North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina Senate Bill S628 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
2	2		SESSION 2025
3		-	S 1
4		-	SENATE BILL 628
	3	+	S D
	4	+	SENATE BILL DRS35210-NHa-127
	5	+
5	6
6	7
7	8		Short Title: Safe Schools Transparency Act. (Public)
8	9		Sponsors: Senators Bradley, Salvador, and Everitt (Primary Sponsors).
9		-	Referred to: ~~Rules and Operations of the Senate~~
10		-	~~March 26, 2025~~
11		-	~~S628 -v-1~~
	10	+	Referred to:
	11	+
	12	+	DRS35210 -NHa-127
12	13		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
13	14		AN ACT TO REQUIRE PARENTAL NOTIFICATION OF SCHOOL THREATS AND 2
14	15		SAFETY PLANS, TO CREATE PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO NOTIFY PARENTS OF 3
15	16		SCHOOL THREATS, TO REINSTATE THE TASK FORCE FOR SAFER SCHOOLS, 4
16	17		AND TO ESTABLISH THE SCHOOL SAFETY FUND. 5
17	18		Whereas, North Carolina schools have faced an increase in threats, including the 6
18	19		recent case in Charlotte, where a suspect was arrested for allegedly threatening to harm students 7
19	20		and staff at multiple schools; and 8
20	21		Whereas, parents are not consistently informed about threats to school safety, which 9
21	22		prevents them from taking necessary precautions to protect their children; and 10
22	23		Whereas, building on Senate Bill 74 (2023), this act establishes a parent's right to be 11
23	24		notified of any credible threats against their child, their child's school, or the local school district; 12
24	25		and 13
25	26		Whereas, schools must transparently communicate with parents and guardians while 14
26	27		ensuring law enforcement can respond effectively to threats; Now, therefore, 15
27	28		The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 16
28	29		17
29	30		PART I. REQUIRE PARENTAL NOTIFICATION OF SCHOOL THREATS AND 18
30	31		SAFETY PLANS 19
31	32		SECTION 1. Article 7B of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by 20
32	33		adding a new Part to read: 21
33	34		"Part 7. School Safety Transparency. 22
34	35		"§ 115C-77.1. Mandatory notification of threats. 23
35	36		(a) Required Notices. – The parent or legal guardian of a student enrolled in a public 24
36	37		school shall be immediately notified of any credible threat that meets any of the following 25
37	38		criteria: 26
38	39		(1) Targets the parent or guardian's child, including threats of violence and 27
39	40		bullying. 28
40	41		(2) Targets the student body, faculty, or school campus, including planned attacks 29
41	42		and bomb threats. 30
42	43		(3) Involves a student bringing a weapon to school or a student causing other 31
43	44		security risks. 32
44	45		(4) Requires law enforcement intervention, including a lockdown or evacuation. 33
45	46		(b) Notice Policy. – The governing body of a public school unit shall adopt a policy for 34
46	47		the provision of notices required under this section. At a minimum, the policy shall do the 35
47		-	following: 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
48		-	Page 2 Senate Bill 628-First Edition
	48	+	following: 36
	49	+	FILED SENATE
	50	+	Mar 25, 2025
	51	+	S.B. 628
	52	+	PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
	53	+	Page 2 DRS35210-NHa-127
49	54		(1) Identify the school employees or administrators responsible for providing the 1
50	55		notices required by this section. 2
51	56		(2) Define high-level emergency. 3
52	57		(c) Means of Notice. – Notifications required under this section shall be made by text 4
53	58		message, email, phone call, or by posting an update on the school's website. Each notification 5
54	59		must be made through at least two different means. For high-level emergencies, one of the two 6
55	60		notices must be by phone call. 7
56	61		(d) Notice Contents. – Notifications made pursuant to this section shall include details of 8
57	62		the threat, including actions taken and school response. Updates shall be provided as new 9
58	63		information becomes available. 10
59	64		(e) Notice Timing. – A school must provide initial notification within one hour of law 11
60	65		enforcement confirmation of a credible threat, unless threat notification interferes with an active 12
61	66		law enforcement investigation in which case notice shall occur one hour after arrest or resolution 13
62	67		of investigation as determined by law enforcement. 14
63	68		"§ 115C-77.2. Failure to notify. 15
64	69		(a) Filing Complaint. – The parent of a student who is enrolled in a public school who 16
65	70		alleges that the student's school failed to notify the parent of a threat as required by 17
66	71		G.S. 115C-77.1 may file a complaint with the Department of Public Instruction. 18
67	72		(b) Investigation. – Upon receiving a complaint that a school has violated 19
68	73		G.S. 115C-77.1, the Department shall forward the complaint to the Center for Safer Schools, and 20
69	74		the Center for Safer Schools shall conduct an investigation to determine whether a school abided 21
