NC
North Carolina Senate Bill S744

North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina Senate Bill S744 Compare Versions

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11 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
22 SESSION 2025
3-S 1
4-SENATE BILL 744
3+S D
4+SENATE BILL DRS15305-MT-45
5+
56
67
78 Short Title: Voucher School Accountability Act. (Public)
89 Sponsors: Senators Meyer and Chaudhuri (Primary Sponsors).
9-Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
10-March 26, 2025
11-*S744 -v-1*
10+Referred to:
11+
12+*DRS15305 -MT-45*
1213 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
1314 AN ACT TO INCREASE ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTING STANDARDS FOR 2
1415 NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS RECEIVING OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS . 3
1516 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
1617 SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 115C-12(39) reads as rewritten: 5
1718 "(39) Power to Accredit Schools. – Upon the request of a local board of education, 6
1819 request, the State Board of Education shall evaluate schools in local school 7
1920 administrative units and nonpublic school receiving funds from scholarship 8
2021 grants pursuant to Part 2A of Article 39 of this Chapter to determine whether 9
2122 the education provided by those schools meets acceptable levels of quality. 10
2223 The State Board shall adopt rigorous and appropriate academic standards for 11
2324 accreditation after consideration of (i) the standards of regional and national 12
2425 accrediting agencies, (ii) the academic standards adopted in accordance with 13
2526 subdivision (9c) of this section, and (iii) other information it deems 14
2627 appropriate. For the nonpublic schools, as a minimum requirement of 15
2728 accreditation, the State Board shall verify that a nonpublic school is 16
2829 complying with subdivisions (3a), (10), and (11) of subsection (a) of 17
2930 G.S. 115C-562.5. 18
3031 The local school administrative unit or nonpublic school shall compensate 19
3132 the State Board for the actual costs of the accreditation process." 20
3233 SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 115C-562.2 read as rewritten: 21
3334 "§ 115C-562.2. Scholarship grants. 22
3435 … 23
3536 (b2) Scholarship grants shall be awarded in monthly installments to eligible students as 24
3637 follows: 25
3738 … 26
3839 (b5) In addition to the amount of the scholarship grant, for any student receiving a 27
3940 scholarship grant in grades three, eight, or 11, three through 12, the Authority shall provide to 28
4041 the nonpublic school an amount equal to the cost of the nationally standardized test required to 29
4142 be administered as provided in G.S. 115C-562.5. 30
4243 …." 31
4344 SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 115C-562.5 reads as rewritten: 32
4445 "§ 115C-562.5. Obligations of nonpublic schools accepting eligible students receiving 33
4546 scholarship grants. 34
4647 (a) A nonpublic school that accepts eligible students receiving scholarship grants shall 35
47-comply with the following: 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
48-Page 2 Senate Bill 744-First Edition
48+comply with the following: 36
49+FILED SENATE
50+Mar 25, 2025
51+S.B. 744
52+PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
53+Page 2 DRS15305-MT-45
4954 (1) Provide Annually provide to the Authority and the Division of Nonpublic 1
5055 education documentation for required tuition and fees charged to the student 2
5156 by the nonpublic school. The Division shall collect this information and 3
5257 publish it on its website. 4
5358 (1a) Limit increases to the costs of tuition and fees by no more than five percent 5
5459 (5%) each school year. 6
5560 (2) Provide to the Authority a criminal background check conducted for the staff 7
5661 member with the highest decision-making authority, as defined by the bylaws, 8
5762 articles of incorporation, or other governing document. For all other 9
5863 employees, if the nonpublic school is located in a local school administrative 10
5964 unit that has adopted a policy requiring criminal history checks under 11
6065 G.S. 115C-332, then the nonpublic school shall adopt a policy mirroring the 12
6166 local board of education policy. Each nonpublic school shall apply its policy 13
6267 uniformly in requiring applicants for employment to be checked for a criminal 14
6368 history before the applicant is given an unconditional job offer. A nonpublic 15
6469 school may employ an applicant conditionally while the board is checking the 16
6570 person's criminal history and making a decision based on the results of the 17
6671 check. If the local school administrative unit adopts a policy providing for 18
6772 periodic checks of criminal history of employees, then the nonpublic school 19
6873 located in that local school administrative unit shall adopt a policy mirroring 20
6974 that local board of education policy. A nonpublic school shall indicate, upon 21
