Plyler Educational Protections Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 1061

Short Title: Plyler Educational Protections Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Greenfield, K. Brown, Morey, and Johnson-Hostler (Primary
Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 28, 2026
*H1061-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO GRANT STUD ENTS EQUAL ACCESS TO PUBLIC EDUCATION 2
REGARDLESS OF IMMIGRATION STATUS. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new 5
Article to read: 6
"Article 26A. 7
"Plyler Educational Protections Act. 8
"§ 115C-386.1. Short title; purpose. 9
(a) This Article may be cited as the "Plyler Educational Protections Act." 10
(b) The purpose of the Plyler Educational Protections Act is to codify the right of every 11
child to equal access to a free public education and a school that is safe from intimidation and 12
fear, consistent with the landmark U .S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 13
(1982), which held that it is unconstitutiona l for states to deny children a free public education 14
based on immigration status in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth 15
Amendment to the U nited States Constitution. To promote the right to educational equality 16
established in Plyler, schools must take steps to protect the integrity of school learning 17
environments for all children, including from the threat of immigration enforcement or other law 18
enforcement activity on a school campus , so that no parent is discouraged from sending their 19
child to school and no child is discouraged from attending school. 20
(c) The provisions of this Article are severable. If any provision of this Article or its 21
application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can 22
be given effect without the invalid provision or application. 23
"§ 115C-386.2. Definitions. 24
As used in this Article, the following definitions apply: 25
(1) Citizenship status. – The legal classification of a person 's presence in the 26
United States, whether real or perceived. 27
(2) Directory information. – Information contained in a student 's educational 28
record that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of 29
privacy if disclosed. 30
(3) Immigration authorities. – Persons representing, working for, or deputized by 31
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or United States 32
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and any State or local law enforcement 33
officers or empl oyees authorized to perform immigration officer functions 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 1061-First Edition
pursuant to section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1
1357. 2
(4) Parent. – Any of the following: 3
a. A natural, adoptive, or foster parent. 4
b. A guardian, but not the State if the child is a ward of the State. 5
c. An individual acting in the place of a natural or adoptive parent, 6
including a grandparent, stepparent, or other relative, and with whom 7
the child lives. 8
d. An individual who is legally responsible for the child's welfare. 9
e. A surrogate if one is appointed under G.S. 115C-109.2. 10
"§ 115C-386.3. All children guaranteed access to a free public education. 11
(a) Public school units shall not take any of the following actions based on the citizenship 12
status of a student or the student's parent: 13
(1) Deny a student admission to or enrollment in a public school. 14
(2) Exclude a child from participating in or benefiting from an educational 15
program or activity. 16
(3) Exclude a parent from participating in parent engagement activities or 17
programs. 18
(b) Public school units shall not adopt any policies that, either on their face or in practice, 19
differentiate between students based on citizenship status. 20
(c) If a student experiences disruptions to instruction as a result of immigration 21
enforcement actions, a school shall make its best efforts to develop an alternate instruction plan 22
for the student. 23
"§ 115C-386.4. Information privacy. 24
(a) A public school unit shall not take any of the following actions, except as provided in 25
subsection (b) of this section: 26
(1) Inquire about or require documentation of the citizenship status of a student 27
or the student's parent or the manner in which a student or the student's parent 28
entered the country. 29
(2) Include citizenship status, place of birth, or national origin in student directory 30
information. 31
(3) Disclose any information collected about the place of birth, national origin, or 32
citizenship status of a student or the student 's parent to any immigration 33
authority, law enforcement, nongovernmental entity, or individual person. 34
(b) A public school unit may take an action listed in subsection (a) of this section in any 35
of the following circumstances: 36
(1) When required by State or f ederal law or when legally obligated under a 37
judicial warrant, subpoena, or court order. 38
(2) When strictly necessary to administer a State or federally supported 39
educational program. 40
(3) In relation to an application for employment or as a condition of employment. 41
(4) When a parent has given written consent for the action. 42
(c) A public school unit may only provide accurate information about a student or parent 43
to immigration authorities and shall not provide speculative information. 44
"§ 115C-386.5. Immigration authority Action Response Plans. 45
(a) Each school within a public school unit shall develop an immigration authority Action 46
Response Plan (ARP) to instruct school staff on the proper course of action when immigration 47
authorities request information from a school or request to enter school grounds. 48
(b) The ARP shall be updated before the beginning of each school year and shall , at a 49
minimum, include the following: 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 1061-First Edition Page 3
