A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require charter schools to provide transportation and food services.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑218.1(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The application shall contain at least the following information:
…
(16)	The school's plans for providing transportation. The school shall develop a plan for transportation for any student enrolled in the charter school who resides in the local school administrative unit in which the school will be located.
(17)	The school's plans for providing food services. The school shall develop a plan to provide food services for any student enrolled in the charter school."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑218.40 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑218.40.  Charter school transportation.
The charter school may provide transportation for students enrolled at the school. The charter school shall provide transportation for any student enrolled in the charter school who resides in the local school administrative unit in which the school is located. At the request of the charter school and if the local board of the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is located operates a school bus system, then that local board may contract with the charter school to provide transportation in accordance with the charter school's transportation plan to students who reside in the local school administrative unit and who reside at least one and one‑half miles of the charter school. A local board may charge the charter school a reasonable charge that is sufficient to cover the cost of providing this transportation. Furthermore, a local board may refuse to provide transportation under this section if it demonstrates there is no available space on buses it intends to operate during the term of the contract or it would not be practically feasible to provide this transportation."
SECTION 3.  Article 14A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 115C‑218.42.  Food services.
The charter school shall provide food services for any student enrolled in the charter school. In the operation of their food service programs, charter schools shall participate in the National School Lunch Program as provided in G.S. 115C‑264."
SECTION 4.  Section 1 of this act applies to applications for a new or renewed charter submitted on or after July 1, 2019. Sections 2 and 3 of this act become effective July 1, 2020. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.