Bill Summaries: H755 (2021)

Tracking:
  • Summary date: Jun 1 2022 - View summary

    Senate amendment makes the following changes to the 4th edition.

    Part III.

    Changes the proposed numbering of the statutes enacted in new Part 3, Parental Consent for Treatment, Article 1A, GS Chapter 90. Adds and defines the term parent as minor child's parent or legal guardian, applicable to the provisions of Part 3.


  • Summary date: May 25 2022 - View summary

    Senate committee substitute replaces the content of the 3rd edition with the following.

    Part I.

    Enacts Article 29E to GS Chapter 115C, codifying ten statutory rights of a parent:

    • to direct the education and care of their child;
    • to direct the upbringing and moral or religious training of their child;
    • to enroll their child in a public or nonpublic school and in any school choice options available for which the child is eligible to comply with attendance laws;
    • to access and review all education records relating to their child as authorized by federal law;
    • to make health care decision for their child unless otherwise provided by law;
    • to access and review all medical records of their child as authorized by federal law, unless prohibited by law or unless the parent is subject to certain GS Chapter 14 or 7B investigations;
    • to prohibit the creation, sharing, or storage of a biometric scan of their child without the parent's prior written consent, unless authorized by court order or law;
    • to prohibit the creation, sharing, or storage of their child's blood or DNA without the parent's prior written consent, unless authorized by court order or law;
    • to prohibit the creation by the State of a video or voice recording of their child without the parent's prior written consent, except a recording made in a court proceeding, a GS Chapter 14 or 7B investigation, or made for a safety demonstration, academic or extracurricular activity, classroom instruction, ID cards, or security or surveillance of buildings or grounds; and
    • to be promptly notified if an employee of the State suspects that a criminal offense has been committed against their child, unless the incident has first been reported to law enforcement or the county child welfare agency, and notification of the parent would impede the investigation.

    Defines child, parent, and State. Specifies that the Article does not authorize a parent to engage in unlawful conduct, and does not prohibit State officials, employees, or courts from acting within their official capacity within the reasonable and prudent scope of their respective authorities. Deems State employees who encourage, coerce, or attempt to encourage or coerce a child to withhold information from their parent subject to disciplinary action. 

    Part II.

    Enacts Article 7B to GS Chapter 115C. Defines child, parent, principal, school personnel, and superintendent. Includes legislative findings. Requires public school units to (1) inform parents of their legal rights and responsibilities with regards to their child's education, (2) provide a parent's guide for student achievement annually to parents, and (3) develop policies to effectively involve parents in schools and their child's education.

    Enumerates 11 legal rights parents have with regards to their child's education, pursuant to specified state laws:

    • the right to consent or withhold consent for participation in reproductive health and safety education programs;
    • the right to seek a medical or religious exemption from immunization requirements;
    • the right to review statewide standardized assessment results as part of the State report card;
    • the right to request an evaluation of their child for an academically or intellectually gifted program, or for identification as a child with a disability;
    • the right to inspect and purchase public school unit textbooks and other supplementary instructional materials;
    • the right to access information relating to the unit's policies for promotion or retention;
    • the right to receive student report cards on a regular basis that clearly depict and grade the student's academic performance in each class or course, the student's conduct, and the student's attendance;
    • the right to access information relating to the State public education system, State standards, report card requirements, attendance requirements, and textbook requirements;
    • the right to participate in parent-teacher organizations;
    • the right to opt out of certain data collection for their child; and
    • the right to review all available records of materials their child has borrowed from a school library.

    Requires public school units to allow parents to exercise their legal rights and make the enumerated rights available to parents either electronically or by display on the school's website.

    Requires the State Board of Education (State Board) to develop and annually update minimum requirements for public school units for a parent's guide to student achievement. Details nine required components, including opportunities for parental participation, educational choices available to parents, contact information for school and unit offices, and resources for information on the importance of student health and other available resources for parents. Requires public school units to provide parents, students, and school personnel a parent guide to student achievement at the beginning of each year that meets the State Board's minimum requirements, is understandable to students and parents, and is discussed at the beginning of each school year in meetings of students, parents, and teachers.

