Daily Real Estate News  |  August 13, 2004  |   N.C.: Standardized School-Year Start Date Bill Passes After much debate, the North Carolina General Assembly has passed a bill which requires local school districts to start classes no earlier than August 25 and end the school year no later than June 10. Until now, says Rick Zechini, director of regulatory affairs for the North Carolina Association of REALTORSŪ, there has been no state law mandating a specific start date for schools. For the past two years, 92 percent of the state's county school systems have begun their public school year between July 30th and August 12th. Gov. Mike Easley has until Aug. 17 to sign or veto the bill. If he does neither, it will become law in 30 days, says NCAR’s Governmental Affairs Director Stephanie Simpson. “The governor has said in the media that he’s not crazy about the provision of the bill that cuts some of the teacher workdays, so we’ll wait and see what happens,” says Simpson. She notes that the bill would not reduce the current 180 days students spend in class. Institutions that have special educational purpose--or high numbers of weather-related closings--will be able to apply for waivers to the start and end dates. If signed by the governor, the law will go into effect for the 2005-06 school year. The North Carolina Association of REALTORSŪ supported the bill. "Starting that early has a negative impact on tourism and on the vacation rental market," says Zechini. He points to an independent study from East Carolina University as proof. The study found that delaying the start of North Carolina's public school year by ten days could produce an additional $1 billion in economic growth for the state. By Bridget McCrea for REALTORŪ Magazine Online