North Carolina HB 885: Targeted Picketing.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 885

Short Title: Revise Suspension & Parental Notice Policies. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Morey, Cervania, Price, and K. Brown (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 14, 2025
*H885-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REVISE SUSPENSION POLICIES IN PUBLIC SCHOOL UNITS BY 2
DEFINING LENGTHS OF SUSPENSION, LIMITING THE USE OF SUSPENSION, 3
CREATING A RIGHT OF APPEAL FOR SHORT-TERM SUSPENSION, DEFINING 4
WHAT CONSTITUTES REASONABLE PARENTAL NOTIFICATION OF 5
DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS, PROHIBITING THE USE OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, 6
AND REQUIRING CHILD CARE PROVIDERS TO REPORT DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS 7
IN EARLY CHILD CARE SETTINGS. 8
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 9
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 115C-12(27) reads as rewritten: 10
"(27) Reporting Dropout Rates, Corporal Punishment, Suspensions, Expulsions, 11
and Alternative Placements. – The State Board shall report by March 15 of 12
each year to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the 13
numbers of students who have dropped out of school, been subjected to 14
corporal punishment, been suspended, been expelled, been reassigned for 15
disciplinary purposes, or been provided alternative education services. The 16
data shall be reported in a disaggregated manner, reflecting the local school 17
administrative unit, race, gender, grade level, ethnicity, and disability status 18
of each affected student. Such data shall be readily available to the public. The 19
State Board shall not include students that have been expelled from school 20
when calculating the dropout rate. The Board shall maintain a separate record 21
of the number of students who are expelled from school and the reasons for 22
the expulsion." 23
SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 115C-107.7 reads as rewritten: 24
"§ 115C-107.7. Discipline, corporal punishment, Discipline and homebound instruction. 25
(a) The policies and procedures for the discipline of students with disabilities shall be 26
consistent with federal laws and regulations. 27
(a1) Any corporal punishment administered on students with disabilities shall be 28
consistent with the requirements of G.S. 115C-390.4. 29
...." 30
SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 115C-276(r) reads as rewritten: 31
"(r) To Maintain Student Discipline. – The superintendent shall maintain student 32
discipline in accordance with Article 27 of this Chapter and shall keep data on each student to 33
whom corporal punishment was administered, who was suspended for more than 10 days, who 34
was reassigned for disciplinary reasons, or who was expelled. This data shall include the race, 35

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 885-First Edition
gender, age, grade level, ethnicity, and disability status of each student, the duration of 1
suspension for each student, whether alternative education services were provided for each 2
student, and whether a student had multiple suspensions in that academic year." 3
SECTION 1.(d) G.S. 115C-390.1 reads as rewritten: 4
"§ 115C-390.1. State policy and definitions. 5
... 6
(b) The following definitions apply in this Article: 7
... 8
(6a) Intermediate-term suspension. – The exclusion for more than 20, but no more 9
than 42, cumulative school days of a student from school attendance for 10
disciplinary purposes from the school to which the student was assigned at the 11
time of the disciplinary action. 12
(6b) In-school suspension. – The exclusion of a student from the classroom for 13
disciplinary purposes while the student remains on school grounds. 14
(7) Long-term suspension. – The exclusion for more than 10 43 school days of a 15
student from school attendance for disciplinary purposes from the school to 16
which the student was assigned at the time of the disciplinary action. If the 17
offense leading to the long-term suspension occurs before the final quarter of 18
the school year, the exclusion shall be no longer than the remainder of the 19
school year in which the offense was committed. If the offense leading to the 20
long-term suspension occurs during the final quarter of the school year, the 21
exclusion may include a period up to the remainder of the school year in which 22
the offense was committed and the first semester of the following school year. 23
... 24
(9a) Reasonable attempt. – Initiating contact with a parent or guardian and, if 25
unsuccessful, documenting each attempt to contact the parent or guardian at 26
least once a day for a least three consecutive days. Documentation of 27
communication attempts shall include the means of communication, date, and 28
time. For the initial contact, school personnel must utilize at least two of the 29
following means of communication: 30
a. Telephone call. 31
b. Electronic communication, including email or text messaging. 32
c. Written communication, includ