GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2009

H                                                                                                                                                    2

HOUSE BILL 188*

Committee Substitute Favorable 3/18/09

Short Title:        Study Raising Compulsory Attendance Age.	(Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:

February 18, 2009

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to direct the board of governors of the university of north carolina, in conjunction with the Department of public instruction and the North Carolina Independent colleges and universities, to direct the appropriate entity to study the impacts of raising the compulsory attendance age for public school attendance prior to completion of a high school diploma from sixteen to seventeen or eighteen, as recommended by the joint legislative commission on dropout prevention and high school graduation.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  The Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina, in coordination with the Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, shall direct the appropriate entity to study the impacts of raising the compulsory public school attendance age prior to completion of a high school diploma from 16 to 17 or 18. In its study, the Board of Governors shall consider all of the following:

(1)        What impacts, including fiscal impacts, has raising the compulsory school attendance age had in states which have raised the compulsory school attendance age in the last 15 years.

(2)        What conclusions can be drawn as to the impact the compulsory school attendance age has made in the dropout and high school completion rates for states who require compulsory school attendance to ages 16, 17, and 18, respectively.

(3)        What best practices for working with at‑risk populations of students who remain in school have been employed in states that have raised the compulsory attendance age in the last 15 years.

(4)        What would be the fiscal impact in raising the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 17 and 16 to 18, respectively, for each local administrative school unit in North Carolina.

SECTION 2.  No later than December 31, 2009, the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina shall submit a report of its study to the Joint Legislative Commission on Dropout Prevention and High School Graduation and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, including its findings and recommendations.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.