Legislative Updates & Alerts

NCSBA Legislative Update – May 26, 2017

May 26, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

NCSBA Legislative Update
MAY 26, 2017

HOUSE BUDGET STARTS MOVING

Spending subcommittees in the House met yesterday to set non-salary funding and policy provisions for their respective portions of the budget. Once lawmakers return from Memorial Day weekend, the House Appropriations Committee will take up salaries/benefits packages and make further amendments to the budget. House leaders plan to have their budget wrapped up by the end of next week.

The House education budget already appears to be very different from the Senate’s. Aside from salaries/benefits, which will be taken up next week, the notable components of the K-12 public education budget approved by the education appropriations subcommittee are below, along with a comparison of whether the provision is included in the Senate’s budget.

House Budget Provision	Included in Senate Budget???
NO FUNDING for specialty teachers in 18-19. HB 13 contained intent language.	Same- NO FUNDING for specialty teachers in 18-19. HB 13 contained intent language.
Creates a school calendar flexibility pilot for 20 LEAs to start as early as August 10. Same language as HB 389.	No
15-point scale for the A-F grades is made permanent.	No
Changes the definition of low-performing school so a school that meets growth is not given that designation. Same language as HB 826.	No
Creates 2 separate A-F grades: one grade for school achievement and one grade for school growth. Similar language to HB 458.	No
Exempts dual immersion classes from the lowered K-3 class sizes.	No
Aligns the accountability system with the Every Student Succeeds Act.	Yes
Requires LEA employees to have 2 hours of training on Youth Suicide Awareness. Same language as HB 285.	No
Cuts the Central Office Allotment 5.3% ($5 million) in 17-18 and 10.5% ($10 million) in 18-19	Yes but higher cuts 10.5% ($10 million) in 17-18 and 15% ($15 million) in 18-19
Fully funds ADM in both years.	Yes (with a reserve for 18-19)
Directs each LEA to report to the General Assembly on whether or not it needs to build additional classrooms to meet the new K-3 class size mandates.	No
Establishes 1 test to be administered to Opportunity Scholarship voucher students for comparability purposes.	No
Builds automatic $10 million per year increases in Opportunity Scholarship school vouchers into the base budget.	Yes
Renames the Achievement School District the Innovative School District.	No
Provides that if an LEA creates an Innovation Zone and one of the schools in that zone does not exceed growth in the last 2 of the 5 year period, it can then be taken over by a charter management group.	No
Establishes a task force to study revisions to school funding formulas, including possibly using the weighted student formula. Same language as HB 6.	No
Creates a new graduation requirement – at least 1 credit in Arts Education at any point between grades 6-12. Same language as HB 97.	No
Provides for up to 4 private alternative lateral-entry teacher preparation programs. Same language as HB 634.	No
Creates 10 new positions in the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Office.	Yes but creates 5

Also notable are these Senate budget items that the House budget DOES NOT include: Education Savings Accounts, elimination of school board funding lawsuit authority, and a $13 million DPI flexibility reduction.

Click here for a comparison of the line-item portions of the budgets so far.

EDUCATOR PREPARATION LEGISLATION

A legislative committee this week signed off on a measure to expand the ways individuals can attain a teacher license in North Carolina. The Senate Education Committee spent multiple meetings over the past two weeks discussing Senate Bill 599- Excellent Educators for Every Classroom, before passing it unanimously Wednesday.

While the 21-page bill has numerous components, at its core it allows for the establishment of different kinds of programs that provide a person a pathway to get a teacher’s license without having to earn a teaching degree from college/university. These kinds of programs are generally referred to around the country as non-traditional or alternative teacher preparation programs.

Alternative Teacher Prep Programs

Bill sponsor Sen. Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, explained to the committee that “Under the old system, you had to be an IHE, an institution of higher education, to prepare teachers. What the bill does is it says you no longer have to be that, but you have to meet this set of criteria.” Senator Barefoot cited an increasing number of alternative teacher preparation programs popping up around the country as well as the growing need for licensed teachers in North Carolina classrooms.

Alternative teacher prep programs would have to meet a baseline set of requirements in order to be eligible to operate. A Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission, made up of teachers and administrators, would be created to recommend all teacher preparation programs (college/university and alternative) to the State Board for approval.

Lateral-Entry Changes

SB 599 would also replace the current system of lateral-entry licensure with a system called “residency licensure.” While lateral-entry allows a person with a bachelor’s degree to teach in a classroom but requires they wait three years before being eligible for full licensure, a residency allows that same person to teach for just one year prior to becoming eligible for initial license. The resident would have to be enrolled in a teacher preparation program.

“I think the residency licensure track is going to be a faster, more efficient and more focused preparation for teaching than the current lateral entry system,” Sen. Barefoot said of this provision. “I think, ultimately, students are going to benefit more from it and the people who are engaged in it will benefit more from it.”

You can read the bill by clicking here and you can read a summary of the bill by clicking here.

EDUCATION sales tax FLEXIBILITY

HB 333- Local Option Sales Tax Flexibility, giving counties flexibility to convert existing public transit local sales tax authority to public education use passed the House Finance Committee overwhelmingly. It will likely come up for a vote the next time the House takes up legislation on the floor.

LOW INCOME STUDENTS/ACADEMICALLY GIFTED PLACEMENT

A three-part investigative series by the News and Observer and Charlotte Observer studied the last seven years of student placement into Academically and Intellectually Gifted programs across North Carolina. The series found that a larger proportion of more affluent students are selected for these classes than low-income students with similar test scores. If you are interested in reading this series you can find the links below.

Part 1: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article149942987.html

Part 2: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article150366187.html

Part 3: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article150367607.html

Federal EDUCATION Budget

The National School Boards Association has released an analysis of the Trump Administration’s 2018 budget for federal education funding. Click here for the NSBA summary and review.

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

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

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

NCSBA LEGISLATIVE UDPATE – MAY 19, 2017

May 19, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

STATEWIDE SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND PASSES COMMITTEE

The House K-12 Education Committee overwhelmingly approved putting a $1.9 billion statewide school construction bond on the November 2018 ballot. NCSBA Director of Governmental Relations Leanne Winner was among those who testified to the committee in support of the bond. You can read more about what happened during the meeting by reading a media report here.

The bond bill, HB 866, now goes to the House Finance Committee. Please contact members of this committee in support of the school construction bond. Click here to find members of the committee.

Use the below talking points on the bond when communicating with House Finance committee members:

LEAs across the state are facing an $8 billion backlog of school construction needs. A bond will provide a significant infusion of one-time funds to help LEAs begin to address some of these critical needs.

There has not been a statewide school construction bond issue in 21 years (1996).

The State Treasurer’s office has confirmed that NC has the capacity to absorb a bond of this amount.

A school construction bond is the only type of bond that would create jobs in all 100 counties.

The school construction bond is supported by a number of education groups (including school boards, administrators, teachers and parents), county commissioners, trade organizations (including architects, engineers, general contractors), and others.

Just like with House Ed, it would be helpful to share any pictures you may have of dilapidated or overcrowded schools in your LEA with members of House Finance. Please share those pics with us as well.

If your LEA needs to build additional classrooms to meet the lower K-3 class size mandates, it would also be helpful to share that information with House Finance Committee members. Attached is a list of additional classroom needs LEAs have identified to us as of today. If your LEA is not listed here please let us know ASAP what additional classroom space you would need to meet the K-3 class size mandates. You can send that information to Sean Holmes at sholmes@ncsba.org.

