North Carolina § 115C-84 - 2. School calendar.

§ 115C-84. 2. School calendar.

School Calendar. - Each local board of education shall adopt a school calendar consisting of 215 days all of which shall fall within the fiscal year. A school calendar shall include the following: A minimum of 185 days or 1,025 hours of instruction covering at least nine calendar months. The local board shall designate when the instructional days shall occur. The number of instructional hours in an instructional day may vary according to local board policy and does not have to be uniform among the schools in the administrative unit. Local boards may approve school improvement plans that include days with varying amounts of instructional time. If school is closed early due to inclement weather, the day and the scheduled amount of instructional hours may count towards the required minimum to the extent allowed by State Board policy. The school calendar shall include a plan for making up days and instructional hours missed when schools are not opened due to inclement weather. Repealed by Session Laws 2004-180, s. 1, effective August 9, 2004. A minimum of 10 annual vacation leave days. The same or an equivalent number of legal holidays occurring within the school calendar as those designated by the State Human Resources Commission for State employees. Repealed by Session Laws 2011-145, s. 7.29(a), effective July 1, 2011. The remaining days scheduled by the local board in consultation with each school's principal for use as teacher workdays, additional instructional days, or other lawful purposes. Before consulting with the local board, each principal shall work with the school improvement team to determine the days to be scheduled and the purposes for which they should be scheduled. Days may be scheduled and planned for different purposes for different personnel and there is no requirement to schedule the same dates for all personnel. In order to make up days for school closing because of inclement weather, the local board may designate any of the days in this subdivision as additional make-up days to be scheduled after the last day of student attendance. Report on School Start and Release Times. - As part of the reporting requirements under the Uniform Education Reporting System pursuant to G.S. 115C-12(18), each local board of education shall report to the State Board of Education on the start time and release time for each school under control of the local board of education. For the purposes of this subsection, "start time" shall mean the time of day when academic classes begin for the majority of students enrolled in the school, and "release time" shall mean the time of day when academic classes end for the majority of students enrolled in the school. Each local board of education shall also identify and include additional information in the report regarding any schools that have a start time or release time that does not conform to the definitions set forth in this subsection. Report on School Start and End Dates. - As part of the reporting requirements under the Uniform Education Reporting System pursuant to G.S. 115C-12(18), annually by April 1 each local board of education shall report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education on the start and end dates of the instructional calendar for students for the next academic year. The local board of education shall report this information for each school under the control of that board and shall identify the statutory exception authorizing an earlier start date for all schools that start earlier than the Monday closest to August 26. The State Board of Education shall report annually no later than June 15 to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the start and end dates for instructional calendars for the next academic year reported by local boards of education as provided in subsection (a2) of this section. The report shall identify all schools that start earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and the statutory exception for the earlier start date. Limitations. - The following limitations apply when developing the school calendar: The total number of teacher workdays for teachers employed for a 10-month term shall not exceed 195 days. The calendar shall include at least 42 consecutive days when teacher attendance is not required unless: (i) the school is a year-round school; or (ii) the teacher is employed for a term in excess of 10 months. At the request of the local board of education or of the principal of a school, a teacher may elect to work on one of the 42 days when teacher attendance is not required in lieu of another scheduled workday. School shall not be held on Sundays. Veterans Day shall be a holiday for all public school personnel and for all students enrolled in the public schools. The month of November shall be designated "Veterans' History Awareness Month." Emergency Conditions. - During any period of emergency in any section of the State where emergency conditions make it necessary, the State Board of Education may order general, and if necessary, extended recesses or adjournment of the public schools. Opening and Closing Dates. - Local boards of education shall determine the dates of opening and closing the public schools under subdivision (a)(1) of this section. Except for year-round schools, the opening date for students shall be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26, and the closing date for students shall be no later than the Friday closest to