AN ACT to ensure that Public school employees do not lose pay while they are on military duty.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑302.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(g1)	Payment During Military Duty. – The State Board of Education shall adopt rules relating to leaves of absence, without loss of pay or time, for periods of military training and for State or federal military duty or for special emergency management service. The rules shall apply to all public school employees, including, but not limited to, school teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, speech language pathologists, nurses, and custodians employed by local boards of education or by charter schools. The rules shall provide that (i) the State pays any salary differential to all public school employees in State-funded positions, (ii) the employing local board of education pays any pay differential to all public school employees in locally funded positions, (iii) the employing charter school pays any pay differential to all public school employees in the charter school, and (iv) the employing local board of education pays the local supplement."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective on or after July 1, 2002.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 25th day of June, 2003.

	_____________________________________
		 Marc Basnight
	 President Pro Tempore of the Senate

	_____________________________________
		 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	_____________________________________
		 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2003