A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to modify the CRITERIA for selection of teacher mentors.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑296(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	The State Board of Education shall develop a mentor program to provide ongoing support for teachers entering the profession. In developing the mentor program, the State Board shall conduct a comprehensive study of the needs of new teachers and how those needs can be met through an orientation and mentor support program.
(1)	Guidelines for New Teachers. – For the purpose of helping local boards to support new teachers, the State Board shall develop and distribute guidelines which address optimum teaching load, extracurricular duties, student assignment, and other working condition considerations. These guidelines shall provide that initially licensed teachers not be assigned extracurricular activities unless they request the assignments in writing and that other noninstructional duties of these teachers be minimized.
(2)	Mentor Program. – The State Board shall develop and coordinate a mentor teacher training program. The State Board shall develop criteria for selecting excellent, experienced, and qualified teachers to be participants in the mentor teacher training program as follows:
a.	Mentor teachers shall be either of the following:
1.	Teachers rated, through formal evaluations, at least at the "proficient" level as part of the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation System and have met expectations for student growth.
2.	Retired teachers.
b.	The principal shall determine which mentor teacher best meets the needs of each new teacher and shall assign the most appropriate mentor teacher to that new teacher, with priority consideration for those mentor teachers rated as "distinguished" and "accomplished."
c.	If a principal determines that a teacher rated as "proficient" or a retired teacher is the most appropriate mentor for a new teacher, the principal shall maintain records of the reasons for that determination."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to mentors selected for the 2017‑2018 school year.