The General Assembly convened for the first time this year for mostly ceremonial affairs. The House saw the swearing-in of its first new speaker in a decade, with Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) replacing Tim Moore, who has transitioned into his new role in the U.S. Congress. To view all House leadership, click here.

Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) remains at the helm of the Senate, which he’s held since 2011. To view all Senate leadership, click here. The Senate also released committee assignments, including the Education/Higher Education Committee, which was assigned two new chairs to work alongside Chair Michael Lee (R-New Hanover). To view the committee’s full membership list, click here.

Over the past week, Hall, Berger, and Governor Josh Stein have all signaled that recovery from Hurricane Helene in WNC is the upmost priority for North Carolina leaders. The House and Senate have since adjourned until January 29, when much of the real work is expected to officially begin.

During this year’s first meeting, new members and advisors were welcomed to the State Board. Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt wasn’t able to attend in person due to constitutional duties with the Senate, but Treasurer Brad Briner had the opportunity to introduce himself in person. Briner also provided comments on the major funding gap in the State Health Plan, of which teachers and other school employees are a part of, and shared that his “expectation is that after we are done doing everything we can to lower the cost of administering this program, we will unfortunately have to raise premiums for the first time in I believe nine years for all employees of the state.” To learn more, click here for an article from NC Newsline.

The Board also welcomed their newest Local Board Advisor, Darrell Pennell. As winner of NCSBA’s 2024-25 Raleigh Dingman Award for Outstanding Boardsmanship, Darrell will hold a non-voting seat on the State Board to provide insight from the local board perspective. Mr. Pennell currently serves as the Chair of the Caldwell County Board of Education and member of the NCSBA Board of Directors. We are proud to support Darrell in his work with the State Board and we are excited to continue to watch him positively impact public education across North Carolina.

To view the full agenda for the January meeting, click here. To learn about specific items for approval or discussion that may impact or be of interest to local school boards, please read on.

APPROVED Golden LEAF Schools Initiative – Request for Proposals (RFPs): In an effort to ensure that every child achieves educational excellence, DPI revealed a $25 million initiative funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation aimed at improving school performance, specifically in middle schools in Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties, through innovative educational strategies. Middle school math will be the major focus. The initiative formally received approval to issue their request for proposals. Click here to view the RFPs. Click here to view the presentation. To view the press release and learn more, click here.

DISCUSSION (Report to the NC General Assembly) Statewide Trends in Student Digital Learning Access: It is legislatively required that data be collected and presented on in-school access to devices, at-home access to devices, and at-home access to internet connectivity. Most notably, while 100% of LEAs currently have a 1:1 school device to student ratio, 82 out of those 115 LEAs do not have funds to refresh devices for the next cycle, which is recommended to occur every 4 years. This issue did not face a vote this month, but the State Board has been encouraged by DPI to explore funding options to sustain student device access, especially at a 1:1 ratio. To view the presentation, click here. To view the full report, click here.

DISCUSSION PowerSchool Data Security Breach: Chief Information Officer for DPI, Vanessa Wrenn, shared that there was recently a cyber incident related to PowerSchool, which has since been contained using services from Cybersteward and Crowdstrike, who maintain a “fix, analyze, advise” structure. A PowerSchool contract employee’s credentials were used to access student and teacher data, though PowerSchool is confident all stolen data is now destroyed, and the system is secure for use. As an added layer of protection, a protocol is in place to monitor the general web and dark web for the data, in the event that it pops back up. No action by any school or DPI could have prevented this from happening. All impacted schools should have already been notified. No action needs to be taken unless otherwise advised by DPI.

DISCUSSION Discussing Long Session Legislative Priorities: Led by the Government and Community Affairs Committee (chaired by Wendell Hall and Vice-Chaired by Jill Camnitz), the State Board reviewed their legislative priorities from the last few years before brainstorming priorities for the 2025-2026 long session, including:

• Calendar flexibility
• Teacher compensation
• Retention and recruitment
• Improving principal pay
• Expanding advanced teaching roles
• Support for low performing schools
• Mental health
• School nutrition
• Math (supports, professional development, more)
• Modifying the formula for school performance grades
• School capital and building needs
• Reinstating Master’s pay
• Addressing issues with the State Health Plan
• Device refresh
• School safety

The State Board and the Department of Public Instruction plan to approve a final joint list of priorities during the Board’s February meeting.

DISCUSSION Recommendations from NC Principal of the Year Network: The Board received a presentation from the NC Principal of the Year Network on their legislative priorities, which primarily focused on reforming principal pay, assistant principals, school performance grading, and principal support programs. To view the full list of recommendations, click here. To view the presentation, click here.