7075 the inquiry by any other public school unit or nonpublic school in the State, 22
7176 as to the reason for an employee's resignation or dismissal, if an employee's 23
7277 criminal history was relevant to the employee's resignation or dismissal. 24
7378 Information provided to the Authority in accordance with this subdivision is 25
7479 otherwise privileged information and is not a public record but is for the 26
7580 exclusive use of the Authority. 27
7681 (3) Provide to the parent or guardian of an eligible student, whose tuition and fees 28
7782 are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship grant, an annual written 29
7883 explanation of the student's progress, including the student's scores on 30
7984 standardized achievement tests. 31
8085 (3a) Comply with the standard course of study in accordance with Part 1 of Article 32
8186 8 of this Chapter and related rules adopted by the State Board of Education. 33
8287 (4) Administer, at least once in each school year, tests as provided in this 34
8388 subdivision. Administer each school year all tests required by the State Board 35
8489 of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11(c) for students in grades three and 36
8590 higher in a local school administrative unit. Test performance data for students 37
8691 shall be submitted to the Authority by July 15 of each year. Test performance 38
8792 data reported to the Authority or collected by the Authority under this 39
8893 subdivision is not a public record under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes. 40
8994 Tests shall be administered to all eligible students enrolled in grades three and 41
9095 higher whose tuition and fees are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship 42
9196 grant as follows:Statutes, to the extent the data contains personally identifiable 43
9297 information. 44
9398 a. The nationally standardized test designated by the Authority in grades 45
9499 three and eight. 46
95100 b. The ACT in grade 11. 47
96101 c. A nationally standardized test or other nationally standardized 48
97102 equivalent measurement selected by the chief administrative officer of 49
98103 the nonpublic school in all other grades four and higher. For grades 50
99104 four through seven, the nationally standardized test or other equivalent 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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101106 measurement selected must measure achievement in the areas of 1
102107 English grammar, reading, spelling, and mathematics. For grades nine, 2
103108 10, and 12, the nationally standardized test or other equivalent 3
104109 measurement selected must measure either (i) achievement in the areas 4
105110 of English grammar, reading, spelling, and mathematics or (ii) 5
106111 competencies in the verbal and quantitative areas.Nothing in this 6
107112 subdivision shall prohibit a nonpublic school from administering 7
108113 additional tests to its students. 8
109114 (5) Provide to the Authority graduation rates of the students receiving scholarship 9
110115 grants in a manner consistent with nationally recognized standards. 10
111116 (6) Contract with a certified public accountant to perform a financial review, an 11
112117 audit, consistent with generally accepted methods of accounting or any other 12
113118 comprehensive basis of accounting recognized by the American Institute of 13
114119 Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) for each school year in which the 14
115120 school enrolls 70 or more students receiving scholarship grants or scholarship 15
116121 funds awarded by the Authority.year. A nonpublic school shall report the 16
117122 results of an audit to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by 17
118123 December 31 of the year in which the audit is conducted. 18
119124 (6a) If a school receives more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) 19
120125 in grant funds under this Part, it shall publish its expenditures in the Uniform 20
121126 Education Reporting System. 21
122127 (7) Maintain a school facility within the State where in-person instruction is 22
123128 provided. This subdivision does not prohibit a school from offering 23
124129 remote-only courses of instruction in addition to in-person instruction. 24
125130 (8) Provide the following information annually to the Division: 25
126131 a. Name and address of the school, including physical location address. 26
127132 A school with more than one physical location shall establish a 27
128133 separate notice of intent for each physical location and shall provide 28
129134 all information required by this subdivision for each physical location. 29
130135 b. The name of the owners and chief administrator. 30
131136 c. Number of students in attendance at the school as of October 1. 31
132137 d. All attendance records of students receiving scholarship grants from 32
133138 the previous school year to ensure compliance with compulsory 33
134139 attendance in accordance with Part 1 of Article 26 of this Chapter. 34
135140 (9) Maintain accreditation from the State Board of Education in accordance with 35
