A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to ESTABLISH THE eDUCATIONAL FIELD TRIPS GRANT PROGRAM.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Purpose. – The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall establish the Educational Field Trips Grant Program (Program) to assist local school administrative units and charter schools in providing off‑site educational enrichment experiences to students. Grant funds shall be used for costs associated with field trips to State parks and forests, State aquariums, the State zoo, the State capital, the federal capital, and historic sites, including Mount Vernon. Funds appropriated for the Program shall be used to award matching grants at a ratio of one dollar ($1.00) in State funds for every one dollar ($1.00) in non‑State funds.
SECTION 2.  Application. – By August 15, 2018, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall establish criteria and guidelines for grant applications and a grant application process for local school administrative units and charter schools. The Superintendent shall accept grant applications for the first year of the program until October 15, 2018. For subsequent fiscal years in which funds are available for new applications, the Superintendent shall accept applications until September 15 of each fiscal year.
SECTION 3.  Selection. – The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall select initial grant recipients by November 15, 2018. For subsequent fiscal years in which funds are available for new applications to the Program, the Superintendent shall select grant recipients by October 15 of each fiscal year. To the greatest extent possible, the Superintendent shall award funds to local school administrative units and charter schools that will most benefit from the funds and that represent diverse characteristics of the State. To that end, in selecting recipients for the Program, the Superintendent shall consider, among other things, the level of resources available to the recipient and the geographic location of the recipient. The Superintendent shall award grants in an amount not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) per grant for in‑State field trips and thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) per grant for out‑of‑state field trips.
SECTION 4.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2018‑2019 fiscal year to fund matching grants in accordance with this act.
SECTION 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2018, and applies to educational field trips beginning with the 2018‑2019 school year.