Important 2016-17 Calendar Update

Greetings Parents...as the current school year winds down, August will be here before you know it. To that end, we wanted to provide information regarding the student calendar for the 2016-17 school year.

Unfortunately, we are forced to operate under a very restrictive school calendar law that states we must open school no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and must conclude by the Friday closest to June 11. These state-mandated beginning and end dates cause tremendous difficulty for school districts throughout North Carolina – particularly when forced to close due to inclement weather. In some cases, there are no good options for make-up dates.

We often get asked why we don’t simply add dates to the end of the school year. While that would be much preferred, we are not legally allowed to go beyond the parameters of the calendar law. We have used Saturdays and Memorial Day as make-up dates in the past. Some districts cut into their Spring Break. All of these options are met with concern from many in our community.

Based on how the dates fall this year, the coming 2016-17 school calendar is especially restrictive. In an effort to add make-up options, and lessen the potential for make-up dates on Saturdays and holidays, our Board of Education recently approved adding seven additional instructional minutes to the high school day. We will accomplish this by extending the day by five minutes and reducing lunch by two minutes. This would be enough time to allow us to waive four make-up dates and still remain above the state’s requirement of 1,025 instructional hours per year (our elementary and middle school schedules already have enough time built in and will not need to change).

The adjusted calendar can be found here. Please make a note of it…and never hesitate to call us if we can be of assistance.

Todd LoFrese
Assistant Superintendent of Support Services

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Two Changes to Board Calendar

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education’s orientation event previously scheduled for Tuesday, January 19 has been postponed. A new date has not yet been set.

Additionally, a majority of the Board may be in attendance for a community education forum sponsored by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, Organizing Against Racism of Orange County, NAACP Youth Council, and Movement of Youth on Saturday, January 23. The event will take place from 1-4 p.m. at United Church of Chapel Hill (1321 Martin Luther King Boulevard – Chapel Hill).

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East Chapel Hill Football Game Moved to Thursday

This week's football game featuring East Chapel Hill and Cedar Ridge has been changed to Thursday night (originally scheduled for Friday). The game will be played on Thursday, September 3 at East Chapel Hill High. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Come out and cheer for the Wildcats!

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Make Up Dates

Last Thursday, the Board approved a calendar change to make up the instructional time when school was closed on Tuesday, March 4. The three remaining delayed openings, scheduled for March 13, April 10, and May 8, have now been changed to regular school days. Again, the three remaining delayed opening days are now regular (full) school days. Students will report to school at the regular time on Thursday, March 13.

As a reminder, previous inclement weather resulted in March 28, April 18, and May 26 being changed to regular school days.

Back to CHCCS website

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Board Approves School Calendars for 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17

At the November 21 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education meeting, the Board approved school year calendars for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.

Assistant Superintendent for Support Services Todd LoFrese was able to put forward these calendars because the legislative session did not make any changes to the calendar law, which it has done for the past several years.

Under the current calendar laws, schools can start no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and end no later than the Friday closest to June 11.  Schools must also have either a minimum of 185 days of instruction or 1,025 hours of instruction.  CHCCS has 180 days and meets the 1,025 hours of instruction requirement.  Each school year still includes eight delayed opening dates.

The 2014-15 highlights include:

• First day of school for grades 1-12, August 25;
• Winter Break, December 22 through January 2;
• Spring Break, March 30 through April 3;
• Last day of school for all grades, June 10, which is also a two-hour early dismissal day.

The 2015-16 highlights include:

• First day of school for grades 1-12, August 24;
• Winter Break, December 21 through January 1;
• Spring Break, March 28 through April 1;
• Last day of school for all grades, June 8, which is also a two-hour early dismissal day.

The 2016-17 highlights include:

• First day of school for grades 1-12, August 29;
• Winter Break, December 23 through January 2, with a two-hour early dismissal on December 22;
• Spring Break, March 27 through March 31;
• Last day of school for all grades, June 9, which is also a two-hour early dismissal day.

To see the entire Board Item and all of the calendars, click here.

Back to CHCCS website

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Board Approves 2013-14 School Year Calendar

The Board of Education approved the 2013-14 school year calendar at its November 1 meeting.  It meets the 1025 hours of instruction requirement within a 180 instructional day calendar.  There are 14 teacher workday, five of which are optional.

The first day of school is Monday, August 26 for students in grades 1-12.  The last day of school for all students is Wednesday, June 11, when school will be dismissed two hours early.

Other calendar highlights include:  eight delayed opening dates; Winter Break, December 23-January 3; Spring Break, March 31-April 4; and high school graduation, June 14.

To view the entire calendar, click here.  To see the board item, click here.

Back to CHCCS website

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Board of Education approves 2012-13 calendar

The CHCCS Board of Education approved an updated calendar for the 2012-13 school year at its July 19 meeting.

The calendar that appeared on the Board's agenda had one revision suggested by Todd LoFrese, assistant superintendent for support services, to change the Optional Teacher Workday on June 10, 2013 with the Mandatory Workday on November 21, 2012.  This change was suggested by one of the district's teacher organizations and would give teachers the opportunity for time to finish end-of-year reports, etc. 

The first day of school for Grades 1-12 is on Monday, August 27 and the last day of school, with a two-hour early dismissal is on Friday, June 7, 2013.  Other notable dates are: Winter Break, December 24-January 1; Spring Break, April 1-5; and High School Graduation, June 8.  To see the complete calendar, click here.

In June 2011, the General Assemby ratified a state budget that included a provision that increased the instructional days for both 2011-12 and 2012-13 from 180 to 185 school days and 1,ooo hours to 1,025 hours. The new law did not change the start date or end date of school and did not give school districts additional flexibility with the calendar.

The Board approved a 2012-13 calendar with 185 days. After receiving notification that CHCCS's applied waiver of the additional five days had been approved, a revised draft calendar was shared with stakeholders. The General Assembly then introduced several new bills in the spring, so the calendar approval was put on hold. The General Assembly has approved new legislation that will take effect in the 2013-14 school year.

Back to CHCCS website

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