EDUCATION SALES TAX FLEXIBILITY UP FOR DISCUSSION

Counties would be able to generate additional local funds for public education purposes under legislation to be heard in House Finance next week. HB 333- Local Option Sales Tax Flexibility, expands how counties may use some local option sales taxes. Right now there is a provision in statute that allows counties to levy an additional local option sales tax but use the funds ONLY for public transportation purposes. No counties have used this particular provision (Mecklenburg, The Triangle, and The Triad get their public transport sales tax authority from different parts of the statute). HB 333 would take this existing statutory provision and expand it so that counties that want to levy the local sales tax could instead direct the revenue to fund: school construction, teacher supplements, and/or financial support of local community colleges. All counties would be allowed this expanded authority and the tax would still have to be approved by voters.

The bill is scheduled to be heard Tuesday morning, May 23, at 8:30 AM. NCSBA supports this measure as one of a menu of options to help LEAs deal with school construction needs, as outlined in the NCSBA 2017-18 legislative agenda.

EDUCATOR PREPARATION LEGISLATION

The Senate Education/Higher Education met this week to discuss SB599 – Excellent Educators for Every Classroom. The 21-page bill eliminates the existing statute for lateral-entry teachers and creates a series of new education preparation programs. The bill also establishes the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission to develop and recommend all aspects of the educator preparation programs including professional standards.

SB 599 creates new classes of teacher licenses and establishes new licensure requirements for out-of-state applicants and renewals.

The bill sponsor, Sen. Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, is seeking comment from stakeholders ahead of an anticipated vote next week in that committee. You can read the most updated version of the bill by clicking here and you can read a summary of the bill by clicking here.

SCHOOL CALENDAR

Please continue making a push on the Senate to consider one of the school calendar flexibility bills. Contact (i) Senate President Phil Berger and (ii) your Senate member(s). Ask them to allow consideration of one of the calendar flexibility bills- HB 375 (giving LEAs flexibility to align their start date with that of their local community college) or HB 389 (allowing a pilot of earlier start dates for certain LEAs to study the impact on student achievement as well as the economy).

Senate President Phil Berger contact info: click here
To find your Senator(s): click here

BUDGET

Now that the Senate has completed its version of the budget, leaders in the House are now focusing their attention on the House budget proposal. The House is aiming to have its budget approved by Friday, June 2. House spending subcommittees could begin rolling out their respective parts of the budget as early as next week.

Senate Budget: Click here and here for overviews of the Senate budget.

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

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

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

NCSBA Legislative Update – May 12 2017

May 12, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

NCSBA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
MAY 12, 2017

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND UP FOR CONSIDERATION

Next week a House Committee will hear legislation to place a $1.9 billion statewide school construction bond on the 2018 ballot. The school construction bond bill (HB 866) is on the calendar of the House K-12 Education Committee for Tuesday, May 16, at 10:00 AM.

Please contact members of this committee immediately in support of HB 866, the school construction bond bill. Click here for information on members of the committee.

Here are some talking points you can use in asking committee members to support this measure:

An $8 billion backlog of school construction needs exist statewide. A bond will provide a significant infusion of one-time funds to help LEAs begin to address some of these critical needs.

There has not been a statewide school construction bond since 1996.

The school construction bond would create jobs in every county of NC.

The school construction bond is supported by a number of education groups (including school boards, administrators, teachers and parents), county commissioners, trade organizations (including architects, engineers, general contractors), and others

Another helpful action would be to share with members of the committee any pictures you may have of dilapidated or overcrowded schools in your LEA. Please share those pics with us as well.

It would be also helpful to talk about any needs in your district to build additional classrooms to meet the K-3 class size mandates. Click here to find a list of additional classroom needs LEAs have identified to us. If your LEA is not listed here please let us know ASAP what additional classroom space you would need to meet the K-3 class size mandates. You can send that information to Sean Holmes at sholmes@ncsba.org.

SENATE BUDGET APPROVED

The Senate this week passed their budget proposal for the fiscal biennium. The Senate budget proposal received final approval on a party-line 32-15 vote early this morning. There are several concerning provisions in this budget, including Education Savings Accounts, elimination of school boards’ local funding lawsuit authority, removing State Health Plan medical coverage for future retirees, restrictions on allotment transferability, and no funding for program enhancement teachers once the K-3 class size restrictions take full effect.

Attached please find a review of some of the major provisions and money items in the Senate budget. This expands on some of the items that were sent to you on Wednesday.

SCHOOL CALENDAR

Now that crossover is completed and the Senate has finished their version of the budget, it is time to push hard on the school calendar issue and we need your help encouraging members of the Senate to take up one or both of the school calendar bills that passed the House.

Please contact (i) Senate President Phil Berger and (ii) your Senate member(s) this weekend. Ask them to allow consideration of one of the calendar flexibility bills- HB 375 (giving LEAs flexibility to align their state date with that of their local community college) or HB 389 (allowing a pilot of earlier start dates for certain LEAs to study the impact on student achievement as well as the economy).

Senate President Phil Berger contact info: click here
To find your Senator(s): click here

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

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

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

NCSBA Legislative Update – May 5 2017

May 5, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

NCSBA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
MAY 5, 2017

CLASS SIZES AND STATEWIDE BOND

Now that HB 13 has been enacted into law, local school boards and education leaders are turning to the task of phasing in the K-3 class size reductions. For 2017-18, the highest average/maximum class size levels in K-3 will be reduced by 1 from current levels. In 2018-18, average/maximums will be reduced by between an additional 2-4 depending on grade level.

The need for districts to build additional classrooms to meet the new requirements will only add to what is an already staggering backlog of school construction needs (estimated at $8 billion statewide). This makes it even more imperative that school districts get a significant infusion of school construction funding through a statewide bond. Remember that both the Senate and House have filed bills to put a $1.9 billion statewide bond on the ballot for school capital needs (SB542/HB866). Those bills remain eligible for the biennium. As part of the effort to communicate how badly a statewide school construction bond is needed we would like to know how much classroom space LEAs are going to have to add to meet the new K-3 class size requirements. Please let us know how many additional classrooms your LEA will need to construct to fully implement the new K-3 class sizes requirements for 2018-19. If your LEA will be able to absorb the changes without needing to build additional classrooms just say that no additional classrooms are needed.
Please send the information to Sean Holmes at sholmes@ncsba.org.

REFORMING RETIREMENT BENEFITS

The possibility of overhauling how retirement benefits are paid out for future (hired on or after July 1, 2018) teachers and State employees was the subject of a legislative committee meeting this week. Legislation discussed (but not voted on) Wednesday, SB 467, proposes to change the retirement plan for future workers from a Defined Benefit to a Defined Contribution system. SB 467 also proposes no longer allowing retirees (hired on or after July 1, 2018) to access medical coverage through State Health Plan.

The current Defined Benefit retirement system provides teacher and State employee retirees with a guaranteed monthly income upon retirement. A Defined Contribution plan as proposed under SB 467 removes the promise of a certain level of monthly income upon retirement and instead sets up 401(k) retirement accounts that teachers/State employees could access upon retirement. Contributions to this account would come from both the employer and worker contributions and the money would be invested in various stocks and bonds.