June 11. On a showing of good cause, the State Board of Education may waive the requirement that the opening date for students be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and may allow the local board of education to set an opening date no earlier than the Monday closest to August 19, to the extent that school calendars are able to provide sufficient days to accommodate anticipated makeup days due to school closings. A local board may revise the scheduled closing date if necessary in order to comply with the minimum requirements for instructional days or instructional time. For purposes of this subsection, the term "good cause" means that schools in any local school administrative unit in a county have been closed eight days per year during any four of the last 10 years because of severe weather conditions, energy shortages, power failures, or other emergency situations. Nothing in this section prohibits a local board of education from offering supplemental or additional educational programs or activities outside the calendar adopted under this section. Definitions. - The following definitions shall apply in this section: Reserved. Reserved. Reserved. Reserved. Year-round school. - A school with a single- or multi-track instructional calendar to provide instructional days throughout the entire school calendar year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, by utilizing at least one of the following plans: A plan dividing students into four groups and requiring each group to be in school for assigned and staggered quarters each school calendar year. A plan providing students be scheduled to attend 45 instructional days followed by 15 days of vacation, repeated throughout the school calendar year. A plan dividing the school calendar year into five nine-week sessions of classes and requiring each student to attend four assigned and staggered sessions out of the five nine-week sessions to complete the student's instructional year. Local boards and individual schools are encouraged to use the calendar flexibility in order to meet the annual performance standards set by the State Board. Local boards of education shall consult with parents and the employed public school personnel in the development of the school calendar. Local boards shall designate at least two days scheduled under subdivision (5) of this subsection as days on which teachers may take accumulated vacation leave. Local boards may designate the remaining days scheduled in subdivision (5) of this subsection as days on which teachers may take accumulated vacation leave, but local boards shall give teachers at least 14 calendar days' notice before requiring a teacher to work instead of taking vacation leave on any of these days. A teacher may elect to waive this notice requirement for one or more of these days. The required opening and closing dates under this subsection shall not apply to any school that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or to any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar. History (1997-443, s. 8.38(c); 1998-212, s. 9.18(b); 1999-373, s. 1; 1999-463, Ex. Sess., s. 7A; 2003-8, s. 1; 2003-131, s. 1; 2004-180, s. 1; 2004-203, s. 44; 2006-264, s. 25; 2010-10, s. 1(a); 2010-114, s. 1; 2011-93, s. 1; 2011-145, ss. 7.13(c), (d), 7.29(a); 2011-391, s. 14(b); 2012-142, s. 7A.11(a); 2012-145, s. 2.5; 2013-382, s. 9.1(c); 2016-94, s. 8.24(a); 2017-65, s. 1; 2019-165, s. 4(a); 2020-81, s. 10(a).) Local Modification. - (As to instructional day missed at McGee's Crossroads Elementary School on May 11, 2012, due to break in a water line) Johnston County Board of Education: 2012-5, s. 1. School Calendar Pilot Program. - Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7.4, provides: "The State Board of Education shall establish a school calendar pilot program in the Wilkes County Schools, the Montgomery County Schools, and the Stanly County Schools. The purpose of the pilot program is to determine whether and to what extent a local school administrative unit can save money during this extreme fiscal crisis by consolidating the school calendar. "Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-84.2(a)(1) , the school calendar for the 2012-2013 calendar year for the pilot school systems shall include a minimum of 185 days or 1025 hours of instruction covering at least nine calendar months. "If the local board of education in a pilot school system adds instructional hours to previously scheduled days under this section, the local school administrative unit is deemed to have a minimum of 185 days of instruction, and teachers employed for a 10-month term are deemed to have been employed for the days being made up and shall be compensated as if they had worked the days being made up. "The State Board of Education shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by March 15, 2013, on the administration of the pilot program, cost savings realized by it, and its impact on student achievement." Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2004-180, s. 3, provides: "For certified and noncertified employees employed on or after the effective date of this act [August 9, 2004], the annual rate of pay beginning with the 2005-2006 school year shall not be reduced as the result of this act. Furthermore, nothing in this act shall be construed to change the pay cycle for noncertified employees. The State Board of Education shall report annually to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on local compliance with this section." Session Laws 2004-180, s. 5, provides: "Nothing in this act shall require the General Assembly to appropriate funds to implement it or require a local school administrative unit to spend additional funds to implement it." For prior similar provisions, see Session Laws 2009-451, s. 7.40, as amended by Session Laws 2010-31, s. 7.10, and Session Laws 2011-145, s. 7.17(a) and (b). The preamble of Session Laws 2011-257, provides: "Whereas, the Constitution of North Carolina reads as follows: 'The people have a right to the privilege of education, and it is the duty of the State to guard and maintain that right'; and "Whereas, the length of the school year in North Carolina, like many other states in the United States, is currently a minimum of 180 teaching days, and 1,000 hours, and funds for public education in the State are based on the length of the school term; and "Whereas, North Carolina law does not prohibit school districts from providing more than 180 days of instruction time; and "Whereas, the seminal education report 'A Nation at Risk' noted in 1984 that the 180-day school calendar had become outdated and could not sufficiently supply the kind of instructional time that American students needed in a world of increasing complexity; and "Whereas, 180 instructional days consistently puts the United States at or near the bottom of other industrialized nations, according to rankings of instructional time done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); and "Whereas, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) studies show that the average time spent in the classroom by students in participating nations is 193, translating into a 156-day instructional day gap for American students over a 12-year academic career, or nearly one full school year. "Whereas, North Carolina's graduation rate continues to need to improve; and "Whereas, some experts contend that the current length of the school year does not afford ample time to equip young North Carolinians with the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in an increasingly competitive and global workplace; and "Whereas, studies document that approximately two-thirds of the grade 9 achievement gap between lower and higher income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities during the elementary school years; and "Whereas, studies have documented that most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer break; and "Whereas, low-income students also lose more than two months in reading achievement, despite the fact that their middle-class peers make slight gains; and "Whereas, children lose more than academic knowledge over the summer. Most children, particularly children at high risk of obesity, gain weight more rapidly when they are out of school during summer break; and "Whereas, students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the summer; and "Whereas, North Carolina continues to spend precious resources on the remediation of its students; and "Whereas, the State of North Carolina should explore the feasibility of extending its school year and potentially being a model for the nation; Now, therefore," Session Laws 2011-257, s. 1, provides: "The General Assembly reaffirms its intent that every child in North Carolina deserves an opportunity to a sound basic education." Session Laws 2011-257, s. 7, provides: "The Commission may make an interim report of its findings and recommendations to the 2012 Regular Session of the 2011 General Assembly and shall make a final report of its findings and recommendations to the 2013 General Assembly. The Commission shall terminate on December 31, 2012, or the filing of its final report, whichever occurs first." Session Laws 2011-391, s. 14(b), repealed Session Laws 2011-145, s. 7.13(c) and (d), which would have amended this section by deleting the fourth sentence of subdivision (a)(1) and the second sentence of subdivision (a)(5). Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7A.6(a), provides: "To fully provide for the expansion of five additional instructional days in accordance with S.L. 2011-145, Section 7.29 for those days for which a local school administrative unit has not requested and received a waiver from the State Board of Education for the 2012-2013 school year: "(1) Of the funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, the sum of forty thousand one hundred sixty-eight dollars ($40,168) shall be used to increase the amount appropriated for the noninstructional support personnel allotment. "(2) Of the funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, the sum of three hundred fifty-one thousand four hundred sixty-nine dollars ($351,469) shall be used to increase the amount appropriated for the transportation allotment." Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7A.11(e), as added by Session Laws 2012-145, s. 2.5, provides: "Notwithstanding the calendar requirements of G.S. 115C-84.2 , a local board of education may adopt a calendar consisting of a minimum of 185 days or 1,025 hours of instruction covering at least nine calendar months for certain schools within the local school administrative unit that meet all of the following requirements: "(1) Are located in a local school administrative unit that borders another state and serves a minimum of 135,000 students. "(2) Participate in a public-private partnership with private monetary investment in the school and local school administrative unit for the purpose of eliminating the educational gap and ensuring that all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and life through a program that requires excellent principals and effective teachers, extended learning time opportunities, access to and effective use of technology, and community support through engaged parents, motivated mentors, and community connections. "(3) Belong to a feeder pattern that also participate in the same public-private partnership and includes not more than nine schools. "State funding shall not be used by the local board of education to fund any instructional days in excess of 185 included in a school calendar adopted as provided in this section. Local and private funds may be used to fund additional instructional days in the school calendar. The requirements of G.S. 115C-84.2 shall not apply to a school calendar approved as provided in this section." Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7A.11(f), as added by Session Laws 2012-145, s 2.5 made the 2012 amendments to this section applicable beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. Session Laws 2012-142, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2012.'" Session Laws 2012-142, s. 27.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2012-2013 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2012-2013 fiscal year." Session Laws 2012-142, s. 27.7, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2013-382, s. 9.1(b), provides: "The following entities and positions created by Chapter 126 of the General Statutes are hereby renamed by this act: "(1) The State Personnel Commission is renamed the 'North Carolina Human Resources Commission.' "(2) The Office of State Personnel is renamed the 'North Carolina Office of State Human Resources.' "(3) The State Personnel Director is renamed the 'Director of the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources.'" Session Laws 2013-382, s. 9.1(c), provides: "Modification of References. - The Revisor of Statutes shall delete any references in the General Statutes to the State Personnel Act, State Personnel Commission, the State Personnel Director, and the Office of State Personnel (or any derivatives thereof) and substitute references to the North Carolina Human Resources Act, the State Human Resources Commission, the Director of the Office of State Human Resources, and the Office of Human Resources (or the appropriate derivative thereof) to effectuate the renaming set forth in this section wherever conforming changes are necessary." Session Laws 2013-382, s. 9.2, effective August 21, 2013, provides: "No action or proceeding pending on the effective date of this section, brought by or against the State Personnel Commission, the Director of the Office of State Personnel, or the Office of State Personnel, shall be affected by any provision of this section, but the same may be prosecuted or defended in the new name of the Commission, Director, and Office. In these actions and proceedings, the renamed Commission, Director, or Office shall be substituted as a party upon proper application to the courts or other public bodies." Session Laws 2013-382, s. 9.3, effective August 21, 2013, provides: "Any business or other matter undertaken or commanded by the former State Personnel Commission, State Personnel Director, or Office of State Personnel regarding any State program, office, or contract or pertaining to or connected with their respective functions, powers, obligations, and duties that are pending on the date this act becomes effective may be conducted and completed by the Commission, Director, or Office in the same manner and under the same terms and conditions and with the same effect as if conducted and completed by the formerly named commission, director, or office." Session Laws 2016-94, s. 8.24(b), provides: "By October 1, 2016, each local board of education shall submit an initial report to the State Board of Education as required by G.S. 115C-84.2(a1) , as enacted by this section, that includes information on the start times and release times for the 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017 school years." Session Laws 2016-124, 3rd Ex. Sess., s. 5.7(a), provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-84.2(a)(1) , if a local board of education closed any school in the local school administrative unit during the month of October 2016 due to unusual and extraordinary inclement weather conditions related to Hurricane Matthew for at least two consecutive school days, that school shall be deemed to have completed any scheduled instructional hours and days in excess of those two days missed due to Hurricane Matthew during the month of October 2016. Teachers and other school employees employed for a 10-month term are deemed to have been employed for the scheduled instructional days missed due to Hurricane Matthew in excess of those two days during the month of October 2016, and all other employees shall be compensated as if they had worked the scheduled instructional days missed due to Hurricane Matthew in excess of those two days during the month of October 2016." Session Laws 2017-65, s. 3, made the last sentence in subdivision (b)(4), as added by Session Laws 2017-65, s. 1, effective June 28, 2017, and applicable beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. Session Laws 2018-135, 3rd Ex. Sess., s. 1.1, provides: "Calendar Flexibility. - Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-75.8(d)(9) , 115C-84.2(a)(1), 115C-150.12, 115C-218.85(a)(1), 115C-238.53(d), 115C-238.66(1)d., 116-239.8(b)(2)c., Section 6(e) of S.L. 