NC H121

Removes mandatory school start date restriction (Monday closest to August 26) and end date restriction (Friday closest to June 11), giving local boards of education full authority to set opening and closing dates for public schools

Eliminates the State Board of Education waiver process that previously allowed earlier start dates only for districts showing "good cause" based on historical school closures

Removes requirement for State Board reports to identify schools starting before the August 26 deadline and their statutory exceptions

Counties with school administrative units that have experienced 8+ closure days per year during any 4 of the last 10 years may use up to 15 remote instruction days (or 90 hours) for emergencies; all other units may use up to 5 remote instruction days (or 30 hours)

Effective upon becoming law and applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year