A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to implement a social-emotional curriculum in the public schools and preschool programs and to appropriate funds for that purpose.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑81(e)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1)	A comprehensive school health education program shall be developed and taught to pupils of the public schools of this State from kindergarten through ninth grade. This program includes age‑appropriate instruction in the following subject areas, regardless of whether this instruction is described as, or incorporated into a description of, "family life education", "family health education", "health education", "family living", "health", "healthful living curriculum", or "self‑esteem":
. . . 
l.	Abstinence until marriage education; 
m.	Bicycle safety; and
n.	Personal safety, including staying safe when lost, getting permission before going with someone, understanding and dealing with safe and unsafe touching, and reporting and refusal skills.
As used in this subsection, "HIV/AIDS" means Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑81(h1) reads as rewritten:
"(h1)	In addition to the instruction under subsection (h) of this section, local boards of education are encouraged to include instruction on the following responsibilities:
(1)	Respect for school personnel. – In the school environment, respect includes holding teachers, school administrators, and all school personnel in high esteem and demonstrating in words and deeds that all school personnel deserve to be treated with courtesy and proper deference.
(2)	Responsibility for school safety. Helping to create a harmonious school atmosphere that is free from threats, weapons, and violent or disruptive behavior; cultivate an orderly learning environment in which students and school personnel feel safe and secure; and encourage the resolution of conflicts and disagreements through peaceful means including peer mediation. Instruction in this responsibility should include a consistent and age‑appropriate antiviolence message and a conflict resolution component for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. These messages should include media‑awareness education to help children recognize stereotypes and messages portraying violence.
(3)	Service to others. – Engaging in meaningful service to their schools and their communities. Schools may teach service‑learning by (i) incorporating it into their standard curriculum, or (ii) involving a classroom of students or some other group of students in one or more hands‑on community‑service projects. All schools are encouraged to provide opportunities for student involvement in community service or service‑learning projects.
(4)	Good citizenship. – Obeying the laws of the nation and this State; abiding by school rules; and understanding the rights and responsibilities of a member of a republic.
(5)	Social and emotional learning. – Learning social and emotional skills, violence prevention skills, social competence, empathy training, behavior skills, and anger management training."
SECTION 3.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of one million seven hundred nineteen thousand eight hundred ninety dollars ($1,719,890) for the 2007‑2008 fiscal year and the sum of one million seven hundred nineteen thousand eight hundred ninety dollars ($1,719,890) for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year to implement this act with prekindergarten and kindergarten children.
SECTION 3.(b)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of three million eight hundred twenty‑two thousand seven hundred thirty‑four dollars ($3,822,734) for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year to implement this act with children in grades one through three.
SECTION 3.(c)  It is the intent of the General Assembly to appropriate funds for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year to expand the program to grades four through six.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2007.