2018-32, and any other provision of State law to the contrary, if the governing body of a public school unit closed any school under its control due to unusual and extraordinary inclement weather conditions related to Hurricane Florence, calendar flexibility for instructional time missed due to Hurricane Florence during the months of September 2018 and October 2018 shall be provided as follows: "(1) If the school is located in a public school unit that is located in a county designated before, on, or after the effective date of this act under a major disaster declaration by the President of the United States under the Stafford Act (P.L. 93-288) as a result of Hurricane Florence, in the discretion of its governing body, the public school unit may (i) make up any number of the instructional days or equivalent hours missed, (ii) deem as completed any number of the instructional days or equivalent hours missed up to a total of 20 days, or (iii) implement any combination of both of the above. "(2) If the school is located in a public school unit that is not located in a county designated under a major disaster declaration by the President of the United States under the Stafford Act (P.L. 93-288) as a result of Hurricane Florence, the following shall apply: "a. If the public school unit's scheduled calendar will already meet 185 instructional days or 1025 instructional hours, no additional days or hours for that school are required to comply with G.S. 115C-84.2 . "b. For all other schools, for days missed in excess of two days, in the discretion of its governing body, the public school unit may do either or a combination of the following: "1. Make up any number of the instructional days or equivalent hours missed. "2. Deem as completed any number of the instructional days or equivalent hours missed. "For the purposes of this act, "public school unit" is defined as a local school administrative unit, regional school, innovative school, laboratory school, charter school, or residential school for the deaf or the blind." Session Laws 2018-135, 3rd Ex. Sess., s. 1.2, provided for compensation for teachers and school employees in public schools that missed instructional days due to Hurricane Florence, and Session Laws 2018-135, 3rd Ex. Sess., s. 1.3, required a report, due March 15, 2019, from the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the chairs of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Appropriations•ase Budget Committee, the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, and the Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly on instructional days missed due to the hurricane, days made up, days not made up pursuant to the act, and compensation paid under s. 1.2. Session Laws 2019-165, s. 4(b), provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-84.2(a2) and (a3) as enacted by this act, local boards of education shall submit the report required by subsection (a) of this section with the information for the 2019-2020 school year to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education by August 1, 2019. The State Board of Education shall then report that information submitted by the local boards of education to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by September 1, 2019." Session Laws 2019-238, s. 1(a), (b), provides: "(a) Calendar Flexibility. - Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-84.2(a)(1) and any other provision of State law to the contrary, if the governing body of a local school administrative unit closed any school under its control for more than 18 days due to unusual and extraordinary inclement weather conditions related to Hurricane Dorian, a local board of education in its discretion may provide calendar flexibility for instructional time missed due to Hurricane Dorian at that school during the months of September 2019 and October 2019 in any of the following ways: "(1) Make up any number of the instructional days or equivalent hours missed. "(2) Deem as completed any number of the instructional days or equivalent hours missed, up to a total of 20 days. "(3) Implement any combination of both of the above. "(b) Employee Compensation. - All employees employed by a local school administrative unit and assigned to a school closed for more than 18 days due to unusual and extraordinary inclement weather conditions related to Hurricane Dorian shall be deemed to have been employed for any scheduled instructional days missed due to Hurricane Dorian during the months of September 2019 and October 2019 that are not made up as provided in subsection (a) of this section. Employees shall be compensated in the same manner as they would have been had they worked on the scheduled instructional days missed." