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MUST SEE!! Representatives Larry Bell (sponsor of the now-dead House Bill 359) and Bill Daughtridge (a supporter of SOS and the School Calendar Law), debate the issues on WUNC-TV's Legislative Week In Review. Click here to view.

August 20, 2008
House Bill 359 Dies in the Senate

The NC General Assembly went home this year without passing any damaging legislation to the school start date, but with legislators promising to bring up the issue again next year. House Bill 359, Restore Flexibility to School Calendar, died in the Senate (after passing the House with an overwhelming majority early in 2007). Thanks to bipartisan efforts and Senate leaders, the current school calendar law remains intact. If House Bill 359 had become law, every school system in the state could have returned to the practice of beginning classes in late July or the first week of August.

Upcoming gubernatorial and legislative elections could have a TREMENDOUS impact on what happens to the August 25th school start date next year. Save Our summers NC will soon launch a new grassroods push. Please watch your email for important notices and calls-to-action, or sign up here if you're not on our mailing list.

In a nutshell, the hard-fought legislation that was passed by the North Carolina legislature in 2004 is in peril. House Bill 1464 (which became SL 2004-180 when written into law) restored a degree of reason to public school calendars, but groups have consistently sought ways to circumvent it through waivers and other means. Now it appears that another battle looms...as several powerful forces seek to overturn the bill entirely. We are not going to stand by while that happens.

FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY:

• Contact your legislators and let them know how you feel. Follow the Legislators links at the top of any page of our site to learn how.
• Tell your friends about SOS NC, urge them to learn more, and help them get involved. Click on the Email A Friend link on any page of our site and send a message to five associates so they can be aware of this site and the issues at stake.
• Make this site a bookmark or favorite, and come back often for up-to-date information. Be informed!
• Talk to the PTA board or whatever parent/student/teacher organization is active in your child's school. Make them aware of SOS-NC and what is going on with school calendars.
• Make a monetary donation to SOS NC. We face a well-funded and highly organized opposition, and we need your help. It's easy to do this now with our ONLINE DONATION LINK in conjunction with PayPal.