A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO continue the PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZEd to USE  MENTOR FUNDS FOR FULL‑TIME MENTORS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The pilot program established by the State Board of Education pursuant to Section 28.17 of S.L. 2001‑424 that permits the Charlotte‑Mecklenburg School Administrative Unit, the Wake County School Administrative Unit, and the Forsyth County School Administrative Unit to use funds allocated for mentors for full‑time mentors shall be continued for the 2003‑2005 biennium.  As set forth in Section 28.17 of S.L. 2001‑424, funds allocated for mentors in these units shall be used only for teachers and instructional support personnel assigned to newly certified teachers, second‑year teachers who were assigned mentors during the prior school year, and entry‑level instructional support personnel who have not previously been teachers. These funds shall be used only for:
(1)	Salary supplements to teachers and instructional support personnel who are serving as mentors. The amount of the salary supplement shall not be based on the number of teachers or instructional support personnel to whom the mentor is assigned; or
(2)	Payments to teachers or instructional support personnel who are employed solely to serve as mentors. An individual employed solely to serve as a mentor shall receive a payment for each individual, up to 15 individuals, to whom the mentor is assigned. The amount of each such payment shall be the same as the amount of the salary supplement for a mentor.
SECTION 2.  The Charlotte‑Mecklenburg Board of Education, the Wake County Board of Education, and the Forsyth County Board of Education shall report to the State Board of Education on an annual basis on the impact that the mentor program has had on retention of teachers. The State Board shall report on this information to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee.
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.