A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that the residential schools for students with visual and hearing Impairments are governed by a board of trustees and function similarly as local school administrative units.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 9C of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
"Article 9C.
"Schools for Students with Visual and Hearing Impairments.
"§ 115C‑150.11.  State Board of Education general supervision over schools; governance of the schools.
The State Board of Education shall have general supervision and administration for the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. Except as otherwise provided for in this Article, the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North Carolina School for the Deaf shall be housed administratively within the Department of Public Instruction, but shall operate independently through a board of trustees as the governing body for each school in accordance with this Article. Each board of trustees shall appoint a director for the school, who shall act as secretary to the board of trustees in accordance with G.S. 115C‑150.11A and shall manage school personnel, day‑to‑day operations of the school, and the school's operating budget at the direction of the board of trustees.
"§ 115C‑150.11A.  Board of trustees for each school.
(a)	Appointment. – The Governor Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North Carolina School for the Deaf shall be governed by a board of trustees established for each school. There shall be 11 members for each board of trustees to be appointed as follows:
(1)	Four members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2)	Four members appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
(3)	Two members appointed by the Governor.
(4)	One member appointed by the chair of the State Board of Education.
(b)	Terms of Members. – The initial terms of a board of trustees for two of the members appointed pursuant to subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of this section and one of the members appointed pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of this section shall be for three‑year terms. Upon the expiration of those initial terms and every six years thereafter, successors shall be appointed for six‑year terms. All other members appointed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be appointed for six year terms. Terms shall commence July 1. Members shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified. All vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority for the vacating member for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(c)	Chair; Director. – The director shall call the initial meeting of the board of trustees. The board of trustees shall elect one of its members as chair for a two‑year term. The director appointed in accordance with G.S. 115C‑150.11 shall be ex officio secretary of the board of trustees. The director shall recommend school personnel to the board of trustees to be employed by the board.
(d)	Meetings. – A board of trustees shall meet at least four times a year and also at such other times as it may deem necessary. All meetings shall be subject to Article 33C of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes. The members shall receive per diem compensation and necessary travel and subsistence expenses while engaged in the discharge of their official duties as is provided by law for members of State boards and commissions.
(e)	Procedures. – A board of trustees shall determine its own rules of procedure and may delegate to committees that it creates any powers it deems appropriate.
"§ 115C‑150.11B.  Board of trustees; corporate powers.
(a)	The board of trustees of a residential school governed by this Article shall be known and distinguished by the name of "The ____________ Board of Trustees" and shall continue as a body politic and corporate and by that name shall have perpetual succession and a common seal. It shall be able and capable in law to take, demand, receive, and possess all moneys, goods, and chattels that shall be given for the use of the residential school, and to apply to same according to the will of the donors, and by gift, purchase, or devise to receive, possess, enjoy, and retain forever any and all real and personal estate and funds, of whatsoever kind, nature, or quality the same may be, in special trust and confidence that the same, or the profits thereof, shall be applied to and for the use and purpose of establishing and endowing the regional school, and shall have power to receive donations from any source whatsoever, to be devoted exclusively to the purposes of the maintenance of the residential school, or according to the terms of the donation.
(b)	A board of trustees shall be able and capable in law to bargain, sell, grant, alien, or dispose of, and convey and assure to the purchasers any and all such real and personal estate and funds as it may lawfully acquire when the condition of the grant to it or the will of the devisor does not forbid it; and shall be able and capable in law to sue and be sued in all courts whatsoever; and shall have power to open and receive subscriptions; and in general may do all such things as are usually done by bodies corporate and politic, or such as may be necessary for the promotion of learning and virtue.
"§ 115C‑150.12.  Applicability of Chapter.
Except as otherwise provided, the requirements of this Chapter for schools and local school administrative units shall apply to the schools governed by this Article. For the purposes of federal law and the administration of State law, each residential school shall be considered a local school administrative unit.
"§ 115C‑150.13.  Rules and admission criteria.
(a)	Each board of trustees shall adopt rules necessary for the administration of the residential school to implement the requirements of this Article, including, at a minimum, rules to address eligibility for admission criteria. In determining rules for admission criteria, the board of trustees shall take into account the following factors:
(1)	State and federal laws.
(2)	Optimal academic and communicative outcomes for the child.