Supporters of SB 467 who spoke at the meeting argue that the costs of providing retirees with a guaranteed monthly income as well as State-provided health insurance is too big a financial burden for the State. They cite an estimated $60 billion unfunded liability to the State and point to research that a defined benefit program and State-funded health insurance at retirement do not add extra incentive to bring people ages 20-35 into government service.

A few groups representing teachers and government retirees spoke to the committee about some problems with changing the system, arguing that in the end a Defined Contribution plan may not even save any money.

While no vote was taken on SB 467, it could come back up at any time in the 2017-18 session as it was not subject to last week’s “crossover” deadline. It is also possible this language could appear as a provision in the Senate budget to be released next week (see below).

BUDGET UNDER DEVELOPMENT

It is expected that the Senate will release its State 2017-18 budget proposal early next week. Be sure to look for an email sometime in the middle of the week with a detailed analysis of the Senate’s budget proposal.

STATE BOARD OF ED NOMINEES

Governor Roy Cooper this week named three candidates to the State Board of Education to fill spots that opened on March 31, 2017.

Gov. Cooper re-nominated one of the current Board members whose term has expired- Mr. Reginald (Reggie) Kenan. Mr. Kenan is a sitting member of the Duplin County local board of education and would serve another eight-year term representing the Southeast Education Region (District 2) if confirmed.

Mr. J.B. Buxton has been nominated to replace Patricia Willoughby as an at-large member. Mr. Buxton has a number of years of experience in North Carolina’s public education system.

Ms. Sandra Byrd has been nominated to replace Wayne McDevitt as representative of the Western Education Region (District 8). Ms. Byrd is a retired UNC Asheville education professor.

These nominees still have to be confirmed by the General Assembly. Ms. Willoughby and Mr. McDevitt will continue serving on the Board until their replacements are confirmed.

To read more about each of these nominees click here.

CROSSOVER BILLS

The list of bills eligible for consideration for the remainder of the 2017-18 biennium has been whittled down by the passing of the crossover date. Attached is a list of the bills tracked by NCSBA that passed one chamber or the other and can thus move at any time over the rest of this session and the 2018 session.

Also note that finance and appropriations bills were not subject to the crossover date and can also move at any time.

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

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

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

NCSBA Legislative Update – April 28, 2017

April 28, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

NCSBA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
APRIL 28, 2017

K-3 CLASS SIZES

Changes to the planned K-3 class sizes have been signed into law. As we reported to you Tuesday, an agreed-upon version of HB 13 gives LEAs flexibility for 2017-18 in setting average K-3 class sizes higher than the funded level to continue generating the positions for specialty program teachers. The bill was passed by the Senate Wednesday, passed by the House Thursday and then quickly signed into law by the Governor.

In 2017-18, districts have flexibility for the following differentials between funded and average class sizes in the early grades: Kindergarten:(differential of 2); Grade 1: (differential of 4); Grades 2-3: (differential of 3). The maximum size of any individual class in grades K-3 will be 23.

In subsequent years (2018 and beyond) the class size averages in grades K-3 will have to equal the allotment ratios and the maximum in any one class could not be more than 3 students above the allotment ratio. This means that the changes that were set to go into effect this school year will be delayed until next year.

Senator Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, stated during the Senate Education Committee hearing on the bill that it is their intent to create a new funding allotment for the specialty (program enhancement) teachers next school year but that they must first collect data to know how much to fund for the needed positions. However, there is no language in the bill that addresses this point. On the Senate floor, Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, offered an amendment to specifically state in the bill that it is the legislature’s intent to create this separate funding stream, but Sen. Barefoot used a procedural maneuver on the floor to block the amendment. Remember that the General Assembly will not convene in 2018 until a week or two after the primary, which is usually held in May.

The new version of HB 13 also creates new reporting requirements. The local school board is required to submit the report in both September and in February of each year. The report includes the following:

For each class in each grade level at each school:
– Duties of the teacher

– Source of funds to pay each teacher

– The number of students assigned to the class

For each school:

– The number of program enhancement teachers (art disciplines, PE, health and world languages)

– The source of funds to pay each program enhancement teacher

The average class size for each grade in K-3.

Any other information the Superintendent of Public Instruction may require.

The new law also requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to conduct periodic audits. If it is determined that the LEA is exceeding requirements for average and individual class sizes without a waiver, the State Board of Education may impose a penalty that withholds State funds for the superintendents’ salary. LEAs will be required to pay the State’s portion.

The law also delineates a time frame for a school district to come into compliance if an application for a waiver has been denied.

CROSSOVER WEEK/BUDGET

April 27 was the deadline for crossover. Crossover is the date by which most bills must pass one chamber or the other in order to stay eligible for the remainder of the biennium. In next week’s update we will have a list of all the bills we are tracking that made the crossover deadline and will be eligible for the remainder of the biennium.

Senate leaders also announced their budget timetable this week. It is the Senate’s turn to go first with the budget. Their leadership announced that they hope to finish their work on the budget next week and roll it out publicly the week of May 7.

SCH BD LAWSUIT AUTHORITY

SB 531, eliminating school boards’ authority to file local funding lawsuits, passed the Senate this week. This means it has made crossover and is eligible for the remainder of the two-year biennium. The bill eliminates the formal mediation and if after a joint meeting between the two boards, the sides have not agreed then the decision of the county commissioners on funding is the final decision. The bill sponsor, Sen. Tommy Tucker, R-Union, has stated publicly he has spoken with House leaders about not moving this bill further until the results of a legislative study are released. That report is expected to be released sometime in May or early June.

Sen. Tucker also publicly pledged that the final version will include formal mediation and a fallback formula if no agreement is reached.

CHARTER AND OTHER BILLS THIS WEEK

A series of charter school bills passed the House this week ahead of the crossover deadline. These bills will all be eligible for consideration the remainder of the biennium.

HB 514– Permit Municipal Charter School/Certain Towns
This bill allows the Towns of Matthews and Mint Hill to set up and operate charter schools. This could raise concerns about towns and cities breaking off from the county school system before the concept has actually been studied. HB 514 also allows students living in the municipality to receive preferential enrollment over other applicants. It appears there could be a scenario where no admission slots are open to students who reside outside of the municipality. NCSBA also has concerns with allowing municipalities to provide public dollars directly for school construction. There may be significant constitutional issues associated with this and the location of where students served by the charter school reside.

HB 779– Charter School Changes
This bill originally would have allowed charter schools to access school capital funds. This provision was removed by the House K-12 Education Committee. As passed by the House the bill loosens the threshold for charter schools to automatically expand. Instead of automatically expanding up to 20% over planned enrollment, the bill would allow charters to automatically expand up to 30% over planned enrollment, unless it is a low-performing school.

HB 800– Various Changes to Charter School Laws
The House K-12 Education Committee removed the provision supported by NCSBA to restructure the way charter schools are funded locally.

As passed by the House, HB 800 gives charter school enrollment priority to children from corporations that donate land or capital infrastructure funds to the charter. In exchange, up to 50% of the charter’s student enrollment can be reserved for children of the corporate partner’s employees. NCSBA opposes this provision as it could limit enrollment opportunities for the general public.

HB 826 also passed the House overwhelmingly. This bill modifies the definition of “low-performing” school to ensure that the definition is limited to only those schools that are D or F grade and have not met expected growth.

