AN ACT to foster fair competition in school athletics in certain counties.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑12(23) reads as rewritten:
"(23)	Power to Adopt Eligibility Rules for Interscholastic Athletic Competition. – The State Board of Education may adopt rules governing interscholastic athletic activities conducted by local boards of education, including eligibility for student participation. The State Board of Education may authorize a designated organization to apply and enforce the Board's rules governing participation in interscholastic athletic activities at the high school level. If the State Board of Education does authorize a designated organization to apply and enforce the Board's rules, that designated organization shall permit the creation of a small school conference to be afforded all rights and privileges granted to other conferences within that designated organization if all of the following criteria are met:
a.	There are at least five small schools within a geographic region. For purposes of this subdivision, 'small school' shall mean a high school with an average daily membership of 300 students or less.
b.	The small school conference consists of only small schools.
c.	The small school conference is open to all small schools in the geographic region.
d.	Participation in the small school conference is optional."
SECTION 2.  A small school conference may be created for the 2006‑2007 school year provided the designated organization authorized by the State Board of Education under G.S. 115C‑12(23) is notified no later than September 15, 2006. Schools joining a small school conference by that date may withdraw, without penalty, from any scheduling contracts previously entered into for the 2006‑2007 season.
SECTION 3.  This act applies only to Dare, Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties.
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 26th day of June, 2006.

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		 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

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		 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives