GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1543

Short Title:  Reduce Paperwork in Public Schools.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senator Dalton.

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Referred to:  Education/Higher Education.

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May 30, 2000

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REDUCE PAPERWORK IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THEREBY SAVE TIME AND MONEY THAT CAN BE USED TO EDUCATE CHILDREN AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO EXPEDITE PAPERWORK REDUCTION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 115C-307(g) reads as rewritten:
"(g)	To Make Required Reports. –A teacher shall make all reports required by the local board of education.  The superintendent shall not approve the voucher for a teacher's pay until the required monthly and annual reports are made.
The superintendent may require a teacher to make reports to the principal.
A teacher shall be given access to information on the Student Information Management System to expedite the process of preparing reports or otherwise providing information.  A teacher shall not be required by the local board, the superintendent, or the principal to (i)	provide information that is already available on the Student Information Management System; (ii) provide the same information more than once during a school year; or (iii) complete forms regarding compliance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that are not required by the United States Department of Education.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, a local board may require information available on its Student Information Management System or require the sam information twice if the local board can demonstrate a compelling need and can demonstrate there is not a more expeditious manner of getting the information.
Any teacher who knowingly and willfully makes or procures another to make any false report or records, requisitions, or payrolls, respecting daily attendance of pupils in the public schools, payroll data sheets, or other reports required to be made to any board or officer in the performance of their duties, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and the certificate of such person to teach in the public schools of North Carolina shall be revoked by the Superintendent of Public Instruction."
Section 2.  G.S. 115C-47(18) reads as rewritten:
"(18)	To Make Rules Concerning the Conduct and Duties of Personnel. – Local boards of education, upon the recommendation of the superintendent, shall have full power to make all just and needful rules and regulations governing the conduct of teachers, principals, and supervisors, the kind of reports they shall make, and their duties in the care of school property.
	Prior to the beginning of each school year, each local board of education shall identify all reports, including local school required reports, that are required at the local level for the school year and shall, to the maximum extent possible, eliminate any duplicate or obsolete reporting requirements.  No additional reports shall be required at the local level after the beginning of the school year without the prior approval of the local board of education.
	Each local board of education shall also establish a paperwork control committee to monitor all reports and other paperwork produced by or required by the central office."
Section 3.  The State Board of Education shall:
(1)	Review requirements for reports from local school administrative units and, to the extent possible, eliminate any duplicate or obsolete reporting requirements;
(2)	Develop a plan for the implementation of a paperless Student Information Management System prior to the 2005-2006 school year and request funds necessary for the implementation of the system;
(3)	Work with the United States Department of Education to standardize all forms required under the  federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA);
(4)	Study the amount of State and local funds expended to meet compliance standards established under IDEA and State law;
(5)	Develop a plan to cut spending for compliance issues related to special education by fifty percent (50%) for the 2001-2002 fiscal year and to direct the savings to direct services for children with special needs; and
(6)	Develop a plan to fund compliance issues related to special education only with federal funds provided specifically for that purpose for the 2002-2003 fiscal year and to eliminate all State funding for compliance issues.
The State Board shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee prior to December 15, 2001, on its progress in implementing this section.
Section 4.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Board of Education the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) for the 2000-2001 fiscal year to implement Section 3 of this act.
Section 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2000.