Attached please find a list of all bills with action this week.

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

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

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

HB13/New Version

April 25, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

Subject: HB13/New Version

View: Public

To: Mr. Ronn Abernathy ; Michael Absher ; Kara Acree ; Lee Adams ; Patricia L. Adams ; Tabitha Adams ; Todd Adams ; Mr. Donald Agee ; Mr. Gustavo E. Agudelo ; Dr. Irene Aiken ; Mark K. Akinosho ; Kathey Aldridge ; Kay Allen ; Lucinda T. Allen; Melissa Allen ; Travis Allen ; Dr. Lynn Allred ; William C Alston ; Denise Altman ; W. D. Anderson ; Kate Appler; Mr. Robert Armour Jr.; Carlos Armstrong ; H. Lawrence Armstrong ; Mrs. Wanda Arrowood ; Joan S. Avery ; Sissy Aydlett ; Russ Ayers ; Matthew Babcock ; Debra Baggett ; Mr. Paul Bailey ; Rex Baity ; Dr. Chris Baldwin ; Dr. Pamela M. Baldwin ; Dr. Tony Baldwin ; Mary Ellon Ballance ; Barbara Balmer ; Dr. Carolyn Banks ; Clara Banks ; Jason Banks ; Rose Banks ; Dr. Theresa Banks ; Coleman Barbour ; Randall N. Barefoot ; Jasper Barfield ; Nancy Barger ; Greg Barksdale ; Leslie Barnes ; Mrs. Velma H. Barnes ; Robert Barr ; Ann Barrett ; Mr. James Barrett ; Bea Basnight ; George Battle III ; Mel O. Battle ; Leisa Batts ; Sharon Bawcum ; Blake Beadle ; Frank Beals ; Mr. Chad S. Beasley ; Susie Beasley ; Rachel Beaulieu ; Mr. Landon Beaver ; Alan Beck ; Julie R. Beck ; Dr. Lee Beckworth; Amanda Bell ; Dr. John Mark Bennett ; Ms. Marilynn Bennett ; Mrs. Vivian W. Bennett ; Curtis Benton ; Becky Berger ; Natalie Beyer ; Scott Biesecker ; Mr. Brian Biggs ; Michael Bilbro ; Nancy Black ; Susan Blackwell ; Edward H. Blair ; Tommy Blake ; Mr. Danny L. Blanton ; Sam Blevins ; Stuart Blount ; Jonathan Blumberg ; Jo Boggs ; Rebecca Boles ; Anna L. Bonham ; Kristie Bonnett ; Mr. Jeffrey Booker ; Mrs. Frances Boomer ; Mrs. Glendale P. Boone ; Tammy Boone ; Eltha Booth ; Richard Bostic ; Amy Bottomley ; Sandra Bowen ; Scott A. Bowman ; Kathleen Boyd ; Leslie Boyd ; Ms. Barbara Boyd-Williams ; Ms. Beverly Boyette ; Tracy D. Boyles ; Mr. Bob Brackett ; Dr. Eric C. Bracy ; Michael T. Bracy ; Tammy Bradley ; Mrs. Margaret Bradsher ; Mrs. Teresa Branch ; Barbara L. Brayboy ; Mr. Jim K. Breedlove ; Mrs. Kelly Bridges ; Joe H. Briggs ; Sherry Bright ; Dr. Richard Brinegar ; Susan Britt ; David Brittain ; Mrs. Debra Brodie ; Tamara Brogan ; Joal Broun ; Ricky Browder ; Dr. Betty W. Brown ; Ms. Brenda Brown ; Don Brown ; Joyce Brown ; Mary Brown ; Mr. Paul Brown ; Dr. Andy Bryan ; Mr. Pat Bryant ; Caryn L. Brzykcy ; Margaret Buchanan ; Chip Buckwell ; Ms. Barbara Buie ; Sarah Bulla ; Charles Bullard ; Victoria Bullard ; Wayne Bullard ; Evelyn Bulluck, Past President ; Jean Bunch ; Ms. Patricia Burden ; Fred Burgess ; Dr. Sue F. Burgess ; Mrs. Candy Burgin ; John Burke ; Ms. Angela Burleson ; David Burleson ; Mellie Burns ; Mr. Randy Burns ; Gil Burroughs ; Renee Burt ; Dr. Dain Butler ; Garland Byers Jr. ; Ms. Thelma Byers-Bailey ; Alisha Byrd ; David Byrd ; Dr. Jeff Byrd ; Mark Byrd ; Ms. Terry Byrd ; Mrs. Tanya L. Byrd-Robinson ; Mr. Leslie Byrum ; Thomas H. Cabe ; Mr. Bo Caldwell ; Robert Caldwell ; Mrs. Stacey Caldwell ; Chad Calhoun ; Kevan Callicutt ; Vicki Calvert ; Pamela Cameron ; Christopher Campbell; John Campbell ; Sherry Cariss; Jay Carlisle ; Carolyn Carpenter ; Kimberly Carpenter ; Nora Carr ; Tom Carr ; Wendy Carriker; Marsha Carroll ; Roger Carroll ; Ittiely Carson ; Mrs Elizabeth Carter ; Dr. Sandra Carter ; Dr. Larry W. Cartner ; Emeron Cash Sr. ; Ms. Roxie Cash ; Wes Cashwell ; Xavier Cason ; Dana Caudill-Jones ; Janice A. Cavenaugh; Jacqueline D. Chabot ; Rosemary Champion ; Kathy Chandler ; Myra Chandler ; Greg Chapman ; Marie Chavis ; Mrs. Peggy W. Chavis ; Doneva Chavis-Battle ; Phillip R. Cheek ; Matthew Cheeseman ; Dot Cherry ; Audra Chilton ; Alicia Chisolm ; Ms. Amy Churchill ; Joel Churchwell ; Patsy Clack ; Ann Clark ; Belinda Clark ; Mr. Kevin Clark ; Ms Lois Clark ; Dr. Robert Clark ; Mr. Ronnie Clark ; Paul Clifton ; Winfield Clonts; Karen Clough ; Dr. Terri Cobb ; Stephen Coble ; Kelby Cody ; Sexton Earlie Coe ; Donna Coffey ; Mr. Tim Coffey ; Amanda Coldiron ; Rose Cole ; Patricia Coleman ; Randy Coleman ; Mr. Kevin L. Collier ; Emily Coltrane ; Marvin Connelly ; Dr. Sharon Contreras ; Gary Cook ; Mr. Ben Cooke ; Mrs. Catherine Cooke ; Melody Coons ; Claude E. Cooper ; Elizabeth K. Cooper ; Kim Cooper ; Mr. Colby Coren ; Ms. Rhonda M. Corley; Mrs. Mary Louise Corn ; Jason Cornett ; Julie Correll ; Ann Cosper ; Jill Coughlin ; Ms. Barbara Council ; Mildred A. Council ; Richard N. 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This evening the Senate Education Committee approved a new version of HB 13. The bill provides that during the 2017-2018 school year the class size averages in grades k-3 shall not exceed 20 students and that the maximum students in any one class will not exceed 23 students.

In subsequent years (2018 and beyond) the class size averages in grades k-3 will have to equal the allotment ratios and the maximum in any one class could not be more than 3 students above the allotment ratio. If the funded allotments do not change they would be:

Kindergarten: 1 teacher to every 18 students
1^st grade: 1 teacher to every 16 students
2^nd and 3^rd grades: 1 teacher to every 17 students

These changes, in essence, create a one year delay from these provisions going into effect the upcoming school year.

