| 13 | 13 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 |
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| 14 | 14 | | AN ACT TO PROHIBIT CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 2 |
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| 15 | 15 | | Whereas, "corporal punishment" is defined in statute as "the intentional infliction of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | physical pain upon the body of a student as a disciplinary measure"; and 4 |
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| 17 | 17 | | Whereas, more than 80 research studies confirm that corporal punishment is not 5 |
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| 18 | 18 | | associated with improvement in academic outcomes, but is associated with impeding students' 6 |
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| 19 | 19 | | psychological and emotional development; and 7 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Whereas, 31 states have enacted statutory bans on corporal punishment in public 8 |
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| 21 | 21 | | schools; and 9 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Whereas, none of this State's 115 local school administrative units currently allow the 10 |
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| 23 | 23 | | use of corporal punishment; and 11 |
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| 24 | 24 | | Whereas, the State Board of Education, the North Carolina Parent Teacher 12 |
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| 25 | 25 | | Association, and virtually all professional and advocacy organizations related to children 13 |
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| 26 | 26 | | recommend the prohibition of corporal punishment in public schools; Now, therefore, 14 |
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| 27 | 27 | | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 15 |
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| 28 | 28 | | SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-390.4 reads as rewritten: 16 |
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| 29 | 29 | | "§ 115C-390.4. Corporal punishment.punishment prohibited. 17 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (a) Each governing body of a public school unit shall determine whether corporal 18 |
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| 31 | 31 | | punishment will be permitted in its public school unit. Notwithstanding a governing body's 19 |
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| 32 | 32 | | prohibition on the use of corporal punishment, school personnel may use Corporal punishment 20 |
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| 33 | 33 | | is prohibited. Use of physical restraint in accordance with federal law and G.S. 115C-391.1 and 21 |
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| 34 | 34 | | reasonable use of force pursuant to G.S. 115C-390.3.G.S. 115C-390.3 shall not be considered 22 |
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| 35 | 35 | | corporal punishment. 23 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (b) To the extent that corporal punishment is permitted, the policies adopted for the 24 |
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| 37 | 37 | | administration of corporal punishment shall include at a minimum the following: 25 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (1) Corporal punishment shall not be administered in a classroom with other 26 |
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| 39 | 39 | | students present. 27 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (2) Only a teacher, principal, or assistant principal may administer corporal 28 |
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| 41 | 41 | | punishment and may do so only in the presence of a principal, assistant 29 |
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| 42 | 42 | | principal, or teacher who shall be informed beforehand and in the student's 30 |
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| 43 | 43 | | presence of the reason for the punishment. 31 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (3) A school person shall provide the student's parent with notification that 32 |
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| 45 | 45 | | corporal punishment has been administered, and the person who administered 33 |
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| 46 | 46 | | the corporal punishment shall provide the student's parent a written 34 |
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| 49 | 52 | | (4) The school shall maintain records of each administration of corporal 1 |
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| 50 | 53 | | punishment and the reasons for its administration. 2 |
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| 51 | 54 | | (5) In no event shall excessive force be used in the administration of corporal 3 |
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| 52 | 55 | | punishment. Excessive force includes force that results in injury to the child 4 |
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| 53 | 56 | | that requires medical attention beyond simple first aid. 5 |
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| 54 | 57 | | (6) Corporal punishment shall not be administered on a student whose parent or 6 |
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| 55 | 58 | | guardian has stated in writing that corporal punishment shall not be 7 |
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| 56 | 59 | | administered to that student. Parents and guardians shall be given a form to 8 |
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| 57 | 60 | | make such an election at the beginning of the school year or when the student 9 |
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| 58 | 61 | | first enters the school during the year. The form shall advise the parent or 10 |
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| 59 | 62 | | guardian that the student may be subject to suspension, among other possible 11 |
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| 60 | 63 | | punishments, for offenses that would otherwise not require suspension if 12 |
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| 61 | 64 | | corporal punishment were available. If the parent or guardian does not return 13 |
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| 62 | 65 | | the form, corporal punishment may be administered on the student. 14 |
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| 63 | 66 | | (c) Each governing body of a public school unit shall report annually to the State Board 15 |
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| 64 | 67 | | of Education, in a manner prescribed by the State Board of Education, on the number of times 16 |
