AN ACT to provide FOR INSTRUCTIONAL planning time and a duty‑free lunch period for teachers.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑105.27 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑105.27.  Development and approval of school improvement plans.
(a)	In order to improve student performance, each school shall develop a school improvement plan that takes into consideration the annual performance goal for that school that is set by the State Board under G.S. 115C‑105.35. The principal of each school, representatives of the assistant principals, instructional personnel, instructional support personnel, and teacher assistants assigned to the school building, and parents of children enrolled in the school shall constitute a school improvement team to develop a school improvement plan to improve student performance. Representatives of the assistant principals, instructional personnel, instructional support personnel, and teacher assistants shall be elected by their respective groups by secret ballot. Unless the local board of education has adopted an election policy, parents shall be elected by parents of children enrolled in the school in an election conducted by the parent and teacher organization of the school or, if none exists, by the largest organization of parents formed for this purpose. Parents serving on school improvement teams shall reflect the racial and socioeconomic composition of the students enrolled in that school and shall not be members of the building‑level staff. Parental involvement is a critical component of school success and positive student achievement; therefore, it is the intent of the General Assembly that parents, along with teachers, have a substantial role in developing school improvement plans. To this end, school improvement team meetings shall be held at a convenient time to assure substantial parent participation. 
(b)	The strategies for improving student performance:
(1)	Shall include a plan for the use of staff development funds that may be made available to the school by the local board of education to implement the school improvement plan. The plan may provide that a portion of these funds is used for mentor training and for release time and substitute teachers while mentors and teachers mentored are meeting;
(1a)	Shall, if the school serves students in kindergarten or first grade, include a plan for preparing students to read at grade level by the time they enter second grade. The plan shall require kindergarten and first grade teachers to notify parents or guardians when their child is not reading at grade level and is at risk of not reading at grade level by the time the child enters second grade. The plan may include the use of assessments to monitor students' progress in learning to read, strategies for teachers and parents to implement that will help students improve and expand their reading, and provide for the recognition of teachers and strategies that appear to be effective at preparing students to read at grade  level;
(2)	Shall include a plan to address school safety and discipline concerns in accordance with the safe school plan developed under Article 8C of this Chapter;
(3)	May include a decision to use State funds in accordance with G.S. 115C‑105.25;
(4)	Shall include a plan that specifies the effective instructional practices and methods to be used to improve the academic performance of students identified as at risk of academic failure or at risk of dropping out of school;
(5)	May include requests for waivers of State laws, rules, or policies for that school. A request for a waiver shall meet the requirements of G.S.  115C‑105.26;
(6)	Shall include a plan to provide a duty‑free lunch period for every teacher on a daily basis or as otherwise approved by the school improvement team; and
(7)	Shall include a plan to provide duty‑free instructional planning time for every teacher under G.S. 115C‑301.1, with the goal of providing an average of at least five hours of planning time per week.
(c)	Support among affected staff members is essential to successful implementation of a school improvement plan to address improved student performance at that school. The principal of the school shall present the proposed school improvement plan to all of the principals, assistant principals, instructional personnel, instructional support personnel, and teacher assistants assigned to the school building for their review and vote. The vote shall be by secret ballot. The principal shall submit the school improvement plan to the local board of education only if the proposed school improvement plan has the approval of a majority of the staff who voted on the plan.
(d)	The local board of education shall accept or reject the school improvement plan. The local board shall not make any substantive changes in any school improvement plan that it accepts. If the local board rejects a school improvement plan, the local board shall state with specificity its reasons for rejecting the plan; the school improvement team may then prepare another plan, present it to the principals, assistant principals, instructional personnel, instructional support personnel, and teacher assistants assigned to the school building for a vote, and submit it to the local board to accept or reject. If no school improvement plan is accepted for a school within 60 days after its initial submission to the local board, the school or the local board may ask to use the process to resolve disagreements recommended in the guidelines developed by the State Board under G.S. 115C‑105.20(b)(5). If this request is made, both the school and local board shall participate in the process to resolve disagreements. If there is no request to use that process, then the local board may develop a school improvement plan for the school. The General Assembly urges the local board to utilize the school's proposed school improvement plan to the maximum extent possible when developing such a plan.
(e)	A school improvement plan shall remain in effect for no more than three years; however, the school improvement team may amend the plan as often as is necessary or appropriate. If, at any time, any part of a school improvement plan becomes unlawful or the local board finds that a school improvement plan is impeding student performance at a school, the local board may vacate the relevant portion of the plan and may direct the school to revise that portion. The procedures set out in this subsection shall apply to amendments and revisions to school improvement plans."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑105.26(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	When requested as part of a school improvement plan, the State Board of Education may grant waivers of:
(1)	State laws pertaining to class  size and teacher certification; and
(2)	State rules and policies, except those pertaining to public school State salary schedules and employee benefits for school employees, the instructional program that must be offered under the Basic Education Program, the system of employment for public school teachers and administrators set out in G.S. 115C‑287.1 and G.S. 115C‑325, health and safety codes, compulsory attendance, the minimum lengths of the school day and year, and the Uniform Education Reporting System."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑301.1 reads as rewritten:"§ 115C‑301.1. Duty‑free instructional planning time.
All full‑time assigned classroom teachers shall be provided  duty‑free instructional planning time  during regular student contact hours. The duty‑free instructional planning time  shall be provided to the maximum extent that (i) the safety and proper supervision of children may allow during regular student contact hours and (ii) insofar as funds are provided for this purpose by the General Assembly. If the safety and supervision of children does not allow  duty‑free instructional planning time  during regular student contact hours for a given teacher, the funds provided by the General Assembly for the duty‑free instructional planning time  for that teacher shall revert to the general fund. Principals shall not unfairly burden a given teacher by making that teacher give up his or her duty‑free instructional planning time  on an ongoing, regular basis without the consent of the teacher."
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2006, and applies to school improvement plans beginning with the 2007‑2008 school year.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 13th day of July, 2006.

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved 1:45 p.m. this 23rd day of July, 2006