GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2025

S                                                                                                                                                     1

SENATE BILL 48

 

 

Short Title:      Access to Sports and Extracurriculars for All.

(Public)

Sponsors:

Senators Hise, Ford, and Galey (Primary Sponsors).

Referred to:

Rules and Operations of the Senate

February 5, 2025

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to permit students who attend a public school, private school, or home school without an interscholastic athletics PROGRAM in a given sport or particular extracurricular activity to participate in that activity at a public high school.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑407.55(1)b. reads as rewritten:

"b.        Enrollment and transfer requirements, including the following:

…

3.         If a public high school does not offer a particular sport, a student from that school may participate in the sport at the public high school closest to the student's school that has a program in that sport, subject to the terms and conditions applicable to a regularly enrolled member of that high school's student body, except that the high school may charge a reasonable fee for participation to a student who is not enrolled in the high school as established by the local board of education in accordance with G.S. 115C‑47(6).

4.         A private school or home school student may participate in a sport at the base public high school for the student's address, subject to the terms and conditions applicable to a regularly enrolled member of that high school's student body. If the student's base public high school does not have a program in a particular sport, the student may participate in the sport at the public high school closest to the student's base public high school that has a program in that sport, subject to the terms and conditions applicable to a regularly enrolled member of that high school's student body. The public high school may charge a reasonable fee for participation to a student who is not enrolled in the high school as established by the local board of education in accordance with G.S. 115C‑47(6)."

SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑47(6) reads as rewritten:

"(6)      To Regulate Fees, Charges and Solicitations. – Local boards of education shall adopt rules and regulations governing solicitations of, sales to, and fund‑raising activities conducted by, the students and faculty members in schools under their jurisdiction, and no fees, charges, or costs shall be collected from students and school personnel without approval of the board of education as recorded in the minutes of said board; provided, this subdivision shall not apply to such textbooks fees as are determined and established by the State Board of Education. The local board of education shall publish a schedule of fees, charges, and solicitations approved by the local board board, including fees established to allow students not enrolled in a particular public high school to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities, on the local school administrative unit's Web site by October 15 of each school year and, if the schedule is subsequently revised, within 30 days following the revision."

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2025‑2026 school year.