Bill Summary for S 436 (2019-2020)

Printer-friendly: Click to view

Summary date: 

Apr 1 2019

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2019-2020 Session
Senate Bill 436 (Public) Filed Monday, April 1, 2019
AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION LAWS.
Intro. by Ballard.

View: All Summaries for BillTracking:

Bill summary

Part I. Community College System

Amends GS 115D-58.10 by allowing the State Board of Community Colleges (Board) to determine what State employees and employees of institutions must be insured for the protection of State funds and property. Makes conforming changes. Provides that in lieu of a bond, the board of trustees of an institution may obtain and maintain adequate insurance coverage sufficient for the protection of institutional funds and property.

Amends GS 115D-3 by adding that the President of the North Carolina System of Community Colleges may reorganize the System Office in accordance with recommendations and plans submitted to and approved by the Board. Requires a report by March 1 if a reorganization is implemented to the specified NCGA committee. Makes organizational changes. Effective July 1, 2019. 

Part II. UNC System

Amends GS 116-239.8 to clarify that local school administrative units in which the laboratory school is located must administer, at its cost, the National School Lunch Program for the laboratory school. Provides that the local school administrative unit in which the laboratory school is located must provide transportation to students who reside in the local school administrative unit and attend the school (was, to students attending the school), and adds that this includes any students who are homeless and require assistance under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Adds that the transportation requirement (1) applies regardless of where a laboratory school student resides in the unit or how the unit's transportation policies and practices are applied to other students and (2) includes providing transportation of students and personnel for laboratory school extracurricular activities and education trips in the same manner as other schools in the unit for that school year. Applies beginning with the 2019-20 school year.

Amends GS 116-239.5 by expanding on the immunities of the Subcommittee, chancellor, the constituent institution, an advisory board, and a laboratory school, and their members, employees, and agents, to include the specific immunities provided for in GS Chapter 115C applying to the State Board of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction, a local board of education, a local school administrative unit, and their members and employees.

Amends GS 116-239.5, GS 116-239.7, and SL 2016-94 by reducing the number of designated laboratory schools from nine to six. 

Amends GS 116-41.30 to make the Future Teachers of North Carolina Program (Program) a selective, application-based symposium for high school juniors and seniors, offering a challenging introduction to teaching as a profession (was, a program providing professional development and curricula for courses that provide a challenging introduction to teaching as a profession for high school students offered by participating high schools in conjunction with college partners). Expands upon course content and sets out required practical benefits of the Program. 

Amends GS 116-41.31, which required the President of the University of North Carolina to select three constituent institutions to collaborate on development of the curricula for the Program and provide professional development; instead requires the President to establish a Future Teachers of North Carolina Advisory Council (Council) to oversee the Program. Requires the Council, at the President's discretion, to coordinate with constituent institutions to use expertise from individuals at institutions of higher education in designing the agenda and instructional content for the Symposium. Also makes the Council responsible for an application process to be used to select students as well as recruitment and outreach efforts. Deletes provisions encouraging high schools to offer Program courses to students. Deletes provisions requiring constituent institutions that partner with high schools to offer dual credit for high school students who complete the Program course with a specified grade.

Amends GS 116-41.32 by amending the items related to the Program that the UNC System Office must report on and changing the due date of the first report to October 15, 2020 (was, October 15, 2019). 

Amends SL 2018-5, Section 36.6, by requiring the UNC Board of Governors Planning Task Force to submit a preliminary report by April 1, 2019, and submit a final report by February 2020 (was, submit a report by April 1, 2019, only). Adds that the funds appropriated to the Board of Governors for the Task Force for 2018-19 do not revert at the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year and remain available until the end of the 2019-20 fiscal year. Effective June 30, 2019.

Provides that the funds appropriated by SL 2018-5 for enrollment adjustments for The University of North Carolina, including funds for the NC Promise Tuition Plan, to a reserve account in the Office of State Budget and Management for the 2018-19 fiscal year do not revert at the end of 2018-19 but remain available until the end of the 2019-20 fiscal year for the purpose of the "buy down" of any financial obligations resulting from the established tuition rate under GS 116-143.11 incurred by Elizabeth City State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Western Carolina University, or for rapid growth at any of those constituent institutions. Effective June 30, 2019.