Senator Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, stated it is their intent to create a new funding allotment for the specialty (program enhancement) teachers but that they must first collect data to know how much to fund for the needed positions. But there is no language in the bill that addresses this point. Remember that the General Assembly will not convene in 2018 until a week or two after the primary, which is usually held in May.

The bill also creates a new reporting requirement. The report will be due from the local board of education in both September and in February of each year. The report will have to show the following:

For each class in each grade level at each school:
– Duties of the teacher
– Source of funds to pay the teacher
– The number of students assigned to the class

For each school:
– The number of program enhancement teachers. Program enhancement teachers include art disciplines, PE, health and world languages.
– The source of funds to pay the teachers.

Any other information the Superintendent of Public Instruction may require.

The bill also requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to conduct periodic audits. If it is determined that the LEA is exceeding requirements for average and individual class sizes without a waiver, the State Board of Education may impose a penalty may withhold that state funds for the superintendents’ salary.

It also delineates a time frame for a school district to come into compliance if an application for a waiver has been denied.

Attached please find the press release from the Senate.

The new version of the bill will be heard in Senate Rules tomorrow morning April 25, at 8 AM. If favorable, the bill then goes to the Senate floor. Then the bill would return to the House for a concurrence vote and then to the Governor.

NCSBA Legislative Update – April 21 2017

April 21, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

NCSBA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
APRIL 21, 2017

**Next Thursday, April 27, is the deadline for crossover. This is the date by which non-finance non- appropriation bills must pass one chamber or the other in order to be eligible for consideration the remainder of the biennium. There will likely be a flurry of legislative activity as crossover approaches.

Please pay attention to your email next week as we may have some legislative alerts throughout the week that require immediate action on legislation. **

SCH BD LAWSUIT AUTHORITY

Legislation eliminating school boards’ authority to file legal challenges to local funding passed the House State and Local Government I Committee this week. The bill, HB 305, generated healthy debate and was approved by a narrow margin. It now goes to the House K-12 Education Committee.

Meanwhile the Senate version of this bill, SB 531, has been calendared for consideration next week. It is scheduled to be heard in the Senate State and Local Government Committee at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, April 25. Please contact members of this committee (click here) and ask them to oppose this bill.

NOTABLE BILLS
On the House Floor next week:

HB 285– Suicide Prevention/Awareness School Personnel.
This establishes a training requirement for school personnel on teen suicide prevention. NCSBA has spent a large amount of time working on this bill to try to align it with the recently passed State Board of Education policy on mental health, which requires six hours of training every three years for both certified and non-certified personnel. We have not yet been able to get the bill into a form that aligns with the SBE policy. As currently written, HB 285 requires school personnel in grades 6-12 to have an additional two hours of training on teen suicide awareness. Neither this bill nor the SBE policy provides funding for this mandate. HB 285 is expected to come up on the House floor Monday.

The House K-12 Education Committee is scheduled to hear the following notable bills next week:

HB 514– Permit Municipal Charter School/Certain Towns (Monday, April 24 at 12:00 Noon)
Allows certain municipalities to set up and operate charter schools. This could raise concerns about towns and cities breaking off from the county school system before the concept has actually been studied. Indeed, there is already a bill scheduled for the next day to study the idea of breaking up the larger school systems. If you have any concerns about the concept of towns/cities creating charters please contact your House member(s).

HB 779– Charter School Changes (Monday, April 24 at 12:00 Noon)
The most notable provision of this multi-part bill is a section that allows charter schools to access school capital funds. NCSBA has concerns about this provision. The bill also loosens the threshold for charter schools to automatically expand. Instead of automatically expanding up to 20% over planned enrollment, the bill would allow charters to automatically expand up to 40% over planned enrollment.

HB 800– Various Changes to Charter School Laws (Monday, April 24 at 12:00 Noon)
Section 3 of this bill attempts to reform the funding relationship between LEAs and charter schools by requiring that charter schools get their local funding directly from county commissioners instead of through a transfer from the LEA. This would remove the LEA’s role in charter school funding, which is a priority outlined in the NCSBA legislative agenda.

Section 1 gives charter school enrollment priority to children from groups with whom a charter is a “partner.” A “partner” is defined in the bill as a business entity that has donated land or capital infrastructure funds to the charter. NCSBA opposes this provision as it could limit enrollment opportunities for the general public.

Section 2 allows employees of an EMO/CMO to work as teachers in a charter.

HB 681– Teacher Licensure/Military Spouses (Tuesday, April 25 at 10:00 AM)
A provision of this bill requires DPI to give priority in teacher licensure applications to military spouses. NCSBA has concerns about this portion of the bill as it could alter the playing field in processing licensure applications for those LEAs near military bases. If you have concerns about this provision please reach out to your House member(s).

HB 704– Divide School Systems/Study Committee (Tuesday, April 25 at 10:00 AM)
Establishes a study committee to look at the pros and cons of dividing larger school systems.

HB 826- Modify Low-Performing School Definition (Tuesday, April 25 at 10:00 AM)
Provides that if a D or F school/LEA is meeting expected growth, it cannot be considered “low-performing.” This is an NCSBA legislative agenda priority.

Activity This Week

HB 13, the bill to provide relief from the impending K-3 class size changes, has been moved from Senate Rules to the Senate Education Committee, which indicates a deal has been struck.

HB 406. Passed by the House State and Local Government I Committee. This bill repeals the authority of Orange County to impose impact fees. Another bill that moved this week, HB 436, freezes impact fees statewide and establishes a study committee to look into impact fees.

HB 866. This is the House version of the $1.9 billion statewide bond proposal for public school construction purposes. It was filed this week and is identical to the Senate companion, SB 542. The sponsors are Reps. Linda Johnson, R-Cabarrus, Craig Horn, R-Union, Kevin Corbin, R-Macon, and Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg. Please be sure to thank the sponsors for their leadership in filing this bill.

HB 833. Passed by the House K-12 Education Committee. This bill makes a few changes to the Driver Education laws. Among other things, it would restrict transfers OUT of the driver education allotment. These funds could only be transferred out if they go to support a driver education program in another LEA. Another section sets out a directive for local boards to be provided with technical assistance if they desire to contract out driver education services.

Attached are lists of all NCSBA-tracked bills that had action this week and all new bills filed this week that NCSBA is tracking.

UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Monday, April 24

12:00 PM
The House K-12 Education Committee will meet and consider the following pertinent bills:
HB 514- Permit Municipal Charter School/Certain Towns
HB 534- Computer Coding Course Elective
HB 779- Charter School Changes
HB 800- Various Changes to Charter School Laws
HB 806- Student Notice/Charter School Closure/Restr.

