A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to make certain modifications to the implementation of advanced math courses offered when practicable for grades three and higher.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑81.36 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑81.36.  Advanced courses in mathematics.
(a)	When practicable, local boards of education and charter schools shall offer advanced courses in mathematics in all grades three and higher.
(b)	When advanced courses are offered in mathematics, any student scoring at the highest level on the end‑of‑grade or end‑of‑course test for the mathematics course in which the student was most recently enrolled shall be enrolled in the advanced course for the next mathematics course in which the student is enrolled. A student in seventh grade scoring at the highest level on the seventh grade mathematics end‑of‑grade test shall be enrolled in a high school level mathematics course in eighth grade. Local boards of education may administer diagnostic assessments upon enrollment in the high school level mathematics course for the purpose of providing identified students with supplemental content enrichment. No student who qualifies under this subsection shall be removed from the advanced or high school mathematics course in which the student is enrolled unless a parent or guardian of the student provides written consent for the student to be excluded or removed from that course after being adequately informed that the student's placement was determined by the student's achievement on the previous end‑of‑grade or end‑of‑course test.
(c)	By October 15, 2019, and annually thereafter, the Department of Public Instruction shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee containing data collected on the number and demographics of students who were eligible for advanced math courses, and of those students, the number and demographics of those who were placed in advanced math courses and were not placed in advanced math courses. The report shall include information on the type and format of advanced math courses provided and shall also include any feedback provided by local boards of education and charter schools on the implementation of this section.
(d)	The Department of Public Instruction shall provide guidance to local boards of education and charter schools on how to best develop programming and courses to ensure all impacted students receive rigorous, academically appropriate instruction in mathematics."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑218.85(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(5)	A charter school shall provide advanced math courses in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 115C‑81.36."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2019‑2020 school year.