North Carolina SB 254: Funds To Assist Counties With Ditch Cleanup.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025

SESSION LAW 2025-80
SENATE BILL 254

*S254-v-5*
AN ACT TO AMEND CHARTER SCHOOL LAWS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-218 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-218. Purpose of charter schools; role of State Board of Education; establishment
of North Carolina Charter Schools Review Board and North Carolina Office of
Charter Schools.
...
(a1) State Board of Education. – The State Board of Education shall have the following
duties regarding charter schools:
(1) Rulemaking. – To establish adopt all rules for the operation and approval of
charter schools. Any rule or policy adopted by the State Board regarding
charter schools shall first be recommended approved by the Charter Schools
Review Board.
(2) Funding. – To allocate funds to charter schools.
(3) Appeals. – To hear appeals from decisions of the Charter Schools Review
Board under G.S. 115C-218.9.
(4) Accountability. – To ensure accountability from charter schools for school
finances and student performance.
(5) Review of financial assistance. – The State Board shall assign the Review
Board to conduct any hearings pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1231b-2, including
making findings and recommendations regarding those hearings.
(b) North Carolina Charter Schools Review Board. –
...
(10) Powers and duties. – The Review Board shall have the following duties:
a. To make recommendations to the State Board of Education on the
adoption of propose, recommend, and approve rules and policies
regarding all aspects of charter school operation, including time lines,
processes, standards, and criteria for acceptance and approval of
applications, monitoring of charter schools, and grounds for
revocation of charters.
...
e. To conduct hearings and make findings and recommendations
pursuant to subdivision (a1)(5) of this section.
f. To contract for and employ legal counsel, including private counsel,
to advise, represent, and provide litigation services to the Review
Board, without the need to obtain permission or approval pursuant to
G.S. 114-2.3 or G.S. 147-17.
...
(c) North Carolina Office of Charter Schools. –
...

Page 2 Session Law 2025-80 Senate Bill 254
(2) Executive Director. – The Executive Director shall report to and serve at the
pleasure of the Superintendent of Public Instruction Review Board at a salary
established by the Superintendent Review Board within the funds
appropriated for this purpose. The duties of the Executive Director shall
include presenting the recommendations and decisions of the Review Board
at meetings of the State Board.
...."
SECTION 2. G.S. 115C-218.8 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-218.8. Nonmaterial revisions of charters.
It shall not be considered a material revision of a charter and shall not require prior approval
of the Review Board for a charter school to do any of the following:
...
(4) Relocate the charter school within a 10-mile radius of the location specified
and approved in the charter so long as the new location is located within the
same local school administrative unit as the location specified and approved
in the charter."
SECTION 3. G.S. 115C-218.15(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c) A charter school shall operate under the written charter signed by the State
Superintendent and the applicant. The terms of the written charter shall be approved by the
Review Board. A charter school is not required to enter into any other contract. The charter shall
incorporate the information provided in the application, as modified during the charter approval
process, and any terms and conditions imposed on the charter school by the Review Board, or if
the approval is granted through an appeal pursuant to G.S. 115C-218.9, any conditions imposed
by the State Board of Education. No other terms may be imposed on the charter school as a
condition for receipt of local funds."
SECTION 4. G.S. 115C-218.85 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(d) Notwithstanding G.S. 116-11(10a) or any other provision of law to the contrary, a
charter school shall not be required to list class rank on a student's official transcript or record."
SECTION 5. G.S. 115C-218.90(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(7) A charter school may develop and use any evaluation for conducting
evaluations of teachers provided that it includes standards and criteria similar
to those used in the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards and
North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process, or such other evaluation standard
and process required to be used by local school administrative units."
SECTION 6. G.S. 115C-218.94 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(c) The Review Board shall require charter schools that are identified as low-performing
or continually low-performing to prepare and report on plans to improve the performance of the
school. The requirements of G.S. 115C-105.27 shall not apply to charter schools."
SECTION 7. G.S. 115C-218.105 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-218.105. State an