The Week In Review and Looking Forward to Next Week

Several legislative committees met this week, including the Joint Legislative Committee on the Division of Local School Administrative Units and the Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform.  In addition to these meetings, a new House Select Committee on School Safety was formed to address security concerns for North Carolina schools.   Looking into next week, the State Board of Education will hold their March monthly meeting.  A link to the agenda and Board materials can be found here and next week’s legislative calendar can be found here.

Formation of House Select Committee on School Safety

In response to the tragic Parkland school shooting, North Carolina General Assembly members are taking further steps to address the well-being and protection of our students.  In the wake of the horrific attack at a public high school in Florida, Speaker of the House, Tim Moore, established the House Select Committee on School Safety. This committee will examine safeguards for North Carolina schools that can be implemented to help prevent tragedies and improve overall school safety. Committee representatives will hear testimony from a variety of experts on school safety to thoroughly examine and identify best practices for consideration.

Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform

The Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform met on Thursday, February 22nd of this week. Presenters included Alexis Schauss, DPI School Business Administration Director, Greg Sinders, NC State Director for TeamCFA and Steven Walker, General Counsel for Lt. Governor, Dan Forest.  Mrs. Schauss began the meeting with an in-depth presentation on Charter School State Funding. The slides from her informational presentation are linked here and a list of all presentations can be found here, including a helpful budget sheet on charter school appropriations.  Mrs. Schauss' webinar, Dissecting Charter School Funding, was referenced as a valuable resource to help with an understanding of the funding system.  This webinar can be viewed on the Financial & Business Services website.

Joint Legislative Committee on the Division of Local School Administrative Units

On Wednesday, February 21st, the Joint Legislative Committee on the Division of Local Administrative Units held its first meeting. Rep. Bill Brawley, committee Co-Chair, informed the group that there will be four subsequent meetings to gather facts and consider implications about any division of local school administrative units (LEAs). He repeatedly clarified that there are no intentions for this committee to file to a bill proposing the division of any LEA. This initial meeting covered the geography of current local school administrative units and a link to the committee audio and documents can be found here. The next meeting scheduled for March 14th will discuss finance issues around the division of administrative units. 

See this link for a complete list of bills impacting K-12 education.

Legislative Calendar

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

  1:00 p.m.: JLOC Medicaid & NC Health Choice, Joint Behavioral Health Subcmte         544 LOB | Audio

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

  9:00 a.m.: Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services          643 LOB | Audio

  1:00 p.m.: Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid and NC Health Choice    643 LOB | Audio

Thursday, March 01, 2018

  9:00 a.m.: Committee on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (LRC)(2017)          544 LOB | Audio

North Carolina General Assembly 

ONLINE RESOURCES:

• 2017 Report on Education Legislation
• DPI/SBE Reports to the General Assembly
• Citizen Guide
• Who Represents Me?
• How a Law is Made
• House Member List
• Senate Member List
• North Carolina Constitution
• House Page Program
• Senate Page Program
• Governor’s Page Program
• Youth Legislative Assembly
• Educational Resources/Homework Assistance
• An Introduction to the NC General Assembly – Elementary School Ages
• NC Government – Middle School Ages

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTACT INFORMATION:

• Cecilia Holden  –  Director of Legislative Affairs and Special Initiatives  |  919-807-3406
• Anne Murtha  –  Legislative Specialist  |  919-807-3403
• David Smith –  Legislative Intern  |  919-807-3407

To view previous 2018 Weekly Legislative Updates click here.

 The NC Department of Public instruction offers a number of topics for subscription.

• To subscribe to the Weekly Legislative Update, click here.
• To subscribe to other NC Department of Public Instruction topics, click here.