A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT directing the state board of education to pay school nurses who are certified in developmental disabilities nursing the same amount as other certified nurses.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C‑315(d1) reads as rewritten:
"(d1)	Certification for School Nurses. – Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule, school nurses employed in the public schools prior to July 1, 1998, shall not be required to be nationally certified to continue employment. School nurses not certified by the American Nurses' Association or the National Association of School Nurses shall continue to be paid based on the noncertified nurse salary range as established by the State Board of Education.
A school nurse who is a registered nurse and is certified as a Certified Developmental Disabilities Nurse by the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association, in collaboration with the National League for Nursing Test Service, shall be paid on the certified nurse salary range as established by the State Board of Education." 
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2005.