S524 - Graduation Requirements/Sports Pilot (SL 2015-291)

Overview: S.L. 2015-291 makes changes to the Founding Principles Act by directing the State Board of Education, rather than local boards of education, to require that a course on certain Founding Principles of the United States and North Carolina be taught. It also adds specific additional topics that must be covered in the course, including (i) Constitutional limitations on government power to tax and spend and prompt payment of public debt; (ii) strong defense and supremacy of civil authority over military; and (iii) peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations but no entangling alliances.

In addition, the act authorizes the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), out of the funds appropriated for the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium, to use up to $300,000 each fiscal year to develop and implement a pilot program for an integrated community-based adapted sports program for students with disabilities in grades K-12. The pilot must:

• Be consistent with the "Dear Colleague" letter addressing equal access to extracurricular athletics for students with disabilities released by the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, on January 25, 2013.
• Include specific strategies to overcome barriers to the participation of students with disabilities in extracurricular athletics and incorporate a philosophy of personal empowerment for those students.

The pilot may be conducted in one or more local school administrative units and provide for collaboration with universities, community colleges, and other community organizations to achieve the purposes of the program.

This act became effective October 29, 2015. The provisions of this act which makes changes to the Founding Principles Act applies beginning with students entering the 9th grade in the 2016-2017 school year. The provision of this act concerning the sports program pilot became effective July 1, 2015.