North Carolina SB 628: Domestic Violence Order/Misdemeanor.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 628

Short Title: Safe Schools Transparency Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Bradley, Salvador, and Everitt (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 26, 2025
*S628-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REQUIRE PARENTAL NOTIFICATION OF SCHOOL THREATS AND 2
SAFETY PLANS, TO CREATE PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO NOTIFY PARENTS OF 3
SCHOOL THREATS, TO REINSTATE THE TASK FORCE FOR SAFER SCHOOLS, 4
AND TO ESTABLISH THE SCHOOL SAFETY FUND. 5
Whereas, North Carolina schools have faced an increase in threats, including the 6
recent case in Charlotte, where a suspect was arrested for allegedly threatening to harm students 7
and staff at multiple schools; and 8
Whereas, parents are not consistently informed about threats to school safety, which 9
prevents them from taking necessary precautions to protect their children; and 10
Whereas, building on Senate Bill 74 (2023), this act establishes a parent's right to be 11
notified of any credible threats against their child, their child's school, or the local school district; 12
and 13
Whereas, schools must transparently communicate with parents and guardians while 14
ensuring law enforcement can respond effectively to threats; Now, therefore, 15
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 16
17
PART I. REQUIRE PARENTAL NOTIFICATION OF SCHOOL THREATS AND 18
SAFETY PLANS 19
SECTION 1. Article 7B of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by 20
adding a new Part to read: 21
"Part 7. School Safety Transparency. 22
"§ 115C-77.1. Mandatory notification of threats. 23
(a) Required Notices. – The parent or legal guardian of a student enrolled in a public 24
school shall be immediately notified of any credible threat that meets any of the following 25
criteria: 26
(1) Targets the parent or guardian's child, including threats of violence and 27
bullying. 28
(2) Targets the student body, faculty, or school campus, including planned attacks 29
and bomb threats. 30
(3) Involves a student bringing a weapon to school or a student causing other 31
security risks. 32
(4) Requires law enforcement intervention, including a lockdown or evacuation. 33
(b) Notice Policy. – The governing body of a public school unit shall adopt a policy for 34
the provision of notices required under this section. At a minimum, the policy shall do the 35
following: 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 628-First Edition
(1) Identify the school employees or administrators responsible for providing the 1
notices required by this section. 2
(2) Define high-level emergency. 3
(c) Means of Notice. – Notifications required under this section shall be made by text 4
message, email, phone call, or by posting an update on the school's website. Each notification 5
must be made through at least two different means. For high-level emergencies, one of the two 6
notices must be by phone call. 7
(d) Notice Contents. – Notifications made pursuant to this section shall include details of 8
the threat, including actions taken and school response. Updates shall be provided as new 9
information becomes available. 10
(e) Notice Timing. – A school must provide initial notification within one hour of law 11
enforcement confirmation of a credible threat, unless threat notification interferes with an active 12
law enforcement investigation in which case notice shall occur one hour after arrest or resolution 13
of investigation as determined by law enforcement. 14
"§ 115C-77.2. Failure to notify. 15
(a) Filing Complaint. – The parent of a student who is enrolled in a public school who 16
alleges that the student's school failed to notify the parent of a threat as required by 17
G.S. 115C-77.1 may file a complaint with the Department of Public Instruction. 18
(b) Investigation. – Upon receiving a complaint that a school has violated 19
G.S. 115C-77.1, the Department shall forward the complaint to the Center for Safer Schools, and 20
the Center for Safer Schools shall conduct an investigation to determine whether a school abided 21
by the school's notification policy. 22
(c) Report. – No later than 60 days from the date the Center for Safer Schools receives 23
the complaint, the Center shall report the findings of the investigation to the Superintendent of 24
Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. The State Board shall schedule consideration 25
of the report no later than the next regular meeting occurring more than five days after submission 26
of the report. 27
(d) State Board Findings; Penalty. – If the State Board of Education, by a majority vote, 28
finds that a school has not complied with the notice requirements of G.S. 115C-77.1, the State 29
Board shall instruct the Department to reduce the public school unit's central office 30
administration allotment by up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) and transfer the funds to the 31
School Security Fund. 32
(e) Repeated Failure to Notify. – I