A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to clarify the cooperative innovative high school Programs Application process for regional schools, to grant one‑year status as a COOPERATIVE INNOVATIVE HIGH SCHOOL to the Northeast Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience, and to provide funding for higher education tuition costs for students enrolled at the NORTHEAST REGIONAL SCHOOL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY AND AGRISCIENCE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑238.50A(1a) reads as rewritten:
"(1a)	Cooperative innovative high school. – A high school approved by the State Board of Education and the applicable governing Board that meets the following criteria:
a.	It has no more than 100 students per grade level. This criterion shall not apply to a regional school as defined in G.S. 115C‑238.61.
b.	It partners with an institution of higher education to enable students to concurrently obtain a high school diploma and begin or complete an associate degree program, master a certificate or vocational program, or earn up to two years of college credit within five years.
c.	It is located on the campus of the partner institution of higher education, unless the governing Board or the local board of trustees for a private North Carolina college specifically waives the requirement through adoption of a formal resolution. This criterion shall not apply to a regional school established as provided in Part 10 of this Article."
SECTION 2.  Notwithstanding the requirements of Part 9 of Article 16 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes, for the 2014‑2015 school year, the Northeast Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience shall be designated as a cooperative innovative high school. To maintain the designation as a cooperative innovative high school beyond the 2014‑2015 school year, the board of directors of the Northeast Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience shall apply with a local board of trustees for approval as a cooperative innovative high school program as provided under Part 9 of Article 16 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes.
SECTION 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of fourteen thousand nine hundred fifteen dollars ($14,915) for the 2014‑2015 fiscal year to reimburse The University of North Carolina for tuition for courses taken by students at the Northeast Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience through the partner institution of higher education, North Carolina State University. The Northeast Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience students' credit hours shall be nonfundable under The University of North Carolina Semester Credit Hour Enrollment Change Funding Model.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2014.