136141 G.S. 115C-12(39). 36
137142 (10) At least fifty percent (50%) of the teachers in the nonpublic school shall hold 37
138143 teacher licenses. 38
139144 (11) Provide instruction each school year for at least 185 days or 1,025 39
140145 instructional hours during nine calendar months. 40
141146 (12) Maintain an operating reserve of four months' worth of expenses. 41
142147 (13) Maintain a student population that reasonably reflects the racial and ethnic 42
143148 composition of the general population residing within the local school 43
144149 administrative unit in which the nonpublic school is located or the racial and 44
145150 ethnic composition of the special population that the nonpublic school seeks 45
146151 to serve residing within the local school administrative unit in which the 46
147152 nonpublic school is located. The nonpublic school shall be subject to any 47
148153 court-ordered desegregation plan in effect for the local school administrative 48
149154 unit. The State Board of Education may notify the Authority of a nonpublic 49
150155 school is in violation of this subdivision. 50 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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152157 (14) Report to the Division of Nonpublic Education by September 1 of each year 1
153158 the identity of the highest paid employee in the nonpublic school. 2
154159 (15) During each period of enrollment, the nonpublic shall enroll an eligible 3
155160 student who submits a timely application, unless the number of applications 4
156161 exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building. In this case, 5
157162 students shall be accepted by lot. Once enrolled, students are not required to 6
158163 reapply in subsequent enrollment periods. 7
159164 (16) Comply with all applicable State laws related to the expulsion of students in 8
160165 local school administrative units, including G.S. 115C-390.11. 9
161166 (17) Report to the Authority on any expulsions from the nonpublic school, 10
162167 including the reason for the expulsion and the identity of the expelled student. 11
163168 This information is not a public record under Chapter 132 of the General 12
164169 Statutes. 13
165170 (b) A nonpublic school that accepts students receiving scholarship grants shall not require 14
166171 any additional fees based on the status of the student as a scholarship grant recipient. 15
167172 (c) A nonpublic school enrolling more than 25 students in any grade whose tuition and 16
168173 fees are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship grant shall provide and retain information on 17
169174 student test performance in each grade with more than 25 students, as follows: 18
170175 (1) Report to the Authority on the aggregate standardized test performance of 19
171176 eligible students in grades three, eight, and 11.three and higher pursuant to 20
172177 subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of this section. Aggregate test performance 21
173178 data reported to the Authority which does not contain personally identifiable 22
174179 student data shall be a public record under Chapter 132 of the General 23
175180 Statutes.Statutes, and the Authority shall post this data on its website. Test 24
176181 performance data may be shared with public or private institutions of higher 25
177182 education located in North Carolina and shall be provided to an independent 26
178183 research organization selected by the Authority for research purposes as 27
179184 permitted by the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 28
180185 1232g. 29
181186 (2) Retain standardized test performance data for eligible students in all other 30
182187 grades and annually certify to the Authority compliance with the requirements 31
183188 of subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of this section. 32
184189 (c1) A nonpublic school shall not discriminate with respect to the categories listed in 42 33
185190 U.S.C. § 2000d, as that statute read on January 1, 2014.the race, color, national origin, sex, sexual 34
186191 orientation, disability, or religion of any student or their family members. 35
187192 (d) If the Authority or the State Board of Education determines that a nonpublic school 36
188193 is not in compliance with the requirements of this section, the nonpublic school shall be ineligible 37
189194 to receive future scholarship funds. The nonpublic school shall notify the parent or guardian of 38
190195 any enrolled student receiving a scholarship grant that the nonpublic school is no longer eligible 39
191196 to receive future scholarship grants. The Authority shall establish by rule a process for a 40
192197 nonpublic school to appeal for reconsideration of eligibility after one year. To ensure compliance, 41
193198 the Board of Directors of the Authority shall review the criminal history provided under 42
194199 subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section to ensure that the person has not been convicted 43
195200 of any crime listed in G.S. 115C-332. The Board shall determine through this review whether the 44
