NCSBA Legislative Update - March 29, 2019 - North Carolina School Board Action Center

Education Bills Passed by House and Sent to Senate

HB 79: Academic Alignment/Boards of Education & CC

Primary Sponsors: Representatives Horn, R-Union; Johnson, R-Cabarrus; Elmore, R-Wilkes; and Strickland, R-Johnston
LEAs would be allowed to align their school opening dates with the opening date of a community college serving their county.
Passed 100-10

HB 200: Various Education Changes

Primary Sponsors: Hurley, R-Randolph; Johnson; Horn; Elmore
Certain education reports would be combined for the use of the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction.
Passed 111-0

HB 266: School Annual Report Card

Primary Sponsors: Representatives Riddell, R-Alamance; Ross, R-Alamance; Elmore; and Clemmons, D-Guilford
Schools would receive two separate grades, one for school achievement and one for school growth.
Passed 105-5

HB 295: Prohibit Corporal Punishment in Public Schools

Primary Sponsors: Fisher, D-Buncombe; Johnson, R-Cabarrus
Prohibits corporal punishment in public schools.
Passed 94-16

HB 354: Modify Weighing/School Performance Grades

Primary Sponsors: Representatives Horn; Johnson; Gill, D-Wake; and Lucas, D-Cumberland
The formula for school performance grades would change from 80% school achievement and 20% school growth to 50% each. The school performance grade would be measured with a 10-point A-F scale.
Passed 108-4

HB 362: 15-Point Scale for School Performance Grades

Primary Sponsors: Horn; Harris, D-Mecklenburg; Elmore; Autry, D-Mecklenburg
School performance grades would be based on a permanent 15-point A-F scale. (Otherwise school grades would revert to a 10-point A-F scale beginning in the 2019-20 school year.) The overall school performance would be 80% school achievement and 20% school growth.
Passed 105-6

Other Bills on NCSBA’s Agenda

House Bill 482/Senate Bill 382: School Psychologist Compensation & Recruitment

Primary Sponsors: Representatives Grange, R-New Hanover; Dobson, R-McDowell; Horn, R-Union; Lambeth, R-Forsyth; and Senators Ballard, R-Watauga; D. Davis, D-Greene; Edwards, R-Henderson
Schools psychologists would receive $1,000 per month, in addition to the “A” salary schedule, and the State Board of Education would establish a retention and recruitment program that would provide signing and retention bonuses to retain high-quality school psychologists.

Click here to read our issue brief on Student Support Personnel.

Senate Bill 397: Class Size Waivers/PE K-5 Teacher Funds

Primary Sponsors: Horner, R-Nash; Tillman, R-Randolph; Perry, R-Lenoir
LEAs would be granted a waiver for the K-3 class size requirements if there is a shortage of qualified, licensed teachers available or if there is inadequate classroom space or facilities. LEAs granted this waiver would not be eligible for the allotment for K-5 program enhancement teacher positions for the fiscal year that the LEA receives the waiver because those districts would be granted the flexibility that they currently utilize.

Click here to read our issue brief on K-3 Class Size.

House Bill 457: Restore Master’s Pay for Certain Teachers

Primary Sponsors: Horn; Ball, D-Wake; Johnson; Brockman, D-Guilford
Education-based salary supplements would be reinstated for the following teachers and personnel: school nurses and instructional support personnel in positions that require a master’s degree; teachers at low-performing schools, high-attrition schools, and/or elementary schools; teachers with a license in STEM, special education, and/or English; and most teachers who spend at least 70% of classroom time instruction on subjects related to their advanced academic preparation.

Click here to read our issue brief on Teacher Pay.

House Bill 524: Additional Funds for School Nurses

Primary Sponsors: White, R-Johnston; Horn; Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg; Adcock, D-Wake
$10 million for FY 2019-20, $20 million for FY 2020-21, and $30,700,000 for FY 2021-22 in total recurring funds would be allocated to LEAs to increase school nurse positions.

Click here to read our issue brief on Student Support Personnel.

Senate Bill 424: Fully Fund School Counselors & Psychologists

Primary Sponsors: McKissick, D-Durham; Peterson, D-New Hanover; Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg
Funds for school counselors and psychologists would increase to and be maintained at $262 million by FY 2021-22. By FY 2021-22 school counselors would reach the nationally recommended SISP (Specialized Instructional Support Personnel) to student ratio of 1:250 and school psychologists 1:700.

