Enacts the Protect North Carolina's School-Age Children from Lead Exposure Act of 2016, setting out and defining 11 terms for use in the act, including elevated lead level and drinking water outlet. Requires each school to test drinking water outlets for the presence of lead, with the test being analyzed by a laboratory that is a NC State Laboratory Public Health Environmental Sciences Certified Laboratory. Specifies procedures and timelines for conducting water tests, allowing schools to seek assistance from a local health department or a public water system to ensure compliance with testing requirements. Specifies five immediate actions that must be taken if a school's water sample reveals an elevated lead level, including immediately restricting access; providing notification to parents, school personnel, and teachers; and conducting subsequent tests for confirmation. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Division of Public Health (DPH) to develop technical guidance for reducing lead in drinking water as well as develop state-specific guidance for lead testing. Requires a joint report from the DEQ, DPH, and the Department of Public Instruction to be submitted by January 15, 2017, to the Environmental Review Commission, Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, detailing the implementation and results of the testing program. Sets out required components of the report. Provides that above requirements do not apply to schools that are public water systems.

Requires DEQ and DPH, within 15 business days of the effective date of the act, to provide specified guidance, best management practices, and sampling summaries to the Department of Public Instruction, the Division of Nonpublic Education, and to each public school. 

Also requires the DEQ and the DPH to study and determine the sufficiency of the federal Lead and Copper Rule to protect public health in North Carolina. Specifies other evaluations that should be undertaken. Requires a report by December 1, 2016, to the Environmental Review Commission and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services.

Appropriates $10 million from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction to reimburse public schools as specified for the costs of testing drinking water for lead exposure. Allows up to 5% of the funds to be used for administrative costs by specified entities. Funds remaining can be used for other specified associated costs in rectifying drinking water issues. 

Authorizes the Hickory Public Schools, the Newton-Conover City Schools, and the Rutherford County Schools to establish and implement a five-year pilot program to increase the high school dropout age from 16 years old to the completion of the school year coinciding with the calendar year when a student reaches  the age of 18. Provides that the pilot program can be implemented beginning with the 2016-17 school year and will end in the 2020-21 school year. Establishes guidelines for determining how to deal with habitually absent kids or specified kids that have reached the age of 18 but are noncompliant regarding school attendance. Provides that funds available to implement the pilot program can also be used to (1) hire up to three additional teachers and (2) fund student-related costs in order to serve a greater number of students. Requires the local school administrative units and the State Board of Education to report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the House Appropriations Committee on Education, and the Senate Appropriations Committee on Education/Higher Education  with an interim report on January 15, 2018, with a final report on or before January 15, 2021. Sets out six components of the reports, including analysis of graduation rates and the number of at-risk students served in any night programs. Requires certain local resolutions to be adopted before pilot programs can commence. 

Effective July 1, 2016.