70	75		by the school's notification policy. 22
71	76		(c) Report. – No later than 60 days from the date the Center for Safer Schools receives 23
72	77		the complaint, the Center shall report the findings of the investigation to the Superintendent of 24
73	78		Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. The State Board shall schedule consideration 25
74	79		of the report no later than the next regular meeting occurring more than five days after submission 26
75	80		of the report. 27
76	81		(d) State Board Findings; Penalty. – If the State Board of Education, by a majority vote, 28
77	82		finds that a school has not complied with the notice requirements of G.S. 115C-77.1, the State 29
78	83		Board shall instruct the Department to reduce the public school unit's central office 30
79	84		administration allotment by up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) and transfer the funds to the 31
80	85		School Security Fund. 32
81	86		(e) Repeated Failure to Notify. – If the State Board of Education finds that a school has 33
82	87		failed to comply with the notice requirements of G.S. 115C-77.1 for more than one threat, then 34
83	88		the State Board may do any of the following: 35
84	89		(1) Issue a corrective action plan for the public school unit. 36
85	90		(2) Require additional mandatory training for public school unit administrators. 37
86	91		(3) Withhold additional administrative funds from the central office 38
87	92		administration allotment. 39
88	93		(f) Administrative Penalties for Administrators. – If during the review of an investigation 40
89	94		of an alleged violation of G.S. 115C-77.1 the State Board of Education finds that specific school 41
90	95		administrators were responsible for the violation, the State Board may do any of the following 42
91	96		for those administrators specifically: 43
92	97		(1) Issue a written reprimand and performance review. 44
93	98		(2) Require the administrator to attend additional school safety training. 45
94	99		(3) If the administrator has been identified as being involved in a violation of 46
95	100		G.S. 115C-77.1 for more than one threat, order the public school unit to end 47
96	101		the employment of the administrator. 48
97	102		(g) A school administrator that knowingly conceals a credible threat from the parent of a 49
98	103		student that attends the school where the threat occurred may be charged with a Class A1 50
99	104		misdemeanor for endangering students if the threat results in injury. 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
100		-	~~Senate Bill 628-First Edition~~ Page 3
	105	+	DRS35210-NHa-127 Page 3
101	106		(h) If the State Board takes action under this section, the State Board of Education shall 1
102	107		report the action to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee within 60 days of the 2
103	108		action. The General Assembly shall consider, no later than the next session of the General 3
104	109		Assembly, the future governance of the identified public school unit. 4
105	110		"§ 115C-77.3. Annual school safety report and policies. 5
106	111		(a) The governing body of a public school unit shall ensure that each school within the 6
107	112		school unit publishes an annual school safety report on its website and shall notify parents of the 7
108	113		availability of the report. 8
109	114		(b) The annual school safety report shall include at least the following: 9
110	115		(1) The number of threats, lockdowns, and evacuations in the prior year. 10
111	116		(2) Status of school security enhancements and equipment, including security 11
112	117		cameras and Student Resource Officers. 12
113	118		(3) Summary of school safety policies and response procedures. 13
114	119		(c) The governing body of a public school unit shall ensure that each school within the 14
115	120		school unit publishes its school safety policies on its website and shall notify parents of the 15
116	121		availability of the policies. 16
117	122		(d) The website shall include the following school safety policies: 17
118	123		(1) Emergency response plans, except a school may exclude sensitive security 18
119	124		details. 19
120	125		(2) Student safety policies, including procedures for handling threats. 20
121	126		(3) Available mental health and counseling resources for at-risk students. 21
122	127		"§ 115C-77.4. Reporting of annual school safety reports. 22
123	128		(a) The governing body of each public school unit shall provide a copy of the annual 23
124	129		school safety report required under G.S. 115C-77.3 to the Department of Public Instruction no 24
125	130		later than December 1 of each year. 25
126	131		(b) The Department shall report to the Joint Legisative Education Oversight Committee 26
127	132		no later than February 1 of each year, including a summary of the reports received pursuant to 27