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.1, as amended by Session Laws 2020-49, s. 3(a), provides: "For the purposes of this Part, the following definitions apply: "(1) Authority. - State Education Assistance Authority. "(2) Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. - The period beginning March 10, 2020, and continuing until the Governor signs an executive order rescinding Executive Order No. 116 (Declaration of a State of Emergency to Coordinate Response and Protective Actions to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19). "(3) Federal testing waiver. - The testing waiver granted to the State Board of Education by the United States Department of Education for the 2019-2020 school year, pursuant to section 8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended, which, pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11 , eliminated the collection of certain student assessment data for the 2019-2020 school year. "(4) Modified calendar school. - A school that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar. "(5) State Board. - The State Board of Education. "(6) Year-round school. - A school with a single or multi-track instructional calendar that was adopted prior to March 1, 2020, and provides instructional days in compliance with Section 2.11(b)(1) of this Part throughout the entire school calendar year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, by utilizing at least one of the following plans: "a. A plan dividing students into four groups and requiring each group to be in school for assigned and staggered quarters each school calendar year. "b. A plan providing students be scheduled to attend an average of between 44 and 46 instructional days followed by an average of between 15 and 20 days of vacation, repeated throughout the school calendar year. "c. A plan dividing the school calendar year into five nine-week sessions of classes and requiring each student to attend four assigned and staggered sessions out of the five nine-week sessions to complete the student's instructional year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.2, provides: "The purpose of this Part is to clarify or modify certain requirements in consideration of actions and circumstances related to the COVID-19 emergency, including, but not limited to, the federal testing waiver and the closure of schools for in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 school year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.10(a), provides: "Instructional Time Requirements. - A public school unit that provides remote instruction as required by this subsection shall be deemed to have satisfied the minimum days and hours required by G.S. 115C-75.8(d)(9) , 115C-84.2(a)(1), 115C-150.12, 115C-218.85(a)(1), 115C-238.53(d), 115C-238.66(1)d., 116-239.8(b)(2)c., and Section 6(e) of S.L. 2018-32 for the 2019-2020 school year. For the purposes of this subsection for the 2019-2020 school year, remote instruction is defined as learning that takes place outside of the traditional school setting using various media and formats, including, but not limited to, video conference, telephone conference, print material, online material, or learning management systems. Each public school unit shall provide remote instruction for the remainder of its scheduled 2019-2020 school year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.11(a)-(c), as amended by Session Laws 2020-49, s. 3(b), provides: "(a) Remote Instruction Plans. - The governing body of each public school unit shall develop a Remote Instruction Plan (Plan) for the 2020-2021 school year and shall submit its Plan to the State Board no later than July 20, 2020. The purpose of the Plan is to provide a detailed framework for delivering quality remote instruction to all students within the public school unit during the 2020-2021 school year, as provided in subsection (b) of this section. In describing how the public school unit will implement remote instruction, the Plan shall address all of the following: "(1) Consulting with teachers, administrators and instructional support staff, parents, students, community partners, and other stakeholders in developing the Plan and effectively communicating the Plan to all involved parties. "(2) Training for teachers and staff on effective use of the remote instruction resources utilized by the public school unit and the process for student submission of completed work. The Plan shall identify any learning management system, online instructional resource, or offline instructional resource that will be made available to all students in a grade-level across the public school unit. "(3) Defining and clearly communicating staff roles and expectations for remote instruction days, including teacher workdays, teacher accessibility, and noncertified staff workdays and responsibilities. The Plan may include variances for staff expectations when remote instruction days are also used as teacher workdays. "(4) Surveying student and teacher home connectivity and providing for remote instruction that is appropriate for teachers and students with limited connectivity capability, including the opportunity for students to download remote learning materials in advance when practicable. "(5) Engaging with community partners on services that parents and students can utilize on remote instruction days, including community partners willing to provide free broadband access or connectivity for remote instruction and community partners with child care options, and communicating remote instruction schedules with those partners. "(6) Developing effective design and delivery of remote instruction lessons within professional learning communities. "(7) Teaching and practice opportunities for students on accessing and using remote instruction platforms and methods, including how to locate, complete, and submit assignments. The Plan shall include regular opportunities for students to use the platforms and methods during nonremote instruction days to ensure student success during remote instruction. "(8) Communicating learning targets to students on each remote instruction day and ensuring that lesson design provides instructional time, practice, and application components to demonstrate learning. The Plan shall include a process for monitoring the