A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to ensure that all teachers have a duty‑free instructional period and a duty‑free lunch period.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑301.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑301.1.  Duty‑free instructional planning period and duty‑free lunch period.
All full‑time assigned classroom teachers shall be provided a daily duty‑free instructional planning period and a daily duty‑free lunch period during regular student contact hours. The duty‑free instructional planning period shall be provided except in emergency situations where the immediate and temporary suspension of the planning period is the only reasonable means of protecting the safety of children. The duty‑free lunch period shall be provided to the maximum extent that the safety and proper supervision of children may allow during regular student contact hours. Principals shall not unfairly burden a given teacher by making that teacher give up his or her duty‑free instructional planning period or duty‑free lunch period on an ongoing, regular basis without the consent of the teacher."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑105.27(b) reads as rewritten:
"(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; and
(7)	Shall include a plan to provide duty‑free instructional planning time for every teacher under G.S. 115C‑301.1 of at least five hours of planning time per week."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2009‑2010 school year.