196201 nonpublic school is noncompliant with this section. The Board shall make written findings with 45
197202 regard to how the criminal history information was used when making the compliance 46
198203 determination. The Board of Directors may delegate any of the duties in this subsection to the 47
199204 Executive Director of the Authority. As part of its review, the Board shall determine whether the 48
200205 results indicate that the staff member has any of the following disqualifying characteristics: 49
201206 (1) Poses a threat to the physical safety of students or personnel. 50 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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203208 (2) Demonstrates that he or she does not have the integrity or honesty to fulfill his 1
204209 or her duties in overseeing State funds and the requirements of the scholarship 2
205210 grant program. 3
206211 (3) Has not fully satisfied the criminal sentencing obligations imposed following 4
207212 his or her conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction. 5
208213 …." 6
209214 SECTION 1.(d) G.S. 115C-562.7 reads as rewritten: 7
210215 "§ 115C-562.7. Reporting requirements. 8
211216 … 9
212217 (b) The Authority shall report annually, no later than October 15, to the Joint Legislative 10
213218 Education Oversight Committee on the following information from the prior school year: 11
214219 (1) Total number, grade level, race, ethnicity, and sex of eligible students 12
215220 receiving scholarship grants. 13
216221 (2) Total amount of scholarship grant funding awarded. 14
217222 (3) Repealed by Session Laws 2023-134, s. 8A.6(f), effective July 1, 2023. 15
218223 (4) Nonpublic schools in which scholarship grant recipients are enrolled, 16
219224 including numbers of scholarship grant students at each nonpublic school. 17
220225 (5) Nonpublic schools deemed ineligible to receive scholarships. 18
221226 (6) The percentage of scholarship grant fund recipients who have never attended 19
222227 a public school in North Carolina. 20
223228 (7) Trends in expulsions from nonpublic schools, including any trends at a 21
224229 nonpublic school that might reflect a pattern of bias across race, religion, 22
225230 sexual orientation, or class. 23
226231 (c) The Authority shall report annually, no later than December 1, to the Department of 24
227232 Public Instruction and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the following: 25
228233 (1) Learning gains or losses of students receiving scholarship grants. The report 26
229234 shall include learning gains or losses of participating students on a statewide 27
230235 basis and shall compare, to the extent possible, (i) the learning gains or losses 28
231236 of eligible students by nonpublic school to the statewide learning gains or 29
232237 losses of public school students with similar socioeconomic backgrounds, 30
233238 using aggregate standardized test performance data provided to the Authority 31
234239 by nonpublic schools and by the Department of Public Instruction.Instruction 32
235240 and (ii) over the past five years, the performance of students receiving grant 33
236241 funds who were previously enrolled in public school and the performance of 34
237242 students who applied for grant funds, but ultimately remained in public school. 35
238243 The report shall, at a minimum, analyze the aggregate performance of students 36
239244 receiving scholarship grants in grades three, eight, and 11 on the designated 37
240245 nationally standardized test in comparison to national outcomes for that test. 38
241246 (2) Competitive effects on public school performance as a result of the 39
242247 scholarship grant program. The report shall analyze the impact of the 40
243248 availability of scholarship grants on public school performance by local 41
244249 school administrative units to the extent possible, and shall provide 42
245250 comparisons of the impact by geographic region and between rural and urban 43
246251 local school administrative units. 44
247252 This report shall be conducted by an independent research organization to be selected by the 45
248253 Authority, which may be a public or private entity or university. The independent research 46
249254 organization shall report to the Authority on the results of its research. The Joint Legislative 47
250255 Education Oversight Committee shall review reports from the Authority and shall make ongoing 48
251256 recommendations to the General Assembly as needed regarding improving administration and 49
252257 accountability for nonpublic schools accepting students receiving scholarship grants. 50
253258 … 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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255260 (f) The Department of Public Instruction shall report no later than April 1 of each year 1
256261 to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the cumulative difference in the 2
257262 current school year between the scholarship grant award amount for each prior public school 3
