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Kids go to school for roughly nine months, then get the summer off.

That's a sacred tradition in North Carolina, but is it a right?

The state Supreme Court will answer that question sometime next year.

It heard arguments Tuesday in a case from Wake County, where a parents' organization called Wake Cares challenged the school board's plan to keep some schools in use all year, assigning students on a rotating schedule. Students would take turns attending during the summer.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning originally ruled in May 2007 against the school board. He said the board could keep students in school all summer only with the informed consent of their parents.

The Court of Appeals reversed Manning's decision a year later. Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Martha Geer noted that the legislature has the legal authority to set school calendars but generally has delegated that power to local school boards. Even when lawmakers mandated that the school year begin no earlier than Aug. 25, they allowed exceptions for year-round schools. Manning's ruling would impair a school board's ability to "prudently utilize" its resources, Geer wrote.

The Supreme Court should support that reasoning. Many school systems, including Guilford's, can't afford to build enough new schools to meet enrollment growth. Wake County devised a multi-track, year-round plan that would divide a school's student population into four groups but keep only three in school at a given time. That way, 1,000 students could attend a school with space for 750.

The plan isn't flawless. Operating a school all year increases wear and utility costs. There's less time for making major repairs. And many parents are unhappy when it's their child's turn to attend during the summer term.

School boards should consider those factors. But the Supreme Court should support the Court of Appeals' conclusion that there's no legal requirement to provide a summer break.

Parents who object can choose other schools for their children; ask legislators to require a summer break by statute; or put political pressure on school boards.

In Wake County, parents fighting for summer breaks already have forced the school board to scale back plans for year-round schools.

A summer vacation is worth fighting for. It's just not a right.