The Senate voted 25-10 for the bill and the House agreed 58-36. The bill now goes to Gov. Robert Bentley.

“Governor Bentley has some concerns about the bill because it restricts flexibility at the local level,” press secretary Jennifer Ardis said. She said the governor will conduct a thorough review before deciding whether to sign the bill into law. 

The bill allows city and county school boards to set school meeting dates as they have traditionally done, but they would have to be within the bill's parameters. It says that for the 2012-2013 school year, schools can't start more than two weeks before Labor Day and must end by the Friday before Memorial Day. That would be Aug. 20 and May 24. The same restrictions would apply for the opening of the 2013-2014 school year, and then the Legislature would decide whether to continue the practice.