Once and for all, the North Carolina General Assembly adjourned the 2017-18 legislative biennium shortly after 4pm, December 27, 2018.
Fun Fact: No other General Assembly has adjourned, sine die, at such a late date in the 2nd year of a Regular Session.
2019 Long Session:
There’s no rest for the weary – the 2019 session convenes at noon this Wednesday, January 9. (The General Assembly will then adjourn until January 30.) Turnover from the last long session is about 24% – fourteen new Senators, twenty-seven new House members. Neither chamber has a veto-proof majority.
Beginning this Friday, January 11, NCSBA will publish its Legislative Update weekly until the end of the legislative session.
2018 Session (November 27-December 27):
The session concluded with legislators overriding two of Governor Cooper’s highly publicized vetoes.
– SB824, Implementation of Voter ID Constitutional Amendment; and
– SB469, Technical Corrections
SB469, Technical Corrections:
When NCSBA published the December Legislative Update, the House had just passed a Technical Corrections bill (SB469), which included several education-related provisions. A few days later, the Senate did not concur. The final legislation did Not include two notable education components that were in the House version. 1) Expanding eligibility for the principal “double bonus” program. 2) Clarifying language to allow local boards of education to be innovative school operators.
Education-related provisions in the new law, include:
- Section 1: Expands the Disability Scholarship eligibility requirements by making eligible those students in nonpublic schools who were enrolled in a NC public school for an entire prior school year.
- Section 2: Changes who administers the Transforming Principal Preparation Grant Program from a nonprofit corporation administered by the NC Principal and Assistant Principal Association to the NC Principal Fellows Commission in collaboration with the State Education Assistance Authority, effective July 1, 2019.
- Section 18: Permits public school buses to travel outside the State if the superintendent determines that the travel is the most direct route to and from a school.
- Section 20: Allows municipal charter school teachers in Matthews, Mint Hill, Cornelius, and Huntersville to be enrolled in the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System and the State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees.
- Section 22: Expands eligibility for the Principal ADM Hold Harmless from schools closed for at least 15 school days due to Hurricane Florence to schools closed for at least 10 days.
- Section 27: Allows the Wayne County Board of Education to apply to adopt a restart model for Carver Heights Elementary School. Repeals the requirement that at least two qualifying schools transfer to the Innovative School District no later than the 2019-20 school year.
School Calendar Flexibility – Reminder
One of the top NCSBA priorities in the 2019 legislative session is giving local school boards more control over local school calendars. Please don’t forget to email a copy of your board’s calendar flexibility resolution to rbostic@ncsba.org.
Please contact us if you need additional support or have any questions.
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) 747-6692
Richard Bostic
Assistant Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 747-6677