A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to expand automatic enrollment in advanced courses in k‑12 schools to include english language arts courses.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑81.36 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑81.36.  Advanced courses in mathematics and English Language Arts.
(a)	When practicable, local boards of education shall offer advanced learning opportunities in grades three through five, and advanced courses in all grades six and higher. For the purposes of this section, advanced learning opportunities are those services and curricular modifications in mathematics and English Language Arts for academically or intellectually gifted students approved as part of the local plan, as required by G.S. 115C‑150.7, and advanced courses are advanced courses in mathematics and English Language Arts.
(a1)	When advanced learning opportunities are offered in grades three through five, any student scoring at the highest level on the corresponding end‑of‑grade test shall, for the next school year, be provided advanced learning opportunities approved for that student's grade level.
(b)	When advanced courses are offered in grades six and higher, any student scoring at the highest level on the corresponding end‑of‑grade or end‑of‑course test for the course in which the student was most recently enrolled shall be enrolled in the advanced course for the next course in which the student is enrolled.
(b1)	When a high school mathematics course is offered in eighth grade, 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 provide supplemental content enrichment, which may include the administration of diagnostic assessments, to students enrolled in a high school level mathematics course.
(c)	By December 15, 2025, and annually thereafter, the Department of Public Instruction shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee containing data collected for the current school year on the number, demographics, and socioeconomic status of students who were eligible for advanced courses under this section, including high school level mathematics courses in eighth grade, and of those students, the number, demographics, and socioeconomic status of those who were placed in advanced courses and were not placed in advanced courses. The report shall include information on the type and format of advanced courses provided and shall also include any feedback provided by local boards of education on the implementation of this section.
(d)	The Department of Public Instruction shall provide guidance to local boards of education on how to best develop programming and courses to ensure all impacted students receive rigorous, academically appropriate instruction in mathematics and English Language Arts.
(e)	No student who qualifies for advanced learning opportunities or advanced courses under this section shall be removed from the advanced learning opportunity or advanced course provided to the student unless a parent or guardian of the student provides written consent for the student to be excluded or removed 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. Local boards of education may provide supplemental content enrichment, which may include the administration of diagnostic assessments, to students enrolled in advanced courses."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2025‑2026 school year.