(3)	Parental input and choice.
(4)	Recommendations in a child's Individualized Education Program (IEP).
(b)	The board of trustees shall be subject to rules adopted by the State Board of Education in accordance with Chapter 150B of the General Statutes.
"§ 115C‑150.14.  Tuition and room and board.
(a)	Only children who are residents of North Carolina are entitled to free tuition and room and board at a school governed by this Article.
(b)	A school governed by this Article may enroll a foreign exchange student and shall charge the student the full, unsubsidized per capita cost of providing education at the school for the period of the student's attendance. A school that seeks to enroll foreign exchange students under this section shall submit a plan prior to enrolling any of those students to the board of trustees of the school for approval, including the proposed costs to be charged to the students for attendance and information on compliance with federal law requirements. For the purposes of this section, a foreign exchange student is a student who is domiciled in a foreign country and has come to the United States on a valid, eligible student visa.
(c)	Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, foreign exchange students who have obtained the status of nonimmigrants pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(F) may only be enrolled in a school governed by this Article in grades nine through 12 for a maximum of 12 months at the school.
"§ 115C‑150.15.  Reporting to residential schools on deaf and blind children.
(a)	Request for Consent. – Local superintendents shall require that the following request for written consent be presented to parents, guardians, or custodians of any hearing impaired or visually impaired children no later than October 1 of each school year: "North Carolina provides three public residential schools serving visually and hearing impaired students: the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. Do you consent to the release of your contact information and information regarding your child and his or her impairment to these schools so that you can receive more information on services offered by those campuses?"
(b)	Annual Report to Residential Schools. – Local superintendents shall report by November 30 each year the names and addresses of parents, guardians, or custodians of any hearing impaired or visually impaired children who have given written consent to the directors of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. The report shall include the type of disability of each child, including whether the hearing and visual impairments range from partial to total disability, and if the child has multiple disabilities with the visual or hearing impairment not identified as the primary disability of the student. The report shall also be made to the Department of Public Instruction.
(c)	Confidentiality of Records. – The directors of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North Carolina School for the Deaf shall treat any information reported to the schools by a local superintendent under subsection (b) of this section as confidential, except that a director or the director's designee may contact the parents, guardians, or custodians of any hearing impaired or visually impaired children whose information was included in the report. The information shall not be considered a public record under G.S. 132‑1."
SECTION 2.  Section 10 of S.L. 2013‑247 is repealed.
SECTION 3.  Section 10.21A(g) of S.L. 2010‑31 is repealed.
SECTION 4.  Section 7.25(c) of S.L. 2011‑145 is repealed.
SECTION 5.(a)  Section 8.15(b) of S.L. 2013‑360 is repealed.
SECTION 5.(b)  Notwithstanding G.S. 146‑30 or any other provision of law, beginning with the 2020‑2021 fiscal year, the Department of Public Instruction shall retain all proceeds generated from the rental of building space on the residential school campuses. The Department of Public Instruction shall allocate all receipts generated from these leases to the board of trustees in equal amounts to staff and operate each school. These receipts shall not be used to support administrative functions within the Department of Public Instruction.
SECTION 6.  Notwithstanding Article 9C of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes, as amended by this act, the Department of Public Instruction may continue its administrative duties and responsibilities for the residential schools subject to Article 9C of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes as of June 30, 2020, until the board of trustees for each school has successfully transitioned into the administrative role required by this act, but in no event later than October 1, 2020.
SECTION 7.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) in recurring funds for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year to be allocated to the residential schools for operating expenses and personnel.
SECTION 8.  By May 1, 2020, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Governor, and the chair of the State Board of Education shall appoint the initial members of the boards of trustees for each residential school to take office effective July 1, 2020, pursuant to G.S. 115C‑150.11A.
SECTION 9.  The Department of Public Instruction shall, in collaboration with the personnel from the North Carolina School for the Deaf, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the Governor Morehead School, develop a transition plan for the change in administration of the residential schools for students with visual and hearing impairments in accordance with the requirements of this act to be effective July 1, 2020. By December 15, 2019, the Department of Public Instruction shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the plan for transition in administration of the residential schools, including any legislative recommendations necessary to effectuate the transition.
SECTION 10.  Sections 1 through 7 of this act become effective July 1, 2020. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.