Tuesday, April 25

10:00 AM
The House K-12 Education Committee will meet and consider the following pertinent bills:
HB 600- School Construction Flexibility
HB 681- Teacher Licensure/Military Spouses
HB 704- Divide School Systems/Study Committee
HB 826- Modify Low-Performing School Definition
HB 849- Restore Longitudinal Data System Board

12:00 PM
The House Judiciary II Committee will meet and consider the following pertinent bills:
HB 336- Ltd. License/Drive to School Event Past 9:00
HB 670- Protect Educational Property

2:00 PM
The Senate State and Local Government Committee will meet and consider the following pertinent bills:

SB 375- State Emps./No Payroll Dues Deductions

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

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

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

NCSBA Legislative Update – April 13 2017

April 14, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

NCSBA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
APRIL 13, 2017

EASTER RECESS

Lawmakers returned home to their districts after Tuesday’s session for a week-long Easter recess. The next floor votes in the House and Senate will occur Wednesday, April 19. After that the next major date on the legislative calendar is April 27, which is the crossover date. Crossover is the date by which statewide bills outside of those touching on spending or money-raising must pass one chamber or the other in order to remain eligible for the remainder of the 2017-18 biennium. With crossover approaching there will likely be a great deal of legislative activity when lawmakers return.

ACTION NEEDED – SCH BD LAWSUIT AUTHORITY

HB 305, the measure stripping school boards of the authority to file legal challenges to local funding, is scheduled for a committee hearing when lawmakers return from Easter recess. HB 305 is on the calendar for 10:00 AM on Wednesday, April 19, in the House State and Local Government I Committee.

Please contact members of this committee (click here) and your local House members (click here) and ask them to OPPOSE HB 305. Remind them how important it is that school boards keep this one mechanism that ensures checks and balances in the local education funding process.

Key Points to Communicate – School Board Lawsuit Authority/HB 305

1) NCSBA and the NC Association of County Commissioners agreed last year to have legislative staff study the local education funding dispute process and make some recommendations. That study is still ongoing, so moving legislation right now would be premature. The original agreement should be honored.

2) Eliminating local funding lawsuit authority raises the concern of how school boards are supposed to fulfill their Leandro obligation to provide an opportunity for a sound basic education on behalf of the State. This is because school boards would no longer have a method to hold county commissioners accountable for insufficient funding levels. Also, creating these roadblocks for school boards to advocate for sufficient funding could potentially invite student/parent lawsuits.

3) Only a small handful of education funding disputes have actually gone to trial. Mediation has usually worked to resolve any funding disagreements. But it is the threat of legal action that creates the incentive for commissioners to come to the table. HB 305 removes this one check and balance on commissioners and says that if there is no agreement in mediation, the commissioners have the final word on funding. This would make the mediation process essentially meaningless and there would be NO checks and balances between the two boards.

ACTION NEEDED – HOMESCHOOL ACCESS TO PUB SCHOOL SPORTS

There are indications that the Senate Education Committee could soon hold a hearing on SB 254, which requires LEAs to make its high school sports teams and extracurricular activities open to homeschooled students.

SB 254 also requires that if a public school student does not have a specific sport or extracurricular at his/her base high school, he/she must be allowed to participate in that sport/extracurricular at another public high school.

Please contact members of the Senate Education Committee (click here) as well as your own Senate members (click here) in opposition to SB 254. Below are just some of the significant issues that could result from mandating public high school sports and extracurriculars be made open to non-enrolled students. Make sure to communicate these points to your Senators.

Talking Points – Homeschool/Non-Enrolled Student Access to High School Sports

Residency accountability. How can schools or school systems check into the “red flags” of residency for homeschooled students? For example, a student assignment office might do “in home” visits if there are concerns about the student/parent/legal custodian living where they indicate is their residence. Would the school system have the legal right to investigate or do an “in-home” visit if the student is homeschooled?

Competitive balance. Non-enrolled students playing on high school sports teams could dramatically alter and upset the competitive balance. NCHSAA schools are classified into four different classes based on ADM at their school and play toward championships in those classifications. But now a school may be drawing from a much larger base (students from other schools); would classifications have to be altered to accommodate that?

Insurance and liability. It is unclear what the insurance/liability situation would be with SB 254. Would the student-athletes be covered even though they are not actually students at the given school?

Determining eligibility. In recent years the NCHSAA has tightened standards for checking eligibility, especially residency. But the logistics of trying to do this for students not even enrolled at that school and are from a whole host of different high schools could be mind-boggling. It is challenging enough for an athletic director to check eligibility for students at his or her school when the records are right there; this could mean trying to get attendance, academics and other information from a whole variety of other high schools and homeschools just for one athletic team’s eligibility.

School unity. Students who playing sports at two different high schools would be playing AGAINST their school in one sport but playing FOR that school in another sport. What effect would this have on school spirit? What effect would it have on school spirit, team loyalty, etc., when students who do not attend the school are now part of one of the sports teams?

SCHOOL CALENDAR FLEXIBILITY

A second school calendar flexibility bill cleared the House on Monday. Legislation giving authority to ALL LEAs to move their start date as early as August 15 to align with the start of their local community college- HB 375– passed 108-6. Along with HB 389, which passed last week, the House has now sent the Senate two different kinds of calendar flexibility bills to consider.

Be sure to thank your House members who voted for the calendar flexibility bills.

HB 375 voting: click here
HB 389 voting: click here

To see which LEAs would be put into the HB 389 calendar pilot click here.

TEACHER BILLS PASS COMMITTEE

Several bills designed to help improve teacher recruitment and retention cleared the Senate Education Committee this week. They have all been referred to other committees. Among the bills the committee passed Tuesday were:

Senate Bill 448. Authorizes school boards to contract with professors at universities and community colleges to teach core academic subjects in any grade. The individual would not have to obtain a teaching license but would be subject to certain criteria established by the SBE.
Sponsors: Senators Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, Joyce Krawiec, R-Forsyth

Senate Bill 447. Expands the teacher assistant tuition reimbursement pilot program to include 10 more LEAs. This popular pilot reimburses TAs for up to $4,500 of the costs of tuition for pursing teacher licensure degrees. This bill expands the pilot to Bertie, Duplin, Edenton-Chowan, Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash-Rocky Mount, Northampton, Tyrrell, Vance, Washington. It also clarifies that TAs participating in this pilot can receive their salary and benefits while doing their student teaching.
Sponsors: Senators Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, Tom McInnis, R-Richmond, Erica Smith-Ingram, D-Northampton

SB 517 and SB 598 were also approved. These are designed to improve the teacher preparation pipeline and encourage teacher ed graduates to stay in state.

NOTABLE BILLS FILED THIS WEEK

School Construction
HB 638. This expands lottery advertising to generate additional lottery revenue. Each LEA in Tier 1 and Tier 2 would be eligible for up to $10 million/year in additional school construction lottery funds through the increased revenue.
Sponsors: Reps. Kevin Corbin, R-Cherokee, Terry Garrison D-Vance, Howard Hunter, D-Hertford, Larry Potts, R-Davidson

Low-Performing School Definition
HB 826. This provides that if a D or F school/LEA is meeting expected growth, it cannot be considered “low-performing.” This is an NCSBA legislative agenda priority.
Sponsors: Reps. Dennis Riddell, R-Alamance, Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, Andy Dulin, R-Mecklenburg, John Fraley, R-Iredell

Opportunity Scholarship Accountability
HB 678. Requires that a non-public school provide evidence of accreditation in order to be eligible to receive public funds through the state’s voucher program. NCSBA’s legislative agenda suggests this as a method of putting additional accountability into the program.
Sponsor: Rep. John Ager, D-Buncombe

School Bus Drivers
HB 641. Sets aside funds to allow for school bus drivers to receive a raise of up to $2.00/hr.
Sponsor: Rep. Beverly Boswell, R-Dare

MEDIA COVERAGE

K-3 Class Sizes: Phillip Price, former CFO of DPI, writes how any discussion about the K-3 class size issue needs to factor in how overall resources for public schools have declined. Click here to read the editorial.