    Directs the governing bodies of public school units to develop and adopt policies to promote parental involvement and empowerment in the unit. Requires consultation with stakeholders. Sets requirements for the policies, including providing links to parents for community services. Additionally requires governing bodies to establish policies to meet six purposes, including providing for parental participation to improve parent and teacher cooperation, and establishing a process for parents to review materials for and to consent or withhold consent for participation in reproductive health and safety education programs.

    Establishes the procedure for a parent to exercise their right to information by submitting a written request to their child's principal. Gives the principal a 10-business day period to comply or provide a 20-business day extension notice due to the volume or complexity of the request. Allows for parents to submit a written request to the superintendent if the principal denies their request or fails to respond with the timeline required, with a statement regarding the time frame of the denial or failure. Allows for the parent to appeal a denial or lack of response to the governing board of the public school unit if the superintendent denies or does not respond to the request within 10 business days, within 20 days of the request to the superintendent. Requires the governing body to schedule the appeal on the agenda for its next meeting occurring at least three business days after submission. Requires governing bodies to establish policies governing requests for information and appeals consistent with the act and display policies as specified. Deems decisions of a governing body final.

    Requires governing bodies of a public school unit to adopt procedures to notify a parent of the following, at times specified: each health care service offered at their child's school and the means to provide consent to any service; procedures to exercise parental remedies; any K-3 student well-being questionnaire or health screening form and the means to provide consent to their use for their child; changes in services or monitoring related to their child's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being and the school's ability to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for their child; and change to the name or pronoun used for the student in school records or by school personnel. Requires school personnel to encourage a child to discuss issues related to the child's well being with their parent and facilitate such discussions. Provides limitations to disclosure of a child's education and health records. Sets limitations on procedures and formS that prohibit school employees from notifying a parent about their child's health or well-being or a change related to services or monitoring, or that encourage or have the effect of encouraging a child to withhold such information from their parent. 

    Requires student support services training developed or provided by a public school unit to school personnel to adhere to student services guidelines, standards, and frameworks established by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

    Prohibits instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from inclusion in K-3rd grade curriculum, as specified.

    Directs governing boards of public school units to adopt procedures for a parent to notify the principal at their child's school regarding concerns about the unit's procedure or practice under the act and a process for resolving those concerns within seven days of notice. Requires the unit to provide a statement for not resolving the concern within that timeframe, and allows a parent to notify the State Board or bring an action against the school unit for injunctive relief if the concern is not resolved within 30 days. Directs the State Board to establish rules for parental concern hearings with five minimum requirements that must be met. 

    Directs DPI to review and update school counseling frameworks and standards, educator practices and professional conduct principles, and other student services and school personnel guidelines, standards, or frameworks by June 30, 2023.

    Applies beginning with the 2022-23 school year. 

    Part III.

    Enacts Part 3, Article 1A, GS Chapter 90, to prohibit health care practitioners, as defined, from providing, soliciting, or arranging treatment for a minor child without written consent from their parent, and prohibit health care facilities, as defined, from allowing treatment to be performed on a minor child without written consent from their parent, subject to state law and court order. Defines treatment. Excludes services provided by a clinical lab unless delivered through direct encounter with the minor child at the clinical laboratory facility. Subjects health care practitioners or other persons who violate the Part to disciplinary action by their respective authorizing board, including a fine of up to $5,000. Applies to violations committed on or after December 1, 2022.

    Part IV.

    Effective July 1, 2022, unless otherwise provided.

    Changes the act's titles. 


  • Summary date: May 4 2021 - View summary

    House committee substitute to the 2nd edition makes the following changes. 

