AN ACT designating the community colleges system Office as the primary lead agency for delivering workforce development training, literacy, and adult education in the state, and TO ALLOW INTELLECTUALLY GIFTED YOUTHS TO ATTEND COMMUNITY COLLEGES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115D‑1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115D‑1.  Statement of purpose.
The purposes of this Chapter are to provide for the establishment, organization, and administration of a system of educational institutions throughout the State offering courses of instruction in one or more of the general areas of two‑year college parallel, technical, vocational, and adult education programs, to serve as a legislative charter for such institutions, and to authorize the levying of local taxes and the issuing of local bonds for the support thereof. The major purpose of each and every institution operating under the provisions of this Chapter shall be and shall continue to be the offering of vocational and technical education and training, and of basic, high school level, academic education needed in order to profit from vocational and technical education, for students who are high school graduates or who are beyond the compulsory age limit of the public school system and who have left the public schools, provided, juveniles of any age committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention by a court of competent jurisdiction may, if approved by the director of the youth development center to which they are assigned, take courses offered by institutions of the system if they are otherwise qualified for admission.
The Community Colleges System Office is designated as the primary lead agency for delivering workforce development training, adult literacy training, and adult education programs in the State."
SECTION 2.  Section 4 of S.L. 2001‑312, as amended by Section 76 of S.L. 2001‑487, reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 4.  Section 2 of this act is effective when it becomes law, and shall apply beginning with the 2001‑2002 academic year. Section 2 of this act expires September 1, 2008. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115D‑1.1, as reenacted by Section 2 of this act, reads as rewritten:
"§ 115D‑1.1. Discretion in admissions.
(a)	Notwithstanding G.S. 115D‑1, a student under the age of 16 may enroll in a community college if the following conditions are met:
(1)	The president of the community college or the president's designee finds, based on criteria established by the State Board of Community Colleges, that the student is intellectually gifted and that the student has the maturity to justify admission to the community college; and
(2)	One of the following persons approves the student's enrollment in a community college:
a.	The local board of education, or the board's designee, for the local school administrative unit in which the student is domiciled or is enrolled.
b.	The administrator, or the administrator's designee, of the nonpublic school in which the student is enrolled.
c.	The person who provides the academic instruction in the home school in which the student is enrolled.
d.	The designee of the board of directors of the charter school in which the student is enrolled.
e.	The administrator of the college or university where the student is enrolled.
(b)	The State Board of Community Colleges, in consultation with the Department of Public Instruction, shall adopt rules to implement this section."
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 31st day of May, 2005.

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		 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

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		 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

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		 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2005