APPROVED (Rules Update) New Temporary Rule on Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL): After the public comment period, the new temporary rule on NIL remains unaltered from what was proposed in November. Click here to view the approved temporary rule.

APPROVED (Rules Update) Permanent Rules on Interscholastic Athletics: Click here to view the presentation summarizing changes. Actual changes shown in strikethrough are here (blue changes are substantive, yellow are technical). These changes will go into effect next school year.

APPROVED (SBE Policy Amendment) Course for Credit: As previously discussed, these changes to credit recovery were primarily made to align with other policy updates approved in November regarding numeric grades being required for non-elective graduation requirements. View the policy with changes here. See the short presentation highlighting changes here.

APPROVED K-12 Science Instructional Materials/Textbooks for Adoption: Following its presentation in October, this item received no feedback during its public comment period. The request has been approved for statewide adoption. Board member Olivia Oxendine questioned whether the new materials allowed space for critical thinking on multiple perspectives about climate change and the origin of the universe, concerns which she was assured were appropriately considered and addressed during development. To view the presentation, click here.

APPROVED Contracts Over $500,000: To view the full list, including those connected to the new Golden LEAF Schools Initiative, click here.

APPROVED 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) Cohort 18 Competitive Grant Competition – Request for Proposals:  The purpose of this grant is to provide federal funds to establish or expand eligible community learning centers that operate during out-of school time hours to provide opportunities for academic enrichment. To view the presentation and learn more, click here. Note that the CCIP application opens on January 13, 2025.

APPROVED (Report to the NC General Assembly) School Connectivity Initiative: Click here to view highlights of the report. The full report is available here.

The State Board of Education is scheduled to meet next on February 5-6, 2025.

NCSBA will provide 1-2 page white papers (a.k.a. issue briefs) that provide additional background and details on each issue listed on our 2025-2026 Legislative Agenda. We plan to release the newest issue briefs in small groups over the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Kicking off the release, click here to review or download the 2025-2026 School Calendar Issue Brief and here for the 2025-2026 School Safety Issue Brief.

The following highlights are summaries directly based on the Consortium of State School Boards Associations (COSSBA) Federal Education Report and reflect information and ideas provided by the Consortium. Click here to read more about these topics and others in the December 16th report.

Education Leaders Rally on Capitol Hill for Social Security Fairness Act: Union leaders, lawmakers, and other stakeholders held a rally on Capitol Hill in December to urge a Senate vote on the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA). The SSFA was created to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), which advocates argue reduce Social Security benefits for millions of retirees, including teachers and other public service workers. The legislation has garnered substantial bipartisan support over its lifetime, but some Republicans have expressed concerns about the bill’s $195 billion cost over the next 10 years. Since the publication of this report, the SSFA was passed and signed by the President.

Tim Walberg (R-MI) Elected to Chair House Education and Workforce Committee: The Republican Steering Committee selected Tim Walberg, an eight-term congressman who has spent over ten years on the committee, over Burgess Owens (R-UT) for the role. Former Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) chose to step down after her most recent term with the committee. Walberg’s priorities going into the position include enhancing school choice, improving college affordability, and expanding apprenticeships and internships. Democrats on the committee will continue to be led by Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA).

To see a list of education related bills filed in Congress between 1/1/25-1/9/25, click here.

The following links are recent news articles, press releases, and reports on state and national education-related issues.

State News
BPR News: In Asheville visit, HUD secretary announces $1.6 billion in aid for rebuilding post-Helene
EdNC: NC General Assembly convenes to begin 2025 long session
WUNC: Major data breach hits NC schools. Plus, what’s next for Chromebooks?
NCDPI Press Release: NCDPI Launches $25 Million Initiative to Improve School Improvement with Golden LEAF Foundation Support
NC Newsline: NC legislature returns, with Hurricane Helene aid and oversight as top priorities
EdNC: Photos | Buncombe County students process Helene with art
News & Observer: New NC Gov. Josh Stein signs five executive orders on Helene. Here’s what they do.

National News
Politico: Walberg bests Owens to lead House Education and the Workforce panel
ProPublica: Arizona Regulators Closed a Failing Charter School. It Reopened as a Private Religious School Funded by Taxpayers.
CNN: More rural school districts are moving to a four-day week to attract and retain teachers
Education Week: FCC’s ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules Struck Down. Could This Mean Slower Internet for Schools?

The House and Senate have adjourned and plan to reconvene on January 29, 2025. To view the General Assembly’s legislative calendar, click here.