GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 641

Short Title:  Alternatives to Corporal Punishment.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representatives Colton, Barnes, DeVane, Edwards, Jeralds, Michaux, Miller, Stamey, S. Thompson, Wiser; N. Crawford, Easterling, Greenwood, Hasty, Holt, Judy Hunt, Nesbitt, and Ramsey.
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Referred to:  Education.
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March 16, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A TWO-YEAR PILOT PROGRAM IN SELECTED LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT ALTERNATIVES TO THE USE OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Article 27 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 115C-393. Alternatives to Corporal Punishment Pilot Program.
(a)	An alternatives to corporal punishment pilot program is hereby established for the purpose of identifying and implementing effective alternatives to the use of corporal punishment in the public schools. The State Board of Education shall select not more than 16 local school systems, not more than two from each of the eight education districts in the State as set forth in this Chapter, which have volunteered to participate in the program.  The pilot program shall be developed by and implemented in each of the participating local school systems and shall operate for a two-year period beginning August 1989 through August 1991. The State Board of Education shall reimburse school systems selected to participate in the pilot program for their expenses incurred to provide special training for one teacher and one administrator from each system in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per trainee per year.
(b)	Upon development but before implementation of the alternatives to corporal punishment, the local school board of each of the 16 pilot school systems shall certify to the State Board of Education that the alternatives have been developed and that teachers and administrators of those systems are competent to implement the alternatives and to operate the school effectively without recourse to corporal punishment.  After certification to the State Board of Education the local school system shall implement the alternatives developed under the pilot program.
(c)	At the end of the two-year pilot program the State Board of Education shall report to the General Assembly on the program's impact in each of the participating school systems.  The State Board's report shall include such information as the pilot program's effect on student discipline, suspensions, tardiness, absenteeism, academic achievement, the drop-out rate, and faculty morale."
Sec. 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Education for the 1989-90 fiscal year the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) and for the 1990-91 fiscal year the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) to be used by the State Board of Education to reimburse local school systems for expenses incurred to provide special training of teachers and administrators pursuant to the provisions set forth in this act.
Sec. 3.  G.S. 115C-390 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-390. School personnel may use reasonable force.
Principals, teachers, substitute teachers, voluntary teachers, teacher aides and assistants and student teachers in the public schools of this State may use reasonable force in the exercise of lawful authority to restrain or correct pupils and maintain order. Except as otherwise provided in this Article, no local board of education shall promulgate or continue in effect a rule, regulation or bylaw which prohibits the use of such force as is specified in this section."
Sec. 4. This act shall become effective July 1, 1989.