W.S. § 21-4-301 mandates that each school district "shall operate its schools and classes for a minimum of one hundred seventy-five (175) days each school year." W.S. § 21-13-307(a)(ii) directs that school districts operating for 180 days or more are entitled to share in funds from the foundation account.
Analysis: The extended day program would have shortened the school term to less than 175 days, which would have violated W.S. § 21-4-301, and would have made the district ineligible for funding under W.S. § 21-13-207.
Conclusion: The Court reversed and remanded the trial court's decision and held that the district's practice of compressing the school week into four days violated the state law requiring the school year to be 175 days.
Discussion: While both of these cases discussed individual school districts altering their schedules...
In the Wyoming case, the school district attempted to shorten the school week, by increasing the number of hours students would be in school each day. However, the Wyoming statute explicitly required a 175-day school term, and was not concerned with the number of total hours that students were in class. In North Carolina, the extended term and extended days did not violate the statute in question, because the term met the statutory minimum. As a result, it seems that school boards can give their students greater benefits than those required by law, but not fewer benefits than required by law.
References
Morgan v. Polk County Board of Education 328 S.E. 2d 320 (N.C. Ct. App. 1985).
Johnson v. Board of Education of Trustees, Sch. Dist. #1, 661 P. 2d 1045 (Wyo. 1983).
