GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2015
H 2
HOUSE BILL 237
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/14/15
Short Title: Repeal Personal Ed Plans/Modify Trans Plans. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
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Referred to: |
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March 17, 2015
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to repeal personal education plans and MODIFY transition plans.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C‑105.41 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑105.41.
Students who have been placed at risk of academic failure; personal
education plans; transition teams failure and transition plans.
(a) In order to implement Part 1A of Article 8 of this
Chapter, local school administrative units shall identify students who are at
risk for academic failure and who are not successfully progressing toward grade
promotion and graduation, beginning in kindergarten. Identification shall occur
as early as can reasonably be done and can be based on grades, observations,
diagnostic and formative assessments, State assessments, and other factors,
including reading on grade level, that impact student performance that teachers
and administrators consider appropriate, without having to await the results of
end‑of‑grade or end‑of‑course tests. No later than
the end of the first quarter, or after a teacher has had up to nine weeks of
instructional time with a student, a personal education plan for academic
improvement with focused intervention and performance benchmarks shall be
developed or updated for any student at risk of academic failure who is not
performing at least at grade level, as identified by the State end‑of‑grade
test and other factors noted above. Focused instructional supports and
services, reading interventions, and accelerated activities should include
evidence‑based practices that meet the needs of students and may include
coaching, mentoring, tutoring, summer school, Saturday school, and extended
days. Local school administrative units shall provide these activities free of
charge to students. Local school administrative units shall also provide
transportation free of charge to all students for whom transportation is
necessary for participation in these activities.
Local school administrative units shall give notice of the
personal education plan and a copy of the personal education plan to the
student's parent or guardian. Parents should be included in the implementation
and ongoing review of personal education plans. If a student's school report
card provides all the information required in a personal education plan, then
no further personal education plan is mandated for the student.
No cause of action for monetary damages shall arise from
the failure to provide or implement a personal education plan under this
section.
(b) Local boards of education shall adopt and implement
rules that direct school improvement teams to considerplans for the
creation of transition teams and transition plans for students at risk, as
defined by the State Board of Education, Education. These transition
plans are to assist them at risk students in making a
successful transition between the elementary school and middle school
years and between the middle school and high school years.
SECTION 2. G.S. 115C‑83.7(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c) The superintendent shall determine whether a student may be exempt from mandatory retention on the basis of a good cause exemption. The following steps shall be taken in making the determination:
(1) The teacher of a student eligible for a good cause
exemption shall submit documentation of the relevant exemption and evidence
that promotion of the student is appropriate based on the student's academic
record to the principal. Such evidence shall be limited to the student's personal
education plan, individual education program, if applicable, alternative
assessment, or student reading portfolio.
(2) The principal shall review the documentation and make an initial determination whether the student should be promoted. If the principal determines the student should be promoted, the principal shall make a written recommendation of promotion to the superintendent for final determination. The superintendent's acceptance or rejection of the recommendation shall be in writing."
SECTION 3. G.S. 115C‑83.9(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) Parents or guardians shall be notified in writing,
and in a timely manner, that the student shall be retained, unless he or she is
exempt from mandatory retention for good cause, if the student is not
demonstrating reading proficiency by the end of third grade. Parents or
guardians shall receive this notice when a kindergarten, first, second, or
third grade student (i) is demonstrating difficulty with reading development; or
(ii) is not reading at grade level; or (iii) has a personal education
plan under G.S. 115C‑105.41.level."
SECTION 4. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2015‑2016 school year.