Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

H.B. 878
                          GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
                                                                                             May 4, 2021
                                      SESSION 2021                                     HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK
     H                                                                                                D
                                  HOUSE BILL DRH40539-MK-147A
     Short Title:   Schools for the Deaf/Administration.                                        (Public)
     Sponsors:      Representative Blackwell.
     Referred to:
                                    A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT THE EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL FOR THE
     DEAF AND THE NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF ARE GOVERNED BY
     BOARDS OF TRUSTEES AND FUNCTION SIMILARLY AS LOCAL SCHOOL
     ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS.
 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
             SECTION 1. Article 9C of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
                                             "Article 9C.
                    "Schools for Students with Visual and Hearing Impairments.
 "§ 115C-150.11. State Board of Education as governing agency.agency over the Governor
             Morehead School; general supervision over residential schools for students with
             hearing impairments.
     (a)     The State Board of Education shall be the sole governing agency for the Governor
 Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North
 Carolina School for the Deaf. Blind. The Superintendent of Public Instruction through the
 Department of Public Instruction shall be responsible for the administration, including
 appointment of staff, and oversight of a school governed by this Article.the Governor Morehead
 School for the Blind.
     (b)     The State Board of Education shall have general supervision for the Eastern North
 Carolina School for the Deaf and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. Except as otherwise
 provided for in this Article, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf and the North
 Carolina School for the Deaf shall be housed administratively within the Department of Public
 Instruction, but shall operate independently through a board of trustees as the governing body for
 each residential school established under G.S. 115C-150.11A. Each board of trustees shall
 appoint a director for the school, who shall act as secretary to the board of trustees in accordance
 with G.S. 115C-150.11A and shall manage school personnel, day-to-day operations of the
 school, and the school's operating budget at the direction of the board of trustees.
 "§ 115C-150.11A. Board of trustees for each residential school for students with hearing
             impairments.
     (a)     Appointment. – The Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf and the North
 Carolina School for the Deaf shall be governed by a board of trustees established for each
 residential school. There shall be five voting members for each board of trustees to be appointed
 as follows:
             (1)     Two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
             (2)     Two members appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
             (3)     One member appointed by the Governor.
                                  *DRH40539-MK-147A*
     General Assembly Of North Carolina                                                     Session 2021
     (b)      Ex Officio, Nonvoting Members. – The President of the Eastern North Carolina
 School for the Deaf Alumni Association or the President's designee shall be a nonvoting, ex
 officio member of the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf Board of Trustees. The
 President of the North Carolina School for the Deaf Alumni Association or the President's
 designee shall be a nonvoting, ex officio member of the North Carolina School for the Deaf
 Board of Trustees.
     (c)      Terms of Members. – The initial terms of a board of trustees for one of the members
 appointed pursuant to subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of this section and for the member
 appointed pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of this section shall be for three-year
 terms. Upon the expiration of those initial terms and every six years thereafter, successors shall
 be appointed for six-year terms. All other members appointed pursuant to subsection (a) of this
 section shall be appointed for six-year terms. Terms shall commence July 1. Members shall serve
 until their successors are appointed and qualified. All vacancies shall be filled by the appointing
 authority for the vacating member for the remainder of the unexpired term.
     (d)      Chair; Director. – The director shall call the initial meeting of the board of trustees.
 The board of trustees shall elect one of its members as chair for a two-year term. The director
 appointed in accordance with G.S. 115C-150.11(b) shall be ex officio secretary of the board of
 trustees. The director shall recommend school personnel to the board of trustees to be employed
 by the board.
     (e)      Meetings. – A board of trustees shall meet at least four times a year and also at such
 other times as it may deem necessary. All meetings shall be subject to Article 33C of Chapter
 143 of the General Statutes. The members shall receive per diem compensation and necessary
 travel and subsistence expenses while engaged in the discharge of their official duties as is
 provided by law for members of State boards and commissions.
     (f)      Procedures. – A board of trustees shall determine its own rules of procedure and may
 delegate to committees that it creates any powers it deems appropriate.
 "§ 115C-150.11B. Board of trustees for the residential schools for students with hearing
              impairments; corporate powers.
