

No consequences for law breaking

Other school districts across the state have been considering the change, too. Some, including nearby Rutherford County, started early this school year. So far, no county has faced consequences from the state for their unlawful calendars.

“The State Board does not have a written policy for what steps to take if an LEA (local educational agency) does not comply with calendar laws. The calendar law itself does not provide for any sanction and the State Board and Department of Public Instruction are therefore limited in their enforcement authority and ability on this issue,” Allison Schafer, general counsel to the State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction, said in an email.

In June, the State Board of Education compiled a report for the General Assembly on the start and end dates of all North Carolina schools. Since that report, NCDPI spokesperson Todd Silberman said there has been “no change by the legislature or direction to the State Board of Education or the Department of Public Instruction” about non-compliant local school boards.

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During the 2020-2021 school year, calendar restrictions were waived due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Craven said, and Henderson County Schools implemented the calendar it wants for the 2023-2024 school year.

“It was great. We were able to begin our semester on time. We were able to link up with our community colleges. All of the leaders … really wanted to have more connectivity with our local community colleges. We do as well,” Craven said.

With restrictions back in place, the board has been discussing breaking state calendar statutes for the past two years, but without “the movement that we've had this year,” Craven said the board did not feel comfortable because it did not know what would happen to those who disobeyed.

“There were counties talking about it but hadn't really implemented it. What would happen if you did go against that? Would they keep a superintendent's pay? Would they reduce funding? We don't want to do anything that's going to hurt our kids,” Craven said. “As we got further and further into this, there are three or four school systems that are doing this exact schedule this school year, and nothing's happened.”

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Even if the state does not enforce the calendar law, Schafer said breaking it opens school boards up to lawsuits from individuals or groups looking to overturn the calendar or seek damages.

“The repercussions for failing to follow the law can go beyond any possible actions by the State Board of Education or Department of Public Instruction,” she said. “We encourage our local boards of education and local charter schools to stay within the legal boundaries imposed on them. Failure to do so can place them in legal peril.”

Craven said he is “not super concerned” with state retaliation or potential lawsuits.

“I think it's just our job to do what we think is best for our students, and when something else happens, we’ll react to it,” he said.

Pushback to calendar change

“I have been frustrated that due to a long-standing and illogical rule in the senate we have been unable to help (local school boards) legally accomplish calendar goals that would better serve our students,” Edwards said.

The “long-standing and illogical rule,” Edwards said, is that no school calendar bill will be heard in the Senate. This rule was created by “frustrated leaders” after “enormous requests by every school board wanting to do their own thing over the years.”

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The tourism industry is to blame, Craven said, as before it began lobbying, the first semester ended before winter break. Part of the original push to change the law was from the North Carolina Youth Camp Association, but he said after the board spoke with the association, it agreed that the calendar put forward by the board was acceptable.

“Actually, we have a letter that says that they are okay with us starting the third week or the second week of August, that it wouldn't impact their camps because we are not going to be keeping kids into June 10, like we do now. We will be letting them out in about the third week of May, and they will be able to start their summer breaks even sooner,” Craven said.

The North Carolina School Board Association has advocated for changes to the state’s school calendars restrictions since at least 2004, according to Executive Director Leanne Winner. Language expected to be adopted this year by the board’s delegate assembly notes that North Carolina is one of only two states to have mandated start and end dates to the school year.

“While NCSBA is not in a position to comment on an individual school board’s calendar, we have long held the position that local boards should be able to design a calendar that meets the educational needs of the students in their school district,” Winner said.

Christian Smith is a reporter for the USA Today Network. Questions or Comments? Contact him at RCSmith@gannett.com or (828) 274-2222.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Henderson County Schools may break calendar law, not expecting lawsuit