AN ACT to provide for a Dropout prevention and recovery pilot program with A charter school and to require the state board of education to report on UTILIZATION of personnel contracts.

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  S.L. 2011‑259 is repealed.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 two‑year Dropout Prevention and Recovery Pilot Program (Pilot Program). The State Board of Education shall select one charter school that has been approved by the State Board under G.S. 115C‑238.29D to provide the educational services and programming for the 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, the charter school's enrollment shall only include high school students who have (i) dropped out of high school or (ii) transferred from their high school to the charter school. For the purposes of this act, high school shall include ninth through twelfth grades. Transfer decisions shall be made by the student who is 18 years of age or older or the student's parents or guardians. The charter school, its affiliated charter management organization, or its 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 the charter school participating in the Pilot Program shall be licensed teachers under G.S. 115C‑296.
SECTION 4.  The charter school participating in the Pilot Program shall develop and implement an alternative accountability model that meets the guidelines adopted by the State Board of Education for alternative learning programs under G.S. 115C‑12(24).
SECTION 5.  For the charter school participating in the Pilot Program, the allotments and adjustments shall be made as provided in G.S. 115C‑238.29H and shall be adjusted on the basis of the average daily membership in the fifth month of the school year.
SECTION 6.  Existing charter schools meeting the criteria as provided in this act may apply to participate in the Pilot Program no later than August 31, 2014. The State Board of Education shall select by September 30, 2014, the participant for the Pilot Program for the 2014‑2015 and 2015‑2016 school years.
SECTION 7.  The State Board of Education shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by March 15, 2016, on the outcomes of the Dropout Prevention and Recovery Pilot Program, including (i) the number of students who dropped out of high school, enrolled in the program, and completed a high school diploma, (ii) the results of the alternative accountability model, and (iii) the impact on the ADM Contingency Reserve. The report shall also include any recommendations to enhance the effectiveness and the efficiency of the Pilot Program funding and accountability models.
SECTION 8.  The Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee shall report to the 2016 Regular Session of the 2015 General Assembly on necessary legislation to transition the Pilot Program into alternative charter schools serving high school students who have dropped out of high school.
SECTION 8.5.  The State Board of Education and the Charter Schools Advisory Board shall jointly report by December 15, 2014, to the General Assembly on the utilization of contracts for personnel services by local boards of education and charter school boards of directors.  The report shall indicate both the purposes and the extent of such contracts prevalent in each local school administrative district and charter schools statewide.
SECTION 9.  This act is effective when it becomes law. The Pilot Program shall begin with the 2014‑2015 school year and shall conclude at the end of the 2015‑2016 school year.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 31st day of July, 2014.

	s/	 Tom Apodaca
	 Presiding Officer of the Senate

	s/	 Thom Tillis
	 Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Pat McCrory
	 Governor

Approved 5:05 p.m. this 6th day of August, 2014