FILED SENATE
Mar 1, 2021
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
S.B. 172
SESSION 2021 PRINCIPAL CLERK
S D
SENATE BILL DRS55003-MQa-57C*
Short Title: 2021 COVID-19 Response & Relief. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators B. Jackson, Harrington, and Hise (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO MAKE MODIFICATIONS TO COVID-19 RELIEF LEGISLATION AND
3 PROVIDE ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE EXPENDITURE OF FEDERAL
4 COVID-19 PANDEMIC RELIEF FUNDS.
5 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
6
7 PART I. APPROPRIATION OF FEDERAL CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE AND RELIEF
8 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FUNDS
9
10 APPROPRIATION OF COVID-19 FEDERAL FUNDS
11 SECTION 1.1.(a) Federal funds received by the State as authorized under the
12 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, (P.L. 116-260), are appropriated in the amounts
13 provided in the notification of award from the federal government or any entity acting on behalf
14 of the federal government to administer the federal funds. State agencies may, with approval of
15 the Director of the Budget, spend these funds received from federal receipts and federal grants.
16 The programs and grant amounts in the schedule set forth in this subsection are estimates of
17 North Carolina's allocations to be deposited in the State's Treasury and administered by State
18 agencies. This schedule is meant to be illustrative of federal grants that have been, or will be,
19 received by the State from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, (P.L. 116-260).
20 Program Amount
21 Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER II) $42,920,546
22 Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund – Emergency Assistance to
23 Nonpublic Schools (EANS) $84,824,393
24 Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEER II) $292,693,289
25 Farm Stress Program Block Grants $500,000
26 Fisheries Disaster Assistance $5,202,534
27 Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) $12,813,000
28 Older Americans Act – Congregate and Home-Delivered Meals $5,172,595
29 ELC Enhancing Detection through Coronavirus Response and Relief
30 Supplemental Funds $603,677,156
31 SECTION 1.1.(b) The final amount of federal funds awarded for the following
32 programs are not yet known, but are hereby appropriated in the same manner as provided in
33 subsection (a) of this section: Specialty Crop Block Grants, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
34 Program (SNAP), Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and School Nutrition and Child and
35 Adult Care Food Program.
36
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 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 EMERGENCY NEEDS FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF THE
2 STATE
3 SECTION 1.2. S.L. 2021-1 is amended by adding a new section to read:
4 "SECTION 5A. The Department of Public Instruction shall use the funds reserved pursuant
5 to subsection (c1) of Section 5 of this act as follows:
6 (1) $500,000 shall be transferred to the Department of Natural and Cultural
7 Resources to be allocated to the State Library for the NC Kids Digital Library
8 project to address learning loss resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic by
9 providing children with increased access to digital learning resources in public
10 libraries, including e-books, audiobooks, and videos.
11 (2) $500,000 to be allocated to the Governor Morehead School for the Blind,
12 Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and North Carolina School for
13 the Deaf for school nutrition, cleaning and sanitizing, learning resources,
14 including providing new instructional materials in braille for students with
15 visual impairments, compensatory services, and Extended School Year
16 Services related to the impacts of COVID-19.
17 (3) $1,000,000 to be transferred to the Board of Governors of The University of
18 North Carolina for the North Carolina New Teacher Support Program to
19 provide mentoring and coaching support to beginning teachers who are
20 employed in public schools most impacted by COVID-19 at no cost to the
21 local school administrative units.
22 (4) $1,000,000 to contract with a third-party entity to collect, analyze, and report
23 data related to the overall impacts of COVID-19 on public school units,
24 students, and families of the State, including the State's responsiveness to the
25 COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to remote learning and return to in-person
26 instruction, the systems in place for flexibility in education delivery,
27 assessment of student performance, addressing issues of learning loss, teacher
28 effectiveness and supports, and implementation of best practices and
29 improvements for any significant future challenges. The Department shall
30 submit a preliminary report by March 15, 2022, and a final report by
31 December 15, 2022, to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee
32 on the findings of the third-party entity from the contract required by this
33 subdivision.
34 (5) $1,200,000 to be transferred to the Wildlife Resources Commission to be
35 allocated to the Outdoor Heritage Special Fund (Budget Code: 24351; Fund
36 Code: 2291) for the Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council's NC Schools Go
37 Outside grant program to provide local opportunities for young people to
38 reengage with learning experiences in safe outdoor settings.
39 (6) Up to $10,000,000 to be allocated as needed to each public school unit in the
40 State, except for schools operated by the State Board of Education, to ensure
41 that each public school unit receives a total amount from the Elementary and
42 Secondary School Emergency Relief II (ESSER II) Fund of at least one
43 hundred eighty dollars ($180.00) per pupil in federal grant funds according to
44 the following:
45 a. If a public school unit did not receive funds pursuant to subsection (c)
46 of Section 313 of P.L. 116-260, the public school unit shall receive an
47 amount equal to one hundred eighty dollars ($180.00) per pupil.
48 b. If a public school unit received funds pursuant to subsection (c) of
49 Section 313 of P.L. 116-260, the per pupil amount allocated under this
50 subdivision shall be reduced so that (i) the total amount in federal grant
51 funds from the ESSER II Fund is equal to one hundred eighty dollars
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1 ($180.00) per pupil or (ii) the public school unit receives no additional
2 funding because the total amount from the ESSER II Fund would
3 exceed one hundred eighty dollars ($180.00) per pupil.
4 The federal grant funds allocated under this subdivision shall be used for the
5 purpose of responding to the impacts of COVID-19, including mitigating
6 learning loss and reopening schools.
