CHARLOTTE, N.C.-- Charlotte-Mecklenburg high schools won't hold exams on Inauguration Day, and students can get an excused absence if they bring back proof they attended inaugural events, officials said today.

Exam week is Jan. 14-22. Because many classes last only one semester, some students must take N.C. End of Course tests, which are required to graduate and used to rate schools. District officials have spent more than a month figuring out how to juggle the important tests with strong interest in Obama's inauguration.

At least four high schools – Harding, Independence, Providence and West Charlotte – are taking groups to the inauguration, and other students plan to go with their families. The revised exam schedule means no one risks flunking because they make the trip. The Monday before is the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Tuesday, Jan. 20, will be a regular class day, but the only tests scheduled will be makeups, said spokeswoman Kathleen Johansen.

Johansen said 168 teachers (out of more than 9,000 working for the district) have requested substitutes for Jan. 20, though it's not clear how many of those are going to Washington.