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9 <br /> WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners encourages the school districts to <br /> develop and continue to expand their year round educational programs; and <br /> WHEREAS, with little flexibility built in to the calendar, scheduling make-up days is <br /> extremely challenging; and <br /> WHEREAS, major hurricanes and severe winter snow storms have caused Orange County <br /> Schools to miss 17 school days over the past three years; and <br /> WHEREAS, major hurricanes and severe winter snow storms have caused Chapel Hill <br /> Carrboro City Schools to miss 16 school days over the past three years; and <br /> WHEREAS, fall sports and band begin August 1, schedules for extracurriculars have not <br /> changed to coincide with the State-mandated school calendar; and <br /> WHEREAS, local boards of education are best equipped to understand the balancing act of <br /> meeting the community's needs and maximizing student success; and <br /> WHEREAS, restoring local control of school calendars will allow local boards of education <br /> to best meet the calendar preferences of the families, educators, and businesses in our <br /> community while allowing for innovative experimental approaches to improve student <br /> achievement. <br /> NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners <br /> expresses its support for local boards of education and the restoration of local control of <br /> school calendars and requests that the North Carolina General Assembly and Governor <br /> Roy Cooper adopt and ratify legislation returning school calendar responsibility to local <br /> school boards of education. <br /> This the 19t" day of February 2019. <br /> Commissioner Dorosin suggested adding the following language after the <br /> comments about the summer: "WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners <br /> encourages the school districts to develop and continue to expand their year round <br /> educational programs". <br /> Commissioner Marcoplos asked if Commissioner Dorosin wants this as an option. <br /> Commissioner Dorosin said yes, to encourage school districts having the option to <br /> establish or expand year-round learning programs. <br /> Commissioner Marcoplos asked if Commissioner Dorosin was encouraging every <br /> school to be year round. <br /> Commissioner Dorosin said, personally, he thinks all schools should be year round, <br /> but he is not suggesting that for this resolution. <br /> Chair Rich asked if the school system needs approval from the General Assembly to <br /> become a year-round school. <br /> Commissioner Dorosin said no, but his suggested addition is keeping in context with <br /> the spirit of the resolution, which is that schools should have control over what they do; and <br /> not having control around breaks, not only limits flexibility, but has tangible adverse impacts <br /> on students, in particular at-risk students. <br />