A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to appropriate funds for public schools, INCLUDING charter schools, that receive a school performance grade of d or f and to make certain changes to the charter school statutes.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of thirty‑five million one hundred nineteen thousand seven hundred dollars ($35,119,700) for the 2016‑2017 fiscal year in recurring funds for the purpose of providing additional funds to public schools, including charter schools, that receive a school performance grade of D or F under G.S. 115C‑83.15. It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide these funds for an estimated 351,197 students attending a public school that received a grade of D or F so that approximately one hundred dollars ($100.00) per pupil in additional funds shall be allocated to each of these schools.
A local school administrative unit with one or more schools that received a school performance grade of D or F shall receive funds on the basis of its allocated average daily membership. The funds shall be used by a local school administrative unit only for those schools with a D or F grade on the basis of the average daily membership of each school. A charter school that receives a school performance grade of D or F shall receive funds on the basis of the average daily membership of the school. The funds may be used by the schools to provide enhanced educational services to at‑risk students, including purchasing instructional materials, textbooks, and technology‑based programs and devices, providing tutoring services and instructional support for at‑risk students outside of the school day, and employing literacy coaches to assist classroom teachers.
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑218.45 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(d1)	A charter school shall not require (i) letters of recommendation or (ii) a certain time commitment by a parent or legal guardian for serving as a volunteer for the school as a part of the admission process for the charter school."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑218.85(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(1a)	A school that has a start and dismissal time for the school day that differs from the start and dismissal time of other public schools in the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is located shall provide support services to students whose parents and legal guardians may have difficulty aligning their schedules with the school day calendar. Support services may include before- or after-school programs supervised by school personnel or in partnership with community organizations or transportation services for students."
SECTION 4.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2016. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2016‑2017 school year.