    Amends new GS 115C-102.1 by no longer authorizing a public school unit to provide lesson plans to be updated throughout the school year if all updates are completed by June 30, and use online collaborative software, documents, or spreadsheets to allow multiple users to update content, during the school year. Adds the requirement that the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) make available to public school units one or more templates for providing information as required by the statute. Allows a public school unit flexibility in determining the most effective means of compliance with the statute's requirements, including, but not limited to, using any of the following in its discretion: (1) providing a template created by the DPI to teachers to facilitate reporting of lesson plans; (2) creating one or more templates to provide to teachers to facilitate reporting of lesson plans and the unit to customize templates for grades or courses and auto-populate any instructional materials required by the public school unit as part of the curriculum for a particular grade or course; (3) allowing the use of online collaborative software, documents, or spreadsheets to allow multiple authorized users to update content; and (4) authorizing updating lesson plans throughout the school year, if all updates are completed by June 30.


  • Summary date: May 4 2021 - View summary

    House committee substitute deletes the content of the 1st edition and replaces it with the following. 

    Enacts GS 115C-102.1 to require the governing bodies of public school units to ensure the following information is posted on each school's website, organized by subject area and grade level: (1) the lesson plans that were used at the school during the prior school year, identifying, describing, and linking the instructional materials and associated activities; (2) any procedures for the documentation, review, or approval of the lesson plans by the principal, curriculum administrators, or other teachers; and (3) the procedure established by the governing board for requesting an in-person review of instructional material not publicly available online. Specifies that digital reproduction of the materials or separate reporting of material components is not required, and requires listing the teacher as the author when appropriate. Defines instructional material and lesson plan. Requires the governing board to provide access from the public school unit's website to the required information by June 30th annually through a manner specified, with public access maintained by fiscal year. Authorizes the public school unit to provide lesson plans to be updated throughout the school year if all updated are completed by June 30, and use online collaborative software, documents, or spreadsheets to allow multiple users to update content, during the school year. Does not require compliance by a governing body that is responsible for the operation of schools with fewer than 400 students cumulatively.

    Amends GS 115C-12, GS 115C-47, GS 115C-238.66, and GS 115C-218.85 to require the State Board, local boards, regional school boards of directors, and charter schools to ensure that the information about instructional materials is displayed on the websites of innovative schools, schools for students with visual and hearing impairments, each school in the respective administrative unit, regional schools and charter schools as appropriate for each authority and in accordance with new GS 115C-102.1.

    Similarly enacts GS 116-69.2, and enacts a new subsection to GS 116-235, to provide identical requirements of the Boards of Trustees of the NC School of the Arts and the NC School of Science and Math to ensure that information about instructional materials is displayed on the each school's website for all programs of the School of the Arts and for the School of Science and Math, respectively, in accordance with new GS 115C-102.1.

    Similarly amends GS 116-239.8(b), enacting a new subdivision to require chancellors to ensure that information about instructional materials is displayed on the website of laboratory schools in accordance with new GS 115C-201.1.

    Applies beginning with the display of instructional materials used during the 2021-22 school year, no later than June 30, 2022.


  • Summary date: Apr 29 2021 - View summary

    Enacts GS 115C-98A to require the governing bodies of public school units to ensure the following information is annually posted on each school's website, organized by subject area and grade level: (1) the instructional materials and activities that were used during the prior school year, as specified, and (2) any procedures for the documentation, review, or approval of the learning materials for instruction at the school. Details further requirements of the information for identification of materials and activities used. Specifies that digital reproduction of the materials or separate reporting of material components is not required. Defines activities and instructional materials. Does not require compliance by a governing body that is responsible for the operation of schools with fewer than 500 students cumulatively.

    Amends GS 115C-12, GS 115C-47, GS 115C-238.66, and GS 115C-218.85 to require the State Board, local boards, regional school boards of directors, and charter schools to ensure that the information about instructional materials is displayed on the websites of innovative schools, schools for students with visual and hearing impairments, each school in the respective administrative unit, regional schools (appears to also intend charter schools) as appropriate for each authority. Similarly amends GS 116-239.8 to enact identical requirements of chancellors to ensure that information about instructional materials is displayed on the websites of laboratory schools.

    Applies beginning with the display of instructional materials used during the 2021-22 school year.