(1) Identification of a Designated Authorized Person (DAP). The DAP is the 1
primary person that will interact with immigration authorities on behalf of the 2
school. The DAP may select a designee to act in the DAP 's absence. The 3
superintendent, or equivalent authority, of the public school unit in which the 4
school is located also has concurrent authority to perform the same duties as 5
the DAP. 6
(2) A description of the DAP's duties, which shall include at least the following: 7
a. Receiving and reviewing immigration authority requests for 8
information or to enter school grounds. 9
b. Asking if the request for information or entry is pursuant to a judicial 10
warrant or court order and, if so, requesting a copy of such. 11
c. As soon as practicable, sending a copy of any judicial warrant or court 12
order to the school's or public school unit's legal counsel to review. 13
d. Recording the name, badge or identification number, and telephone 14
number of any immigration authority the DAP interacts with. 15
(3) Procedures for immigration authorities to contact the DAP to request 16
information or entry to school grounds. 17
(4) Procedures for monitoring and accompanying immigration autho rities when 18
on school grounds, including documenting all interactions with people and 19
any information, records, or areas that were accessed. The procedures shall 20
also address how to notify staff and students of the presence of immigration 21
authorities on school grounds without divulging personally identifiable or 22
sensitive information related to the reason for entry. 23
(5) Procedures to notify parents within 24 hours that immigration authorities 24
accessed the school campus. 25
(6) Procedures for obtaining consent from parents to share a student's information 26
at the request of immigration authorities and for notifying parents within 24 27
hours when information has been provided to authorities , regardless of 28
whether the information was provided with consent. 29
(7) A plan to provide training on the ARP to teachers, administrators, school 30
resource officers, bus drivers, school nutrition program workers, and school 31
staff. 32
(8) Procedures to a llow a parent to list a secondary emergency contact for a 33
student. The parent may authorize the secondary contact to act on the parent's 34
behalf in any matter related to the school if the parent is incapacitated or in 35
law enforcement custody. 36
(c) The ARP shall be posted on the school's or public school unit's website, which may 37
include links to additional resources for families with information on educational and 38
constitutional rights, privacy and confidentiality of student information, counseling services, and 39
support services. At the beginning of each school year, a copy of the plan shall also be sent to the 40
following: 41
(1) Parents of students enrolled in the school. 42
(2) The Department of Public Instruction. 43
(3) Local law enforcement agencies. 44
"§ 115C-386.6. Regulations on school resource officers. 45
(a) This section ap plies to school resource officers (SROs), as defined in 46
G.S. 115C-105.58. 47
(b) Unless required under a judicial warrant, court order, or State or federal law , SROs 48
shall not do any of the following while performing their duties: 49
(1) Cooperate with immigration authorities in activity related to civil immigration 50
enforcement, including detaining a student. 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 4 House Bill 1061-First Edition
(2) Question any student about the student's citizenship status. 1
(3) Share any student's information with immigration authorities. 2
"§ 115C-386.7. Attorney General guidance and model policies. 3
The Attorney General, in consultation with the Department of Public Instru ction, shall 4
publish guidance and model policies for law enforcement agencies intended to limit, to the fullest 5
extent possible consistent with State and federal law, immigration enforcement at public schools. 6
"§ 115C-386.8. Retaliation; enforcement. 7
(a) Public school units shall not retaliate against employees for complying with a school's 8
immigration authority ARP or any other requirement of this Article by suspending the employee, 9
removing or decreasing planning time, giving extra duties, or in any other way. 10
(b) For purposes of this Article, a threat to take any action prohibited by this Article is a 11
violation of this Article. 12
(c) If a violation of this Article occurs related to a student, par ent, or public school unit 13
employee, that student, parent, or public school unit employee may bring a cause of action against 14
the public school unit, or any employee or agent thereof acting in their official capacity, for the 15
violation, subject to the following: 16
(1) The party bringing the action does not have to exhaust all administrative 17
remedies prior to bringing the cause of action. 18
(2) If the court finds a willful violation of this Article has occurred, the court may 19
award any of the following: 20
a. Actual damages. 21
b. Declaratory relief. 22
c. Injunctive relief, including temporary restraining orders or preliminary 23
or permanent injunctions. 24
d. Any other relief the court deems appropriate. 25
(3) A party prevailing in a claim brought for a violation of this Article shall be 26
entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs." 27
SECTION 2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of 28
Justice the sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 29
2026-2027 fiscal year to be used to develop and disseminate the guidance and policies required 30
under Article 26A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes, as enacted by this act. 31
SECTION 3. Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2026. The remainder of 32
this act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. 33