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

Part I.

Amends GS 115C-301 by requiring the State Board of Education to allot additional classroom teachers to schools when consolidation is not feasible due to the school's geographic isolation and the school contains grades K-5, is located in a local school administrative unit for a county containing all or a portion of at least one national wildlife refuge owned by the federal government and managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service under GS 104-10, and is only accessible to the majority of the local school administrative unit, while remaining in the local school administrative unit, by ferry (maintains the other two criteria applicable to schools that contain grades K-12). Effective July 1, 2019, and applies to Currituck County Schools only.

Part II.

Requires the Department of Transportation, for purposes of calculating the transportation efficiency budget rating for a local school administrative unit, to include an assumption that the transportation efficiency budget rating is at least 15 percentage points higher than the actual rating. Effective July 1, 2019, and applies to Currituck County Schools only.

Part III.

Directs the State Board of Education to consult with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Charter School Advisory Board to develop draft policies and procedures for auditing the following information at all public schools, including those in the virtual charter school pilot program: average daily membership; compliance with minimum instruction requirements of 185 days or 1,025 hours; and compliance with compulsory attendance enforcement requirements. Requires the State Board of Education to report to the specified NCGA committee by March 15, 2020.

Part IV.

Except as otherwise provided, effective when the act becomes law and applies beginning with the 2019-20 school year. 

Makes conforming changes to the act's titles.