A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to allow students in home school to participate in advanced placement (AP) exams and the preliminary scholastic assessment test (psat).
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑174.18 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑174.18.  Opportunity to take Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
Every student in the eighth through tenth grades who has completed Algebra I or who is in the last month of Algebra I shall be given an opportunity to take a version of either the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) or the PLAN precursor test to the ACT, at the discretion of the local school administrative unit, one time at no cost to the student. A student receiving instruction through a home school, as provided by Part 3 of Article 39 of this Chapter, shall be eligible to participate in testing as provided in G.S. 115C‑565.1. The maximum amount of State funds used for this purpose shall be the cost of the PSAT/NMSQT."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑174.26(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	It is the intent of the State to enhance accessibility and encourage students to enroll in and successfully complete more rigorous advanced courses to enable success in postsecondary education for all students. For the purposes of this section, an advanced course is an Advanced Placement course, an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme course, or a Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) course, including an AS‑Level or A‑Level course. To attain this goal, to the extent funds are made available for this purpose, students enrolled in public schools shall be exempt from paying any fees for administration of examinations for advanced courses and registration fees for advanced courses in which the student is enrolled regardless of the score the student achieves on an examination. A student receiving instruction through a home school, as provided by Part 3 of Article 39 of this Chapter, shall be eligible to participate in administration of examinations for advanced courses as provided in G.S. 115C‑565.1."
SECTION 3.  Part 3 of Article 39 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 115C‑565.1.  Eligibility to participate in certain testing administration in local school administrative units.
(a)	A student enrolled in a home school shall be allowed to participate in the administration of the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test or the PLAN precursor test to the ACT, as offered by the local school administrative unit in accordance with G.S. 115C‑174.18, as follows:
(1)	The student may take the test at a school within the local school administrative unit that the student would be assigned to if the student attended public school.
(2)	The student shall have completed a course or test that shows equivalent competency to passing Algebra I.
(3)	The student's parent may be charged any fees required for administration of the test by the local school administrative unit.
(4)	The student's parent, or other responsible adult designated by the parent, may be required by the local school administrative unit to serve as a proctor in order for the student to take the test, if the addition of the student would prevent the local school administrative unit from meeting the required proctor‑student ratio for that test at that school.
(b)	A student enrolled in a home school shall be allowed to take any advanced course examination offered by a local school administrative unit in accordance with G.S. 115C‑174.26, as follows:
(1)	The student may take the advanced course examination at a school within the local school administrative unit that the student would have been assigned to if the student attended public school.
(2)	The student shall meet any requirements to take the advanced course examination established by the organization issuing that examination and the chief administrator of the home school. A local board of education shall not require the student to complete a specific advanced course to take the related examination.
(3)	The student's parent may be charged any fees required for administration of the advanced course examination by the local school administrative unit.
(4)	The student's parent, or other responsible adult designated by the parent, may be required by the local school administrative unit to serve as a proctor in order for the student to take the advanced course examination, if the addition of the student would prevent the local school administrative unit from meeting the required proctor‑student ratio for that examination at that school."
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.