The General Assembly Returns for August 3 Session
 The General Assembly returned to Raleigh this week to consider limited matters for a brief August 3 session, including several bills relevant to K-12 public education. The legislature amended a previously adopted adjournment resolution to expand the legislative matters that may be considered when they return, and changed the date of their return from September 6 to August 18. Read the adjournment resolution for exact details surrounding the August 18 session of the General Assembly.
Relevant Bills with Action
HB 704/SL 2017-198: Divide School Systems/Study Committee
HB 704 establishes the Joint Legislative Study Committee on the Division of Local School Administrative Units (LEAs), with members from both chambers of the legislature. The Committee will study issues surrounding the division of LEAs in the state, and will submit recommendations in the form of a final report to the Speaker of the House, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee. The bill became law this week without the Governor's signature.
HB 528 makes several technical, clarifying, and other changes to the budget bill, SB 257.
The education-relevant provisions of the bill include provisions that:
- carry forward funding from the Excellent Public Schools Act to be allotted to local school administrative units for the purchase of computers or other electronic devices used for administration of formative and diagnostic reading assessments
- allow Halifax County students to participate in Eastern North Carolina STEM
- make additional changes to the Third Grade Read to Achieve Bonus Program
A comprehensive summary of the changes to the budget provisions relevant to education can be found in the first pages of the summary of HB 528 by the Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly. The bill became law this week without the Governor's signature.
SB 689/SL 2017-201: 2017 Appointments Bill Modifications
SB 689 modifies certain previously made legislative appointments and makes new appointments. The bill contains appointments to the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission, which will make recommendations to the State Board of Education on policies surrounding educator preparation under Senate Bill 599, which became law on July 27.
The following people were appointed to the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission: Dr. Patrick Miller of Greene County,
Meaghan Loftus of Mecklenburg County, Dr. Ellen McIntyre of Mecklenburg County, Dr.
Hank Weddington of Catawba County, Dr. Anthony Graham of Guilford County, Lauren
Genesky of Wake County, Glenda Jones of Cabarrus County, Michael Maher of Wake
County, Dr. C. Westley Wood of Wilkes County, Robin M. Hiatt of Johnston County, Dr. Van O. Dempsey, III, of New Hanover
County, Dr. Virginia "Ann" Bullock of Alamance County, Dr. Aaron L. Fleming of Wake County,
Dr. Connie O. Locklear of Robeson County, Joseph W. Childers of Stokes County, and Dr. Samuel
H. Houston, Jr., of Wake County.
Dr. Mariann Tillery of Guilford County and Dr. Jennifer W. Olsen of Wake County were appointed to the North
Carolina Teaching Fellows Commission for terms expiring on July 1, 2019.
The bill also modifies the expiration date of terms for certain appointments to the Charter Schools Advisory Board. The bill did not require the Governor's signature and became law after passing both chambers this week.
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SB 560/SL 2017-200: Clarify Cleveland Board of Education Election
SB 560, a bill originally unrelated to K-12 public education, passed the House Rules Committee this week as a bill making changes to the 2017 Cleveland County Board of Education election. The General Assembly changed several board of education elections to partisan this session, including the Cleveland County Board of Education, which was the only affected board that has elections in 2017. SB 560 extends the amount of time given to unaffiliated candidates to gather signatures to appear on the ballot for the 2017 Cleveland County Board of Education election only. The bill became law this week and did not require the Governor's signature for passage.
HB 770: Various Clarifying Changes
Originally a bill focused on environmental regulations, HB 770 came out of a conference committee this week as a grab bag of changes to existing law. The bill makes conforming changes to statutes governing the calculation of school achievement and growth scores and school report cards to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.
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SB 628: Various Changes to the Revenue Laws
SB 628 exempts mobile classroom units from county property taxes in the few counties in the state that do not currently exclude mobile classroom units from the property tax base. A compromise between the differing House and Senate versions of the bill was adopted by both chambers this week, and the bill was presented to the Governor on August 4 for his signature.
General Assembly Education Budget Highlights
The General Assembly released a one page sheet of education budget information this week. Click here or the below image to access the PDF version of the document.
See this link for a complete list of bills impacting K-12 education.
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTACT INFORMATION:
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