258263 attendee enrolled in a nonpublic school and the average State per pupil allocation for average 4
259264 daily membership for a student in a public school unit. For purposes of this subsection, a "prior 5
260265 public school attendee" is any scholarship grant recipient who was in membership in a public 6
261266 school unit for a majority of the first or second month of the school year immediately prior to 7
262267 enrollment in a nonpublic school, beginning with students enrolled in a public school unit the 8
263268 2023-2024 school year or subsequent school years. 9
264269 (g) The Division of Nonpublic Education shall report to the Joint Legislative Education 10
265270 Oversight Committee no later than October 1 of each year on all political donations from the 11
266271 highest paid official and the official's spouse, if applicable." 12
267272 SECTION 1.(e) G.S. 115C-562.8 reads as rewritten: 13
268273 "§ 115C-562.8. The Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve. 14
269274 … 15
270275 (b) The General Assembly finds that, due to the critical need in this State to provide 16
271276 opportunity for school choice for North Carolina students, it is imperative that the State provide 17
272277 an increase of funds for 15 years to the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve. Therefore, 18
273278 there is appropriated from the General Fund to the Reserve the following amounts for each fiscal 19
274279 year to be used for the purposes set forth in this section: 20
275280 Fiscal Year Appropriation 21
276281 2017-2018 $44,840,000 22
277282 2018-2019 $54,840,000 23
278283 2019-2020 $64,840,000 24
279284 2020-2021 $74,840,000 25
280285 2021-2022 $84,840,000 26
281286 2022-2023 $94,840,000 27
282287 2023-2024 $176,540,000 28
283288 2024-2025 $191,540,000 29
284289 2025-2026 $625,000,000 30
285290 2026-2027 $675,000,000 31
286291 2027-2028 $700,000,000 32
287292 2028-2029 $725,000,000 33
288293 2029-2030 $750,000,000 34
289294 2030-2031 $775,000,000 35
290295 2031-2032 $800,000,000 36
291296 For the 2032-20332027-2028 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, there is appropriated 37
292297 from the General Fund to the Reserve the sum of eight hundred twenty-five million dollars 38
293298 ($825,000,000)five hundred forty-one million five hundred forty thousand dollars 39
294299 ($541,540,000) to be used for the purposes set forth in this section. When developing the base 40
295300 budget, as defined by G.S. 143C-1-1, for each fiscal year specified in this subsection, the Director 41
296301 of the Budget shall include the appropriated amount specified in this subsection for that fiscal 42
297302 year. 43
298303 … 44
299304 (d) Any unexpended funds at the end of a fiscal year from the funds appropriated in a 45
300305 particular fiscal year to be used for the award of scholarships in the following fiscal year shall be 46
301306 used as follows: 47
302307 (1) Up to one million dollars ($1,000,000) may be used by the Authority to contract with 48
303308 one or more nonprofit corporations representing parents and families for outreach and 49
304309 scholarship education and application assistance for parents and students pursuant to Part 4A of 50
305310 this Article. 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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307312 (2) Any remaining funds shall be carried forward for one fiscal year pursuant to 1
308313 subsection (a) of this section. 2
309314 …." 3
310315 SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, funds 4
311316 appropriated for the award of opportunity scholarship grants pursuant to Part 2A of Article 39 of 5
312317 Chapter 115C of the General Statutes are reduced as follows: 6
313318 (1) Of the recurring funds appropriated to the Board of Governors of The 7
314319 University of North Carolina for the opportunity scholarship program 8
315320 pursuant to S.L. 2021-180, by the sum of thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) 9
316321 for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. 10
317322 (2) Of the funds appropriated to the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve 11
318323 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and allocated from the Reserve for the award of 12
319324 scholarship grants in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, by the sum of twenty-eight 13
320325 million four hundred sixty thousand dollars ($28,460,000) in nonrecurring 14
321326 funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. 15
322327 (3) Of the funds appropriated to the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve, 16
323328 as follows: 17
324329 a. By the sum of eighty-three million four hundred sixty thousand dollars 18
325330 ($83,460,000) in recurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. 19
326331 b. By the sum of an additional fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) in 20
327332 recurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. 21
328333 SECTION 3. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025, and applies beginning with 22
329334 the 2025-2026 school year. 23