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| 65 | 68 | | that corporal punishment was administered. The report shall be in compliance with the federal 17 |
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| 66 | 69 | | Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, and shall include the following: 18 |
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| 67 | 70 | | (1) The number of students who received corporal punishment. 19 |
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| 68 | 71 | | (2) The number of students who received corporal punishment who were also 20 |
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| 69 | 72 | | students with disabilities and were eligible to receive special education and 21 |
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| 70 | 73 | | related services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 22 |
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| 71 | 74 | | 20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq. 23 |
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| 72 | 75 | | (3) The grade level of the students who received corporal punishment. 24 |
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| 73 | 76 | | (4) The race, gender, and ethnicity of the students who received corporal 25 |
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| 74 | 77 | | punishment. 26 |
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| 75 | 78 | | (5) The reason for the administration of the corporal punishment for each student 27 |
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| 76 | 79 | | who received corporal punishment." 28 |
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| 77 | 80 | | SECTION 2. G.S. 115C-12(27) reads as rewritten: 29 |
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| 78 | 81 | | "(27) Reporting Dropout Rates, Corporal Punishment, Suspensions, Expulsions, 30 |
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| 79 | 82 | | and Alternative Placements. – The State Board shall report by March 15 of 31 |
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| 80 | 83 | | each year to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the 32 |
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| 81 | 84 | | numbers of students who have dropped out of school, been subjected to 33 |
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| 82 | 85 | | corporal punishment, been suspended, been expelled, been reassigned for 34 |
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| 83 | 86 | | disciplinary purposes, or been provided alternative education services. The 35 |
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| 84 | 87 | | data shall be reported in a disaggregated manner, reflecting the local school 36 |
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| 85 | 88 | | administrative unit, race, gender, grade level, ethnicity, and disability status 37 |
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| 86 | 89 | | of each affected student. Such data shall be readily available to the public. The 38 |
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| 87 | 90 | | State Board shall not include students that have been expelled from school 39 |
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| 88 | 91 | | when calculating the dropout rate. The Board shall maintain a separate record 40 |
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| 89 | 92 | | of the number of students who are expelled from school and the reasons for 41 |
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| 90 | 93 | | the expulsion." 42 |
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| 91 | 94 | | SECTION 3. G.S. 115C-107.7 reads as rewritten: 43 |
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| 92 | 95 | | "§ 115C-107.7. Discipline, corporal punishment, Discipline and homebound instruction. 44 |
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| 93 | 96 | | (a) The policies and procedures for the discipline of students with disabilities shall be 45 |
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| 94 | 97 | | consistent with federal laws and regulations. 46 |
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| 95 | 98 | | (a1) Any corporal punishment administered on students with disabilities shall be 47 |
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| 96 | 99 | | consistent with the requirements of G.S. 115C-390.4. 48 |
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| 97 | 100 | | …." 49 |
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| 98 | 101 | | SECTION 4. G.S. 115C-276(r) reads as rewritten: 50 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 |
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| 100 | 103 | | "(r) To Maintain Student Discipline. – The superintendent shall maintain student 1 |
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| 101 | 104 | | discipline in accordance with Article 27 of this Chapter and shall keep data on each student to 2 |
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| 102 | 105 | | whom corporal punishment was administered, who was suspended for more than 10 days, who 3 |
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| 103 | 106 | | was reassigned for disciplinary reasons, or who was expelled. This data shall include the race, 4 |
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| 104 | 107 | | gender, age, grade level, ethnicity, and disability status of each student, the duration of 5 |
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| 105 | 108 | | suspension for each student, whether alternative education services were provided for each 6 |
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| 106 | 109 | | student, and whether a student had multiple suspensions in that academic year." 7 |
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| 107 | 110 | | SECTION 5. G.S. 115C-390.2(h) reads as rewritten: 8 |
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| 108 | 111 | | "(h) Governing body policies shall include the procedures to be followed by school 9 |
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| 109 | 112 | | officials in suspending, expelling, or administering corporal punishment to suspending or 10 |
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| 110 | 113 | | expelling any student, which shall be consistent with this Article." 11 |
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| 111 | 114 | | SECTION 6. G.S. 6-21.4 is repealed. 12 |
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| 112 | 115 | | SECTION 7. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with 13 |
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| 113 | 116 | | the 2025-2026 school year. Section 6 of this act does not apply to civil actions arising from the 14 |
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| 114 | 117 | | use of corporal punishment prior to the effective date of this act. 15 |
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