North Carolina SB 744: Polluter Pays.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 744

Short Title: Voucher School Accountability Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Meyer and Chaudhuri (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 26, 2025
*S744-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO INCREASE ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTING STANDARDS FOR 2
NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS RECEIVING OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 115C-12(39) reads as rewritten: 5
"(39) Power to Accredit Schools. – Upon the request of a local board of education, 6
request, the State Board of Education shall evaluate schools in local school 7
administrative units and nonpublic school receiving funds from scholarship 8
grants pursuant to Part 2A of Article 39 of this Chapter to determine whether 9
the education provided by those schools meets acceptable levels of quality. 10
The State Board shall adopt rigorous and appropriate academic standards for 11
accreditation after consideration of (i) the standards of regional and national 12
accrediting agencies, (ii) the academic standards adopted in accordance with 13
subdivision (9c) of this section, and (iii) other information it deems 14
appropriate. For the nonpublic schools, as a minimum requirement of 15
accreditation, the State Board shall verify that a nonpublic school is 16
complying with subdivisions (3a), (10), and (11) of subsection (a) of 17
G.S. 115C-562.5. 18
The local school administrative unit or nonpublic school shall compensate 19
the State Board for the actual costs of the accreditation process." 20
SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 115C-562.2 read as rewritten: 21
"§ 115C-562.2. Scholarship grants. 22
... 23
(b2) Scholarship grants shall be awarded in monthly installments to eligible students as 24
follows: 25
... 26
(b5) In addition to the amount of the scholarship grant, for any student receiving a 27
scholarship grant in grades three, eight, or 11, three through 12, the Authority shall provide to 28
the nonpublic school an amount equal to the cost of the nationally standardized test required to 29
be administered as provided in G.S. 115C-562.5. 30
...." 31
SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 115C-562.5 reads as rewritten: 32
"§ 115C-562.5. Obligations of nonpublic schools accepting eligible students receiving 33
scholarship grants. 34
(a) A nonpublic school that accepts eligible students receiving scholarship grants shall 35
comply with the following: 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 744-First Edition
(1) Provide Annually provide to the Authority and the Division of Nonpublic 1
education documentation for required tuition and fees charged to the student 2
by the nonpublic school. The Division shall collect this information and 3
publish it on its website. 4
(1a) Limit increases to the costs of tuition and fees by no more than five percent 5
(5%) each school year. 6
(2) Provide to the Authority a criminal background check conducted for the staff 7
member with the highest decision-making authority, as defined by the bylaws, 8
articles of incorporation, or other governing document. For all other 9
employees, if the nonpublic school is located in a local school administrative 10
unit that has adopted a policy requiring criminal history checks under 11
G.S. 115C-332, then the nonpublic school shall adopt a policy mirroring the 12
local board of education policy. Each nonpublic school shall apply its policy 13
uniformly in requiring applicants for employment to be checked for a criminal 14
history before the applicant is given an unconditional job offer. A nonpublic 15
school may employ an applicant conditionally while the board is checking the 16
person's criminal history and making a decision based on the results of the 17
check. If the local school administrative unit adopts a policy providing for 18
periodic checks of criminal history of employees, then the nonpublic school 19
located in that local school administrative unit shall adopt a policy mirroring 20
that local board of education policy. A nonpublic school shall indicate, upon 21
the inquiry by any other public school unit or nonpublic school in the State, 22
as to the reason for an employee's resignation or dismissal, if an employee's 23
criminal history was relevant to the employee's resignation or dismissal. 24
Information provided to the Authority in accordance with this subdivision is 25
otherwise privileged information and is not a public record but is for the 26
exclusive use of the Authority. 27
(3) Provide to the parent or guardian of an eligible student, whose tuition and fees 28
are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship grant, an annual written 29
explanation of the student's progress, including the student's scores on 30
standardized achievement tests. 31
(3a) Comply with the standard course of study in accordance with Part 1 of Article 32
8 of this Chapter and related rules adopted by the State Board of Education. 33
(4) Administer, at l