     (a)      The board of trustees of a residential school established pursuant to
 G.S. 115C-150.11A shall be known and distinguished by the name of "The ____________ Board
 of Trustees" and shall continue as a body politic and corporate and by that name shall have
 perpetual succession and a common seal. It shall be able and capable in law to take, demand,
 receive, and possess all moneys, goods, and chattels that shall be given for the use of the
 residential school, and to apply to same according to the will of the donors, and by gift, purchase,
 or devise to receive, possess, enjoy, and retain forever any and all real and personal estate and
 funds, of whatsoever kind, nature, or quality the same may be, in special trust and confidence
 that the same, or the profits thereof, shall be applied to and for the use and purpose of establishing
 and endowing the residential school, and shall have power to receive donations from any source
 whatsoever, to be devoted exclusively to the purposes of the maintenance of the residential
 school, or according to the terms of the donation.
     (b)      A board of trustees shall be able and capable in law to bargain, sell, grant, alien, or
 dispose of and convey and assure to the purchasers any and all such real and personal estate and
 funds as it may lawfully acquire when the condition of the grant to it or the will of the devisor
 does not forbid it, and shall be able and capable in law to sue and be sued in all courts whatsoever,
 and shall have power to open and receive subscriptions, and in general may do all such things as
 are usually done by bodies corporate and politic, or such as may be necessary for the promotion
 of learning and virtue.
 "§ 115C-150.12. Applicability of Chapter.
     Except as otherwise provided, the requirements of this Chapter shall apply to the schools
 governed by this Article. For the purposes of federal law and the administration of State law,
     Page 2                                                                       DRH40539-MK-147A
     General Assembly Of North Carolina                                                    Session 2021
 each residential school with a board of trustees established pursuant to G.S. 115C-150.11A shall
 be considered a local school administrative unit.
 "§ 115C-150.13. Rule making.Rules and admission criteria for each residential school.
     (a)     The State Board of Education shall adopt rules necessary for the Department of Public
 Instruction to implement this Article, Article for the Governor Morehead School for the Blind,
 including, at a minimum, rules to address eligibility for admission criteria. In determining rules
 for admission criteria, the State Board of Education shall take into account the following factors:
             (1)    State and federal laws.
             (2)    Optimal academic and communicative outcomes for the child.
             (3)    Parental input and choice.
             (4)    Recommendations in a child's Individualized Education Program (IEP).
     (b)     Rules for the Governor Morehead School for the Blind shall be adopted in accordance
 with Chapter 150B of the General Statutes.
     (c)     Each board of trustees for the residential schools for students with hearing
 impairments shall adopt rules necessary for the administration of the residential school to
 implement the requirements of this Article, including, at a minimum, rules to address eligibility
 for admission criteria. In determining rules for admission criteria, the board of trustees shall take
 into account the following factors:
             (1)    State and federal laws.
             (2)    Optimal academic and communicative outcomes for the child.
             (3)    Parental input and choice.
             (4)    Recommendations in a child's Individualized Education Program (IEP).
     (d)     The board of trustees for the residential schools for students with hearing impairments
 shall be subject to rules adopted by the State Board of Education in accordance with Chapter
 150B of the General Statutes.
 "§ 115C-150.14. Tuition and room and board.
     (a)     Only children who are residents of North Carolina are entitled to free tuition and room
 and board at a school governed by this Article.
     (b)     A school governed by this Article may enroll a foreign exchange student and shall
 charge the student the full, unsubsidized per capita cost of providing education at the school for
 the period of the student's attendance. A school that seeks to enroll foreign exchange students
 under this section shall submit a plan prior to enrolling any of those students to either the State
 Board of Education for the Governor Morehead School for the Blind or the board of trustees of
 a residential school for students with hearing impairments for approval, including the proposed
 costs to be charged to the students for attendance and information on compliance with federal
 law requirements. For the purposes of this section, a foreign exchange student is a student who
 is domiciled in a foreign country and has come to the United States on a valid, eligible student
 visa.
     (c)     Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, foreign exchange students who have
 obtained the status of nonimmigrants pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C.
 § 1101(a)(15)(F) may only be enrolled in a school governed by this Article in grades nine through
 12 for a maximum of 12 months at the school.
 "§ 115C-150.15. Reporting to residential schools on deaf and blind children.