School Capital: Leanne Winner, NCSBA Director of Governmental Relations, and Kevin Leonard, NCACC Executive Director, were on the latest episode of Education Matters to talk about legislative proposals to help locals cope with the $8 billion in public school construction needs. You can watch the conversation here.

BILLS

Action Bills: Click here for the NCSBA-tracked bills that had action this week.

New Bills: Click here for a list of bills filed this week that NCSBA is tracking.

UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Wednesday, April 19

10:00 AM
The House State and Local Government I Committee will meet and consider the following pertinent bill:
HB 305- School Boards Can’t Sue Counties

The House State and Local Government II Committee will meet and consider the following pertinent bill:
HB 482- County Comm. Role in School Bldg Acquisition

The Senate Health Care Committee will meet and consider the following pertinent bills:
SB 316- Suicide Prevention/Awareness School Personnel
SB 594- Family/Child Protection & Accountability Act

1:00 PM
The Senate Finance Committee will meet and consider the following pertinent bill:
SB 343- Increase Teacher Supplement/Electronic Notice

Thursday, April 20

9:00 AM
The House K-12 Education Committee will meet and consider the following bills:
HB 285- Suicide Prevention/Awareness School Personnel
HB 556- Office of Early Childhood Education
HB 634- Private Alternative Preparation

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

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

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

NCSBA Legislative Update – April 7 2017

April 7, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

NCSBA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
APRIL 7, 2017

LEGISLATOR SPRING BREAK/K-3 CLASS SIZE

Lawmakers are planning to leave Raleigh after this coming Tuesday’s legislative session to take a “spring break” for the Easter holiday. They will return to town a week later. If they do not take action on the K-3 class size issue on Monday or Tuesday of next week there will not be another opportunity to get something passed until they reconvene on Wednesday, April 19.

Click here to read a letter NCSBA sent to all Senators encouraging them to address the K-3 class size issue prior to leaving for break next week.

STUDENT LETTERS/HB 13

It has come to our attention that some elementary school classes are having their students write letters to their legislators asking them to support HB 13. Concerns are being raised around Jones Street that such activity may not be an appropriate use of classroom time. We advise you to check with your elementary principals to make sure this is not occurring in your schools.

SCHOOL CALENDAR FLEXIBILITY PASSES HOUSE

There was a lot of important action on school calendar flexibility this week. Two bills- HB 375 to give authority to ALL LEAs to have a start date aligned with their local community college as early as August 15 and HB 389 to set a pilot program to allow 20 LEAs to move the start date as early as the Monday closest to August 10- were discussed and given overwhelming support Thursday on the House floor. The calendar pilot bill moves on to the Senate. The community college calendar alignment bill received preliminary approval but won’t get a final vote until Monday. A House member objected to the bill on third reading.

To see which LEAs would be put into the HB 389 calendar pilot click here.

You can read more about the House debate on these bills here.

NOTABLE MEDIA COVERAGE/SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION

Financing NC’s $8 billion backlog of school construction and renovation needs is being talked about on notable political and education TV shows. The topic was discussed by a panel of political commentators on a recent episode of NC Spin. You can watch that here (the discussion begins at the 20:10 mark).

The next episode of Education Matters, the Public School Forum’s weekly TV show, will also have a segment on this issue that features Leanne Winner, NCSBA Director of Governmental Relations alongside Kevin Leonard, Executive Director of the NC Association of County Commissioners. See below for information on air times of this episode.

Broadcast Information

Saturdays at 7:30PM WRAL-TV (Raleigh/Durham)
Sundays at 6:30 AM and Mondays at 3:00 PM on UNC-TV’s statewide channel
Online at https://www.ncforum.org

NOTABLE LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY

Charter Schools/Fund 8/Capital Funding
SB 658, legislation requiring LEAs to share additional monies with charter schools was filed in the Senate this week. The charter school fund sharing bill is sponsored by Senators Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) and Chad Barefoot (R-Wake). It is essentially the same fund sharing language as the HB 539 bill that NCSBA fought last session, except this bill ALSO contains a provision allowing charters to access school capital funding.

Education Savings Accounts
SB 603. This is a bill to set up Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) for students with disabilities in North Carolina. ESAs are part of the school voucher family except instead of having tax money go to a private school to cover tuition costs, ESAs allow parents to receive tax money directly (usually in the form of a debit card) that they can use to pay for various types of educational services. This ESA bill would only set up accounts for parents/guardians of students with disabilities, who would receive the average State per-pupil amount plus the exceptional children per-pupil funding amount.

Local Funding Disputes/Sch Bd Lawsuit Authority
The House version of legislation to strip school boards of their power to initiate lawsuits challenging local funding sufficiency (HB 305) was scheduled to be heard in a House committee Wednesday morning but it was later removed from the calendar prior to the start of the meeting. HB 305 could still emerge at any time.

BILLS

Action Bills: Click here for the NCSBA-tracked bills that had action this week.

New Bills: Click here for a list of bills filed this week that NCSBA is tracking.

UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Monday, April 10

5:00 PM
The Senate will convene for session.

6:00 PM
The House will convene for session. The following notable bills are on the House calendar:

HB 265- Partisan Elections/Certain School Boards
HB 293- Onslow/Pender Bd. Of Ed/Partisan Election
HB 520- Union Co. Bd. Of Ed/Partisan Election
HB 375- School Cl. Flex/CC

Tuesday, April 11

10:00 AM
The House K-12 Education Committee will meet and consider the following bills:
HB 149- Students W/Dyslexia and Dyscalculia
HB 360- Harnett Co. Schools/Exam Window

1:00 PM
The House University Education Committee will meet and consider the following bills:
HB 532- Modify UNC Laboratory Schools

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

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

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

NCSBA Legislative Update – March 31 2017

March 31, 2017 Ramona Powers Legislative Updates & Alerts

NCSBA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
MARCH 31, 2017

K-3 CLASS SIZES

There remains no resolution on the K-3 class size issue at this time. We urge that your school district begin making contingency plans to implement the changes as scheduled if you have not already done so. Be sure to share your contingency plans with your Senators. Give them an idea of some of the key decisions you are going to have to make and what the timeframe is going to be.

Various news stories have been popping up in recent weeks about how school districts are readying themselves for the K-3 class size changes.

Some Wake County year-round schools are shifting students to different tracks in anticipation of meeting the new requirements: click here to read more
Winston-Salem/Forsyth is discussing the possibility of cutting TA positions to meet the class size mandate: click here to read more
Dr. Terry Stoops of the John Locke Foundation writes that the K-3 class size changes are likely to result in more long-term substitutes in public school classrooms: click here

In addition to HB 13, there is now a second bill that has been filed to try to give LEAs relief from the coming class size requirements. Senator Rick Horner, R-Nash, filed SB 541 this week. It sets a 21 average and 24 individual K-3 class size limit for 2017-18, with the individual class size max dropping to 23 the following school year. Teachers in K-3 classrooms that exceed the individual class size max would have to be given an additional supplement for each child over the max – paid by the LEA using only local funds.