128	133		this section and on the rate of compliance with the notification requirements in G.S. 115C-77.1." 28
129	134		29
130	135		PART II. REINSTATE TASK FORCE FOR SAFER SCHOOLS 30
131	136		SECTION 2.(a) G.S. 115C-105.55 is reenacted as it existed immediately prior to its 31
132	137		repeal. 32
133	138		SECTION 2.(b) G.S. 115C-105.56 is reenacted as it existed immediately prior to its 33
134	139		repeal. 34
135	140		SECTION 2.(c) G.S. 115C-105.56, as reenacted by this act, reads as rewritten: 35
136	141		"§ 115C-105.56. Task Force for Safer Schools; powers and duties. 36
137	142		The Task Force shall have all of the following duties: 37
138	143		(1) To serve as an advisory board to the Center for Safer Schools. 38
139	144		(2) To provide guidance and recommendations to the Governor, Superintendent 39
140	145		of Public Instruction, and the General Assembly to improve statewide policy 40
141	146		to enhance statewide and local capacities to create safer schools. 41
142	147		(3) To encourage interagency collaboration among State and local government 42
143	148		agencies to achieve effective policies and streamline efforts to create safer 43
144	149		schools. 44
145	150		(4) To Assist the Center for Safer Schools in collecting and disseminating 45
146	151		information on recommended best practices and community needs related to 46
147	152		creating safer schools in North Carolina. 47
148	153		(5) Other duties as assigned by the State Board of Education. 48
149	154		(6) To collect and analyze data to monitor public school unit compliance with 49
150	155		G.S. 115C-77.1." 50 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
151		-	Page 4 ~~Senate Bill 628-First Edition~~
	156	+	Page 4 DRS35210-NHa-127
152	157		SECTION 2.(d) The members of the Task Force for Safer Schools at the time of its 1
153	158		dissolution shall be offered to return to the Task Force to serve an amount of time equivalent to 2
154	159		the amount of time that remained on that member's term at the time the Task Force was dissolved. 3
155	160		If a member chooses not to return to the Task Force, the resultant vacancy shall be filled by the 4
156	161		original appointing authority. 5
157	162		6
158	163		PART III. ESTABLISH SCHOOL SECURITY FUND 7
159	164		SECTION 3.(a) Part 3 of Article 8C of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is 8
160	165		amended by adding a new section to read: 9
161	166		"§ 115C-105.70. School Safety Fund. 10
162	167		(a) There is established under the control and direction of the State Board of Education 11
163	168		the School Safety Fund. This fund shall be a nonreverting special revenue fund consisting of any 12
164	169		monies appropriated to it by the General Assembly and any monies credited to it under 13
165	170		G.S. 115C-77.2 for failure to comply with G.S. 115C-77.1. 14
166	171		(b) Funds in the School Safety Fund shall be allocated to local school administrative units 15
167	172		on the basis of average daily membership. 16
168	173		(c) Public school units may use funds received pursuant to this section for any of the 17
169	174		following purposes: 18
170	175		(1) For the public school unit to provide or contract to provide services for 19
171	176		students in crisis, including any of the following: 20
172	177		a. Crisis respite services for parents or guardians of an individual student 21
173	178		to prevent more intensive or costly levels of care. 22
174	179		b. Training and expanded services for therapeutic foster care families and 23
175	180		licensed child placement agencies that provide services to students 24
176	181		who (i) need support to manage their health, welfare, and safety and 25
177	182		(ii) have any of the following: 26
178	183		1. Cognitive or behavioral problems. 27
179	184		2. Developmental delays. 28
180	185		3. Aggressive behavior. 29
181	186		c. Evidence-based therapy services aligned with targeted training for 30
182	187		students and their parents or guardians, including any of the following: 31
183	188		1. Parent-child interaction therapy. 32
184	189		2. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. 33
185	190		3. Dialectical behavior therapy. 34
186	191		4. Child-parent psychotherapy. 35
187	192		d. Any other crisis service, including peer-to-peer mentoring, that is 36
188	193		likely to increase school safety. 37
189	194		(2) The purchase of safety equipment for school buildings and any training 38
190	195		associated with the use of the safety equipment." 39
191	196		SECTION 3.(b) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of 40
192	197		Public Instruction the sum of twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) in nonrecurring funds to 41
193	198		be allocated to the School Safety Fund. 42
194	199		43
195	200		PART IV. EFFECTIVE DATE 44
196	201		SECTION 4. Section 3 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2025. The remainder of 45
197	202		this act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. 46