quality of remote instruction materials. "(9) Ensuring that remote instructional time, practice, and application components support learning growth that continues towards mastery of the standard course of study. The Plan shall include work measurement guidelines appropriate to each grade level, including deadlines for submission of assignments and methods to assess and grade learning during remote instruction. "(10) Ensuring that students with disabilities have equal access to the remote instruction provided by their public school units and that remote instruction is provided in a manner consistent with each student's individualized education program (IEP) or 504 plan. Remote learning day supports shall be considered and included, as appropriate for the student, when an IEP or 504 plan is initially developed or at any subsequent review or revision of an IEP or 504 plan. "(11) Tracking and reporting attendance on remote instruction days, including protocols for determining attendance, the reporting system to be used, and how attendance procedures will be communicated to parents before remote instruction begins. "(12) Providing online and offline contact options for students to communicate with teachers or staff for remote instruction days that are not used as teacher workdays. "(13) Providing technology support for students experiencing technical difficulties on remote instruction days. "(b) School Calendar. - Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the requirements of G.S. 115C-84.2 , including the requirement that a school calendar consist of 215 days, apply to the 2020-2021 school calendar for local school administrative units. The provisions of this subsection supersede any school calendar adopted by a public school unit prior to the enactment of this Part. For the 2020-2021 school year only, the following applies to the school calendar for public school units: "(1) Notwithstanding any provisions of G.S. 115C-75.8(d)(9) , 115C-84.2(a)(1), 115C-150.12, 115C-218.85(a)(1), 115C-238.53(d), 115C-238.66(1)d., 116-239.8(b)(2)c., and Section 6(e) of S.L. 2018-32 to the contrary, each public school unit shall adopt a calendar that includes 190 days of instruction as follows: "a. 185 days or 1,025 hours of instruction that include five remote instruction days in accordance with the Plan developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. Each of the five remote instruction days may be scheduled in the discretion of the public school unit, except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection. "b. An additional five instructional days that shall be satisfied only by five individually separate and distinct full instructional days and not by an accumulation of instructional hours. "(2) Notwithstanding any provisions of G.S. 115C-84.2(d) to the contrary, each local school administrative unit shall adopt a school calendar in accordance with the following: "a. Except for schools defined in subdivision (4) or (6) of Section 2.1 of this Part, an opening date for students of August 17, 2020. "b. Except for schools defined in subdivision (4) or (6) of Section 2.1 of this Part, a closing date for students no later than June 11, 2021. "c. No remote instruction day shall be scheduled prior to August 24, 2020, unless the school operates on a year-round or modified calendar schedule. A year-round or modified calendar school shall not schedule a remote instruction day prior to the sixth instructional day of the year-round or modified calendar. "c1. A local board of education may alter the adopted calendar of a single-track year-round school in a manner that no longer meets the requirements of Section 2.1(6)b. of this act, if both of the following are met: "1. The local board of education determines the modification is necessary to ensure the health and safety of students. "2. The altered calendar complies with all other requirements for year-round schools in this section. "d. Remote instruction days may be scheduled for use as teacher workdays, including as teacher workdays on which teachers may take accumulated vacation leave, provided that remote instruction material is prepared and provided for students to use during the remote instruction days. Local school administrative units may, in their discretion, schedule remote instruction days as teacher workdays to facilitate completion of first semester course exams prior to a winter holiday period. This sub-subdivision only applies to the five remote instruction days scheduled as required by sub-subdivision a. of subdivision (1) of this subsection. "e. The following apply for a local school administrative unit granted a good cause waiver for the 2020-2021 school year: "1. The opening date for students shall not be earlier than August 17, 2020, except for schools defined in subdivision (4) or (6) of Section 2.1 of this Part. "2. Up to an additional five remote instruction days may be used, if those days are (i) provided in accordance with the requirements of this subsection for remote instruction days and (ii) used solely as make-up days for days on which schools have been closed due to inclement weather or other emergency situations. "(3) If the governing board of a public school unit determines that additional remote instruction beyond the five days required by subdivision (1) of this subsection is needed to ensure the health and safety of students, a public school unit may provide remote instruction in accordance with the Plan developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section