Along with contingency plans, it is important to continue communicating the below points to your Senators in talking about the K-3 class size issue.

1) Whether the uncertainty on the class size issue has caused any delays in issuing planning guides to principals in your district for the 2017-18 school year.

2) Whether the uncertainty on the class size issue has been creating any issues in your district in contracting with personnel for the 2017-18 school year.

3) Whether there are concerns in your district about the ability to find certified teachers to fill the additional classrooms from the class size changes. Let them know that having long-term substitutes to fill these vacancies is not an educationally sound solution.

HOUSE BILL 2

State leaders reached a compromise on repealing and replacing House Bill 2. The compromise bill moved through the General Assembly Thursday afternoon and was signed hours later by Gov. Cooper. Click here to read the compromise.

The new law contains the following language pertaining to local governments:

No local government in this State may enact or amend an ordinance regulating private employment practices or regulating public accommodations.

If you have questions about this law please consult your local board attorney.

SCHOOL CALENDAR FLEXIBILITY

On Tuesday a pair of school calendar flexibility bills passed the House K-12 Education Committee.

1) HB 375 allows ALL LEAs to align the start of their school year with that of their local community college, but no earlier than August 15. Reps. Jonathan Jordan, R-Ashe, Craig Horn, R-Union, Linda Johnson, R-Cabarrus, and Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, are the sponsors. After it passed committee, HB 375 was put on the House calendar for the next day but then withdrawn. It appears that leadership is going to wait until the Commerce Committee takes action on a calendar flexibility pilot bill (HB 389 see below) before taking up HB 375 on the House floor. The intention is to bring the bills up on the House floor at the same time.

2) HB 389 creates a pilot program for 20 LEAs to set the beginning of their calendars no earlier than August 10. It is sponsored by Reps. Harry Warren, R-Rowan, Craig Horn, R-Union, Linda Johnson, R-Cabarrus, and Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson. HB 389 has been referred to the House Commerce Committee and is on the committee’s calendar for Wednesday, April 5 at 8:30 AM.

Click here to see which LEAs would be put into this pilot.

You can read about the committee hearing at which these bills were approved here.

Please be contacting House members this weekend in support of HB 375 and HB 389. Remind them of the issues that LEAs struggle with under the current calendar start date, particularly the problem of high school exams administered after winter break and the burdens for students when high school fall and spring semesters are out of alignment with local community college fall and spring semesters.
Local Calendar Flexibility Bills

53 local calendar flexibility bills have been filed for over 90 LEAs. Click here to see the flexibility bills that have been filed.

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION/CAPITAL FUNDING

In conjunction with outside partners, NCSBA has worked with key legislators to get a number of bills filed giving LEAs a menu of options for addressing school capital needs. Below is a list of bills that have been filed this session to assist LEAs with school capital needs.

Public School Bond Issue
SB 542 places a statewide bond on the ballot for public school construction. If approved by the voters the bond would be $1.9 billion. Funds would be distributed per the following formula:

$760 million (40%) allocated by ADM (local match required)

$570 million (30%) allocated by Low-Wealth status

$285 million (15%) allocated to High-Growth districts (local match required)

$285 million (15%) allocated to districts in small counties

The bond would provide a significant one-time infusion of school capital funding for the first time in over 20 years. If SB 542 passes the bond would be placed on the November 2018 ballot.
Sponsors: Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph; Sen. Valerie Foushee, D-Orange; Sen. Rick Gunn, R-Alamance

Local Option Revenues
HB 333, HB 437, SB 166 would authorize counties to levy an additional local sales tax of up to one-half cent to raise revenue for school construction needs or supplement teacher salaries. The additional local sales tax would have to be approved by voters in the county via referendum.
HB 333 Sponsors: Rep. Susan Martin, R-Pitt; Rep. Howard Hunter, D-Hertford; Rep. Sam Watford, R-Davidson; Rep. Jason Saine, R-Lincoln
HB 437 Sponsors: Rep. David Rogers, R-Rutherford
SB 166 Sponsors: Sen. Shirley Randleman, R-Wilkes

Lottery Funding
HB 481 restores statutory directives for how lottery funds are to be allocated, including the requirement that 40% go to school capital. A provision in the 2013 budget removed all lottery allocation guidelines from statute and made the annual distribution purely a decision of the General Assembly. Putting these directives back into statute would be a starting point for moving the school construction allocation back to the lottery’s original promise of 40%.
Sponsors: Rep. James Boles, R-Moore; Rep. Allen McNeill, R-Randolph

SB 234 (Part 4) creates additional lottery revenue through expanded advertising and uses the additional revenue to fund school capital needs in Tier I and II counties (up to $10 million annually in any one county). This is in addition to the regular allotment of capital funds that come from the lottery.
Sponsors: Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph; Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow

SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY/A-F

Two weeks after passing legislation to equalize how performance and growth count towards a school’s A-F grade, the House on Thursday sent the Senate a separate, alternative option for revising NC’s accountability system.

HB 458 proposes an idea for restructuring the A-F grading system to have a school’s performance and growth results broken out separately and assigned their own separate A-F grades. The sponsors argue that this could be a more transparent way of doing A-F grades instead of having performance and growth blended to produce one grade. HB 458 does not impact the 50/50 bill the House passed two weeks ago but rather gives the Senate another option to consider in reforming the accountability system. HB 458 also makes the necessary changes to the accountability system to ensure it is aligned with the Every Student Succeeds Act.

OTHER NOTABLE EDUCATION BILLS FILED THIS WEEK

Local Funding Disputes/Sch Bd Lawsuit Authority
SB 531 is the Senate’s version of legislation to strip school boards of their power to initiate lawsuits challenging local funding sufficiency. The House version has already been filed (HB 305). A report on the local education funding dispute resolution process is expected to be released by May 1.
Sponsors of SB 531: Sen. Tommy Tucker, R-Union; Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick

Charter Schools/Local Funding
SB 562. This bill would disentangle the local funding relationship between local school boards and charter schools. County commissioners would appropriate local monies directly to charter schools with local students enrolled instead of the local school board having to cut a check to the charter. This is an item on the NCSBA legislative agenda for 2017-18.
Sponsors of SB 562: Sen. Tommy Tucker, R-Union; Sen. David Curtis, R-Lincoln; Sen. Tom McInnis, R-Richmond

Opportunity Scholarships
SB 483 attempts to put more accountability into the Opportunity Scholarship school voucher program by raising the standards of assessments that must be administered to students attending the school through a voucher and also ensuring more voucher schools publicize data about the performance of their voucher students.
Sponsors: Sen. Erica Smith-Ingram, D-Northampton; Sen. David Curtis, R-Lincoln; Sen. Ben Clark, D-Hoke

BILLS

Action Bills: Click here for the NCSBA-tracked bills that had action this week.

New Bills: Click here for a list of bills filed this week that NCSBA is tracking.

UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Monday, April 3

1:30 PM
The Senate will convene for session.

7:00 PM
The House will convene for session.

Tuesday, April 4

10:00 AM
The House K-12 Education Committee will meet and consider the following bills:
HB 117- Protect Students in Schools
HB 149- Students W/Dyslexia and Dyscalculia
HB 132- High Achieving Tuition Scholarships

10:00 AM
The House State and Local Government Committee will meet and consider the following bills:
HB 447- Lexington City Bd. Of Ed./Change to Election

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

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

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