     (a)     Request for Consent. – Local superintendents shall require that the following request
 for written consent be presented to parents, guardians, or custodians of any hearing impaired or
 visually impaired children no later than October 1 of each school year: "North Carolina provides
 three public residential schools serving visually and hearing impaired students: the Governor
 Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North
 Carolina School for the Deaf. Do you consent to the release of your contact information and
 information regarding your child and his or her impairment to these schools so that you can
 receive more information on services offered by those campuses?campuses?"
     DRH40539-MK-147A                                                                             Page 3
     General Assembly Of North Carolina                                                    Session 2021
     (b)     Annual Report to Residential Schools. – Local superintendents shall report by
 November 30 each year the names and addresses of parents, guardians, or custodians of any
 hearing impaired or visually impaired children who have given written consent to the directors
 of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf,
 and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. The report shall include the type of disability of each
 child, including whether the hearing and visual impairments range from partial to total disability,
 and if the child has multiple disabilities with the visual or hearing impairment not identified as
 the primary disability of the student. The report shall also be made to the Department of Public
 Instruction.
     (c)     Confidentiality of Records. – The directors of the Governor Morehead School for the
 Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North Carolina School for the
 Deaf shall treat any information reported to the schools by a local superintendent under
 subsection (b) of this section as confidential, except that a director or the director's designee may
 contact the parents, guardians, or custodians of any hearing impaired or visually impaired
 children whose information was included in the report. The information shall not be considered
 a public record under G.S. 132-1."
             SECTION 2. Section 10 of S.L. 2013-247 is repealed.
             SECTION 3.(a) Section 8.15(b) of S.L. 2013-360 reads as rewritten:
     "SECTION 8.15.(b) Notwithstanding G.S. 146-30 or any other provision of law, the
 Department of Public Instruction shall only retain all proceeds generated from the rental of
 building space on the residential school campuses. campus of the Governor Morehead School for
 the Blind. The Department of Public Instruction shall use all receipts generated from these the
 leases to staff and operate the North Carolina School for the Deaf, the Eastern North Carolina
 School for the Deaf, and the Governor Morehead School. These receipts shall not be used to
 support administrative functions within the Department."
             SECTION 3.(b) Notwithstanding G.S. 146-30 or any other provision of law,
 beginning with the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the Department of Public Instruction shall retain all
 proceeds generated from the rental of building space on the residential school campuses of the
 North Carolina School for the Deaf and the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf to be
 used in accordance with this subsection. The Department of Public Instruction shall allocate all
 receipts generated from these leases to each board of trustees in the amount generated from the
 individual school to supplement funds to staff and operate that school. These receipts shall not
 be used to support administrative functions within the Department of Public Instruction.
             SECTION 4. Notwithstanding Article 9C of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes,
 as amended by this act, the Department of Public Instruction may continue its administrative
 duties and responsibilities for the North Carolina School for the Deaf and the Eastern North
 Carolina School for the Deaf subject to Article 9C of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes as of
 June 30, 2022, until the board of trustees for each school has successfully transitioned into the
 administrative role required by this act, but in no event later than October 1, 2022.
             SECTION 5. By May 1, 2022, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker
 of the House of Representatives, and the Governor shall appoint the initial members of the boards
 of trustees for the North Carolina School for the Deaf and the Eastern North Carolina School for
 the Deaf to take office effective July 1, 2022, pursuant to G.S. 115C-150.11A.
             SECTION 6. The Department of Public Instruction shall, in collaboration with the
 personnel from the North Carolina School for the Deaf and the Eastern North Carolina School
 for the Deaf develop a transition plan for the change in administration of the residential schools
 for students with hearing impairments in accordance with the requirements of this act to be
 effective July 1, 2022. By December 15, 2021, the Department of Public Instruction shall report
 to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the plan for transition in
 administration of the residential schools, including any legislative recommendations necessary
 to effectuate the transition.
     Page 4                                                                       DRH40539-MK-147A
    General Assembly Of North Carolina                                         Session 2021
           SECTION 7. Sections 1 through 4 of this act become effective July 1, 2022. The
 remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.
    DRH40539-MK-147A                                                                 Page 5
Statutes affected: 
Edition 2: 115C-5, 115C-105.51, 150B-1