7 (7) $10,000,000 to be allocated in a manner consistent with the formula for the
8 Instructional Support Allotment. These funds shall be used for contracted
9 services for school health support personnel to provide additional physical and
10 mental health support services for students in response to COVID-19,
11 including remote and in-person physical and mental health support services.
12 For purposes of this subdivision, the term "school health support personnel"
13 shall refer to school counselors, school nurses, school psychologists, and
14 school social workers.
15 (8) $10,000,000 to be allocated to public school units participating in a federal
16 school nutrition program administered by the Food and Nutrition Service of
17 the United States Department of Agriculture for school nutrition services
18 provided in response to COVID-19. The allocation of grants shall be
19 prioritized to public school units based on need as demonstrated by the
20 expenditure of existing federal funding received for COVID-19 related
21 impacts.
22 (9) $1,000,000, in response to COVID-19, to contract with a third-party entity to
23 conduct a statewide assessment of the cybersecurity capabilities of public
24 schools and threats posed to public schools. In selecting a third-party entity to
25 conduct the assessment, the Department shall not consider any entity currently
26 under contract with the Department to provide services related to
27 cybersecurity. No later than June 20, 2021, the Department shall
28 confidentially report the results of the assessment conducted by the third-party
29 entity to the chairs of the Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee, the
30 chairs of the House Appropriations Committee, the chairs of the Senate
31 Appropriations Committee on General Government and Information
32 Technology, and the chairs of the House Appropriations Committee on
33 Information Technology.
34 (10) $9,000,000, in response to COVID-19, to implement a statewide
35 cybersecurity program to improve the cybersecurity infrastructure of the
36 public schools. The program shall be operated by the Department or an entity
37 that contracts with the Department, and these funds shall not be allocated to a
38 public school unit. The program shall include at least the following
39 components:
40 a. Funding for all costs related to the following for implementation of the
41 program, as needed: hardware, software, licenses, support,
42 maintenance, training, and labor.
43 b. Preparation for and understanding of evolving technology and
44 evolving security threats in the State.
45 c. Adequate review and oversight of the program.
46 d. Integration among the various elements of the program.
47 e. Development of systems improving accountability and responsibility
48 related to a security threat or breach.
49 (11) $12,000,000 to contract with Voyager Sopris Learning, Inc., to provide
50 Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling training for
51 teachers for improving the literacy and language development of students,
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1 building strong foundational early literacy skills by utilizing the Science of
2 Reading, and recouping learning losses resulting from the COVID-19
3 pandemic. The funds shall be used for training programs to be delivered to
4 educators working with (i) children in the North Carolina Prekindergarten
5 (NC Pre-K) program, in consultation with the Department of Health and
6 Human Services, and (ii) children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Up to
7 fifty percent (50%) of the funds shall be used for the delivery of training
8 programs to educators in a combination of grade levels from NC Pre-K
9 programs through fifth grade during the 2021-2022 school year. The
10 remaining funds shall be used to provide the training programs to educators
11 through those grade levels during the 2022-2023 school year.
12 (12) $15,000,000 for the Extended Learning and Integrated Student Supports
13 Competitive Grant Program (Program). Of these funds, the Department of
14 Public Instruction may use up to two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to
15 administer the Program. The purpose of the Program is to fund high-quality,
16 independently validated extended learning and integrated student support
17 service programs for at-risk students whose learning has been negatively
18 affected by COVID-19 impacts. The programs funded shall raise standards
19 for student academic outcomes by focusing on the following:
20 a. Use of an evidence-based model with a proven track record of success.
21 b. Inclusion of rigorous, quantitative performance measures to confirm
22 effectiveness of the program.
23 c. Deployment of multiple tiered supports in schools to address student
24 barriers to achievement, such as strategies to improve chronic
25 absenteeism, antisocial behaviors, academic growth, and enhancement
26 of parent and family engagement.
27 d. Alignment with State performance measures, student academic goals,
28 and the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.
29 e. Prioritization in programs to integrate clear academic content, in
30 particular, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
31 learning opportunities or reading development and proficiency
32 instruction.
33 f. Minimization of student class size when providing instruction or
34 instructional supports and interventions.
35 g. Expansion of student access to high-quality learning activities and
36 academic support that strengthen student engagement and leverage
37 community-based resources, which may include organizations that
38 provide mentoring services and private-sector employer involvement.
39 h. Utilization of digital content to expand learning time, when
40 appropriate.
41 Grants shall be used to award funds for new or existing eligible programs for
42 at-risk students operated by (i) nonprofit corporations and (ii) nonprofit
43 corporations working in collaboration with local school administrative units.
44 Grant participants are eligible to receive grants in an amount of up to five
45 hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) each year. Programs should focus on
46 serving (i) at-risk students not performing at grade level as demonstrated by
47 statewide assessments or not on track to meet year-end expectations, as
48 demonstrated by existing indicators, including teacher identification, (ii)
49 students at risk of dropout, and (iii) students at risk of school displacement
50 due to suspension or expulsion as a result of antisocial behaviors. Priority
51 consideration shall be given to applications demonstrating models that focus
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1 services and programs in schools that are identified as low-performing,
2 pursuant to G.S. 115C-105.37. A grant participant shall provide certification
3 to the Department of Public Instruction that the grants received under the
4 program shall be matched on the basis of three dollars ($3.00) in grant funds
5 for every one dollar ($1.00) in nongrant funds. Matching funds shall not
6 include State funds. The Department shall also give priority consideration to
7 an applicant that is a nonprofit corporation working in partnership with a local
8 school administrative uni