SOS-NC Today (for a more complete historical record of SOS-NC, Click Here)

SOS North Carolina is a volunteer coalition of parents, grandparents, education professionals and others who seek to establish, protect and maintain a more traditional school calendar for elementary and secondary schools throughout the state. The objective is to preserve the summer months for outside-the-classroom childhood and family learning experiences.

In large measure, SOS-NC has been successful in its efforts through the passage of House Bill 1464 (which, when signed into law, became SL 2004-180) during the 2004 session of the General Assembly. This is more commonly called the "School Calendar Bill." It establishes a reasonable school calendar framework to apply statewide, while giving local boards the ability to fine-tune to meet the needs of individual systems or school programs. There are also provisions built in to allow for waivers and exemptions when certain criteria are met.

Despite the popularity of the concept among the majority of North Carolina citizens and its legitimacy in law (it was thoroughly considered and debated on the floors of the General Assembly before passage), special interest groups continue to try and circumvent and overturn it. SOS-NC is now positioned to monitor and prevent such actions.

“Children are the future of North Carolina” is a popular slogan within the education community and is often used by elected officials. SOS-NC supporters believe the key ingredients to a successful adulthood for our children are a combination of education, childhood experiences, and family environment.

Many parents feel that early school start dates are about test scores and not about academic achievement. School administrators are placing an unwarranted emphasis on test scores at the expense of other important childhood and family experiences.