A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide for a Dropout prevention and recovery pilot program with charter schools.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  S.L. 2011‑259 is repealed.
SECTION 2.  The State Board of Education shall establish a Dropout Prevention and Recovery Pilot Program in Mecklenburg County. The State Board of Education shall select three charter schools that have been approved by the State Board under G.S.115C‑238.29D to provide the educational services and programming for the Dropout Prevention and Recovery Pilot Program. The purpose of the pilot program is to reengage students and increase the graduation rates in North Carolina through an educational program that provides flexible scheduling and a blended learning environment with individualized and self‑paced learning options.
SECTION 3.  To be eligible to participate in the pilot program, a charter school or its affiliated charter management organization or education management organization must be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as an indicator of quality instructional programming. All teachers employed by a charter school participating in the pilot program shall be licensed teachers under G.S. 115C‑296.
SECTION 4.  The pilot program shall provide at least the following:
(1)	Facilities that are easily accessible to the students being served.
(2)	Flexible scheduling, including at least two different sessions per day that are designed to accommodate students' extracurricular commitments.
(3)	Differentiated instruction that shall include individualized, group, and online instructional components.
(4)	The capacity for assessing, recording, and responding to the students' academic progress on a daily basis using assessments that are aligned with State and local standards and requirements.
(5)	A focus on serving a defined population of at‑risk students who have dropped out or are likely to drop out of school in the foreseeable future without some type of intervention.
(6)	Support services, including social workers and crisis intervention professionals who are trained to assist students in removing barriers to attending school and graduating.
(7)	Instructional models that are self‑paced and mastery‑based.
(8)	Individualized graduation plans to guide students to graduation with a standard high school diploma.
SECTION 5.  In selecting the charter schools that are to participate in the Dropout Prevention and Recovery Pilot Program, the State Board of Education shall consider whether an applying charter school or its affiliated charter management organization or education management organization demonstrates all of the following criteria:
(1)	A history of providing dropout recovery services to high school students in charter or noncharter public schools.
(2)	At least two years of relevant experience operating and providing services to brick‑and‑mortar public schools.
(3)	At least two years of relevant experience providing comprehensive online learning programs.
(4)	Relevant experience serving diverse student populations, including socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
(5)	An explanation of the steps taken by the applicant to ensure that its proposed instructional content is aligned with State standards.
(6)	A plan for the recruitment and hiring of State‑certified teachers, including hiring criteria.
(7)	A plan for the recruitment and hiring of qualified administrators, including hiring criteria.
(8)	A detailed plan to work with the Charlotte‑Mecklenburg School System, other public schools and local school administrative units from which students may have been previously enrolled, and the State Board of Education to identify students who need to be served, to reengage those students, and to provide alternative education options for students at risk of dropping out. Students at risk of dropping out from their current schools may be transferred into the pilot program.
(9)	An operational plan that includes the following:
a.	The number and physical location of proposed sites and a list of the equipment required.
b.	A proposed program calendar and daily schedule and an explanation of how the calendar and schedule meet the needs of prospective students. The schedule must include at least four hours per school day of on‑site learning at a physical location.
c.	The student‑to‑teacher ratio.
d.	A description of each of the instructional methods to be used and number of hours per day for each method.
e.	A plan for differentiated instruction that must include individualized, group, and online instructional components. Online instructional components shall adhere to the approval provision under Section 7.22(h)(2) of S.L. 2011‑145.
f.	Capacity for assessing, recording, and responding to students' academic progress on a daily basis using standards‑aligned assessments.
g.	A detailed one‑year budget.
h.	A system that awards credit based on mastery of course content and standards. Course content and standards shall be consistent with the North Carolina standard course of study as provided under G.S. 115C‑81.
i.	A plan for aggregation and reporting of student performance data and reporting of financial activity that is in compliance with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's requirements for all charter schools.
SECTION 6.  Data to inform student performance evaluation shall be gathered by the participating charter schools according to State Board of Education policies on the annual performance standards under the Ready Accountability Model. This data shall be reported to the State Board of Education and used by the State Board to (i) report on the success of the pilot program to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and (ii) make continuation funding decisions about the pilot program. 
SECTION 7.  The participating charter schools shall receive funding as provided under G.S. 115C‑238.29H. During the initial two years of operation of the participating charter schools, notwithstanding G.S. 115C‑238.29D(d) and G.S. 115C‑238.29H:
(1)	An increase in enrollment is not a material revision to a participating charter school's charter application.
(2)	Participating charter schools shall be funded on the basis of projected average daily membership anticipated for the final month of the upcoming school year. Allotments for participating charter schools shall be adjusted on the basis of the first month average daily membership. Reductions to allotments for participating charter schools shall be transferred to the ADM Contingency Reserve.
(3)	If the December average daily membership exceeds the first month average daily membership by more than thirty percent (30%), the State Board shall provide participating charter schools additional funding from the ADM Contingency Reserve on the basis of the December average daily membership.
SECTION 8.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State Board of Education shall authorize participating charter schools to implement flexible attendance requirements for students participating in the pilot program due to the flexible scheduling and online portions of the pilot program.
SECTION 9.  The State Board of Education shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee using data as described in Section 6 of this act on the implementation and success of the pilot program on or before October 15, 2015.
SECTION 10.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to the 2014‑2015 school year.