Click here to read our issue brief on Student Support Personnel.

Other Bills of Note

Senate Bill 350: Equal Funding for All Students/Hackney

This week Senator Jerry Tillman, R- Randolph, filed Senate Bill 350, which eliminates most of the authorization of funds that may be placed into Fund 8. Without this statutory authorization, the following funds will have to be shared with the charter schools.

Reimbursements, including indirect costs: Reimbursements include programs like the federal child nutrition program.
Fees for actual costs: Fees are collected for such things as facility rentals to community groups so that utilities, janitorial services, and insurance are paid for.
Tuition: Tuition is charged for programs offered by the school system outside of the normal school day, like before and after school care and summer school programs.
Sales tax revenues distributed using the ad valorem method pursuant to G.S. 105-472(b)(2)
Sales tax refunds
Gifts and grants restricted as to use: This includes PTA funds, band booster funds, and specific grants for a multitude of programs throughout school districts.
Federal appropriations made directly to LEAs: These are funds for programs at the federal level that schools have applied to participate in, like ROTC and Impact Aid.
Municipal appropriations made directly to LEAs under G.S. 160A-700
Funds received for Pre-K programs
Appropriation or use of fund balance or interest income

Click here to read more about each category that would be eliminated under SB 350.

It is worth noting that charter schools already receive funds from those areas or have the ability to apply and receive those funds but have NO obligation to share any of those funds with LEAs. If this bill were to pass, it would undoubtedly lead to litigation.

House Bill 315: Instructional Material Selection

Sponsored by Representative Elmore, House Bill 315 would transfer the adoption of school textbooks from the State to the LEAs. It was passed out of the House Education K-12 Committee on Tuesday, March 26 after the following changes:

Alters the definition of “unfit materials” to include material that is “(i) obscene, (ii) inappropriate to the age, maturity, or grade level of the students, or (iii) not aligned with the standard course of study.”;
Removes the requirement for a public hearing when adopting, modifying, or amending a health and safety program and its instructional and supplemental materials;
Does not require that the LEA’s instructional materials repository include classroom materials developed by teachers; and
Removes library books from being investigated and evaluated by a local community media advisory committee on the grounds that the books are “unfit materials”.

House Bill 31: Allow Durham Public Schools to Provide Housing

This week the State and Local Government Committee passed House Bill 31, which would allow the Durham Board of Education to provide affordable rental housing for teachers and other public-school employees. HB 31 has now been referred to the House Commerce Committee.

House Bill 377: Reduce Testing

House Bill 377 was passed by the House Education K-12 Committee and referred to the House Rules Committee on Tuesday, March 26. The bill replaces the End-of-Grade tests for third-eighth grades with a through-grade assessment model that would administer three interim assessments throughout the school year. The ACT or another recognized assessment would replace End-of-Course tests for ninth-twelfth grades.

Legislative Public Policy Conference

The NCSBA Legislative Public Policy Conference is scheduled for April 30/May 1 in Raleigh at the NCSBA building.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW CONFERENCE AGENDA

The registration rate is $325. Click here to register.

April 1-5 Legislative Meeting Calendar

Monday, April 1

2:30 pm – House: Rules, Calendar, and Operations – Legislative Building, rm 1228/1327 (audio)

2:30 pm – Senator Phil Berger Press Conference on Education-Related Issues – Legislative Building Press Room (audio)

Tuesday, April 2

8:30 am – House: Appropriations, Education – Legislative Office Building, rm 423

10:00 am – House: Health – Legislative Office Building, rm 643 (audio)

HB 90: DPI/EC Division Feedback/DIT Study/PED

1:00 pm – House: Education K-12 – Legislative Office Building, rm 643 (audio)

Wednesday, April 3

11:00 am – Senate: Education/Higher Education – Legislative Building, rm 1027/1128 (audio)

**REMINDER**

Senate deadline to file statewide bills and resolutions is Tuesday, April 2.

House deadline to file statewide bills and resolutions (not including appropriations or finance) is Tuesday, April 16.

Leanne E. Winner
Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 747-6686

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 747-6692

Richard Bostic
Assistant Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 747-6677

Rebekah Howard
Governmental Relations Research Specialist
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 747-6688