as necessary to satisfy instructional time requirements. The public school unit shall ensure that it is in compliance with all required COVID-19 guidance related to the operation of elementary and secondary schools issued by the State Board of Education, the Department of Public Instruction, and the Department of Health and Human Services. "(c) Reporting Requirement. - No later than September 15, 2020, the State Board shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the implementation of subsection (a) of this section. The State Board shall submit with its report a copy of each Remote Instruction Plan submitted, and the report shall provide a statewide summary that includes the following: "(1) All online remote instruction resources used by public school units, listed by public school unit. "(2) All offline remote instruction resources used by public school units, listed by public school unit. "(3) A list of any public school unit using only offline remote instruction resources. "(4) The number and percentage of public school units that did and did not provide plans addressing every item required by subsection (a) of this section. "(5) Strengths, challenges, and trends noted by the State Board in its review of how public school units implement remote instruction. "(6) Any other data deemed by the State Board to be useful to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee in evaluating the delivery of statewide remote instruction." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2020-81, s. 10(b), made subsection (f), as added by Session Laws 2020-81, s. 10(a), effective July 1, 2020, and applicable beginning with the 2021-2022 school year. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2003-131, s. 1, effective June 4, 2003, and applicable to all school years beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, inserted "all public school personnel and for" in subdivision (b)(4). Session Laws 2004-180, s. 1, effective August 9, 2004, and applicable in all 100 counties and in all local administrative units to school years beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, substituted "215" for "220" in subsection (a); repealed subdivision (a)(1a); rewrote subdivisions (a)(4) and (a)(5); and rewrote the last paragraph; substituted "195" for "200" in subdivision (b)(1); rewrote subsection (d); and added subsection (e). Session Laws 2010-10, s. 1, effective June 23, 2010, in subdivision (a)(1), in the first paragraph, substituted "either 180 days or 1,000 hours of instruction" for "180 days and 1,000 hours of instruction" in the first sentence, and added "or 1,000 hours" in the second sentence, and added the last paragraph. See note for applicability. Session Laws 2010-114, s. 1, effective July 20, 2010, and applicable beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, in subsection (d), subdivided the first paragraph, adding "either" at the end of the present first paragraph, adding the subdivision (d)(1) designation, and therein making a minor stylistic change, and adding subdivision (d)(2). Session Laws 2011-93, s. 1(a), effective May 26, 2011, and applicable only to the 2010-2011 school year, amended subdivision (a)(1) by substituting "either 180 days or 1,000 hours" for "180 days and 1,000 hours" in the first sentence; inserting "or 1,000 hours" in the second sentence; and adding the second paragraph. For limited and temporary applicability provisions, see note. Session Laws 2011-145, s. 7.29(a), effective July 1, 2011, in subdivision (a)(1), substituted "185 days and 1,025 hours of instruction" for "180 days and 1,000 hours of instruction" in the first sentence, and substituted "185 instructional days" for "180 instructional days" in the second sentence; deleted subdivision (a)(4), which read: "Five days, as designated by the local board, for use as teacher workdays. These days shall be protected to allow teachers to complete instructional and classroom administrative duties. The local school administrative unit shall not impose any additional tasks on these days. The local board shall schedule one of these days at the beginning of the school year and one at the end of each academic quarter"; added the second-to-last paragraph of subsection (a); and in the last paragraph of subsection (a), substituted "two days" for "seven days" and twice deleted "subdivisions 4 and" preceding "subdivision (5)." Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7A.11(a), as added by Session Laws 2012-145, s. 2.5, effective July 10, 2012, in subdivision (a)(1), substituted "or 1,025" for "and 1,025" in the first sentence, and deleted "185" preceding "instructional days" in the second sentence; deleted the first undesignated paragraph following subdivision (a)(5), which pertained to granting local board of education a waiver to use up to five of the instructional days required by subdivision (1) as teacher workdays; and rewrote subsection (d). For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2013-382, s. 9.1(c), effective August 21, 2013, substituted "State Human Resources Commission" for "State Personnel Commission" in subdivision (a)(3). Session Laws 2016-94, s. 8.24(a), effective July 1, 2016, added subsection (a1). Session Laws 2017-65, s. 1, added the last sentence in subdivision (b)(4). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2019-165, s. 4(a), effective July 26, 2019, added subsections (a2) and (a3). Session Laws 2020-81, s. 10(a), added subsection (f). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note.