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HB 194

Sports - As enacted, revises present law relative to an intercollegiate athlete's name, image, or likeness. - Amends TCA Title 49.

114th Regular Session (2025-2026) Introduced by Kevin Vaughan

HB 194 gives Asheville City Schools a local carve-out to adopt an open, flexible calendar for 2025–2026, with a limited waiver to start earlier if good cause is shown.

Comp. became Pub. Ch. 300
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Bill Summary · HB 194

Summary — HB 194: School Calendar Flexibility / Asheville / Open Calendar

Status: Passed 1st Reading
Introduced: February 25, 2025 (effective for 2025–2026 school year upon enactment)
Subject: Education; local school calendars; Asheville City Schools (Buncombe County)

Main purpose / intent

HB 194 grants Asheville City Schools a localized exception to North Carolina’s standard public‑school opening and closing date requirements so the Asheville City Board of Education may adopt a different school calendar (an “open calendar”/flexible calendar) beginning in the 2025–2026 school year.

Key provisions

  • Amends G.S. 115C‑84.2(d) (Opening and Closing Dates) as applied to Asheville City Schools.
  • Reaffirms statewide defaults for non–year‑round schools:
    • Earliest opening date normally: Monday closest to August 26.
    • Latest closing date normally: Friday closest to June 11.
  • Provides limited flexibility:
    • The State Board of Education may waive the usual opening‑date restriction and allow a local board to open as early as the Monday closest to August 19 — but only upon a showing of “good cause.”
    • “Good cause” is defined in statute as a pattern in which schools in any local school administrative unit in a county were closed eight days per year during any four of the last ten years because of severe weather, energy shortages, power failures, or other emergency conditions.
  • Allows a local board to adjust the scheduled closing date when necessary to meet the statutory minimum requirements for instructional days or instructional time.
  • Retains existing exemptions for schools that operated under a modified calendar in 2003–2004.
  • Scope limitation: the act applies only to Asheville City Schools.
  • Effective date: the act becomes effective when enacted and applies beginning with the 2025–2026 school year.

Who is affected

  • Directly: Asheville City Schools (local board, students, families, teachers, and school staff).
  • Indirectly: local employers, childcare providers, transportation contractors, athletics and extracurricular scheduling, and neighboring districts (for coordination/competition).
  • Statewide school calendar rules remain unchanged for other districts; this is a local carve‑out.

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Administrative: local board will gain authority to design a calendar tailored to local needs (e.g., to better accommodate makeup days after frequent closures).
  • Operational: potential changes to transportation, school nutrition, after‑school programs, and athletics scheduling.
  • Families: may affect family planning, childcare, and working parents’ schedules.
  • Compliance: any alternate calendar must still meet statewide minimum instructional days/time requirements.
  • Inter‑district coordination: scheduling differences may require extra coordination with county/adjacent districts for shared events/athletics.
  • No appropriation included; fiscal impacts are likely local and related to implementation/operational adjustments.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • Applies to the 2025–2026 school year forward once enacted.
  • Implementation requires Asheville City Board of Education action to adopt a calendar consistent with the act; a State Board waiver is required to open earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 (down to the Monday closest to August 19) and only on statutory “good cause.”

If you want, I can:
- Draft a one‑page explainer for Asheville families anticipating calendar changes;
- Compare this carve‑out to calendar flexibility statutes in other NC districts; or
- Identify specific operational areas (transportation, athletics, childcare) that Asheville should review before adopting an alternate calendar.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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