2025 Charter Schools Review Board Omnibus.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 556

Short Title: 2025 Charter Schools Review Board Omnibus. (Public)
Sponsors: Representative Willis.
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Education - K-12, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
March 31, 2025
*H556-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REQUIRE CH ARTER SCHOOLS REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL OF A LL 2
STATE RULES RELATED TO CHARTER SCHOOLS, TO AUTHORIZE THE REVIEW 3
BOARD TO HIRE LEGAL COUNCIL, TO EXEMPT C HARTER SCHOOLS FROM 4
REPORTING CLASS RANK ON STUDENT TRANSCRI PTS, TO ALLOW CHARTER 5
SCHOOLS TO USE ALTER NATE TEACHER EVALUAT IONS, TO REQUIRE 6
LOW-PERFORMING CHART ERS TO REPORT IMPROV EMENT PLANS TO THE 7
REVIEW BOARD ONLY, T O ALLOW THE CHARTER SCHOOLS REVIEW BOARD 8
TO REVIEW DECISIONS RELATED TO CHARTER S CHOOL FEDERAL FUNDIN G, 9
TO CREATE AN EXPEDIT ED APPLICATION PROCE SS FOR CERTAIN REMOT E 10
CHARTER ACADEMIES, A ND TO HAVE REMOTE CH ARTER ACADEMIES 11
GRADED SEPARATELY. 12
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 13
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 115C-218 reads as rewritten: 14
"§ 115C-218. Purpose of charter schools; role of State Board of Education; establishment 15
of North Carolina Charter Schools Review Board and North Carolina Office of 16
Charter Schools. 17
… 18
(a1) State Board of Education. – The State Board of Education shall have the following 19
duties regarding charter schools: 20
(1) Rulemaking. – To establish all rules for the operation and approval of charter 21
schools. Any rule or policy adopted by the State Board regarding charter 22
schools shall first be approved and recommended by the Charter Schools 23
Review Board. 24
(2) Funding. – To allocate funds to charter schools. 25
(3) Appeals. – To hear appeals from decisions of the Charter Schools Review 26
Board under G.S. 115C-218.9. 27
(4) Accountability. – To ensure accountability from charter schools for school 28
finances and student performance. 29
(b) North Carolina Charter Schools Review Board. – 30
… 31
(10) Powers and duties. – The Review Board shall have the following duties: 32
a. To make recommendations to the State Board of Education on the 33
adoption of propose, recommend, a nd approve rules and policies 34
regarding all aspects of charter school operation, including time lines, 35
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 556-First Edition
processes, standards, and criteria for acceptance and approval of 1
applications, monitoring of charter schools, and grounds for 2
revocation of charters. 3
… 4
e. To review any decisions or conduct any hearings pursuant to 20 U.S.C. 5
§ 1231b-2 concerning the provision, repayment, or termination of 6
funds provided to a charter school. 7
f. To contract for and employ legal counsel, including pr ivate counsel, 8
to advise , represent, and provide litigation services to the Review 9
Board, without need to obtain permission or approval pursuant to 10
G.S. 114-2.3 or G.S. 147-17. 11
… 12
(c) North Carolina Office of Charter Schools. – 13
… 14
(2) Executive Director. – The Executive Director shall report to and serve at the 15
pleasure of the Superintendent of Public Instruction Review Board at a salary 16
established by the Superintendent Review Board within the funds 17
appropriated for this purpose. The d uties of the Executive Director shall 18
include presenting the recommendations and decisions of the Review Board 19
at meetings of the State Board. 20
…." 21
SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 115C-218.15(c) reads as rewritten: 22
"(c) A charter school shall operate under the written charter signed by the State 23
Superintendent and the applicant. The terms of the written charter shall be approved by the 24
Review Board. A charter school is not required to enter into any other contract. The charter shall 25
incorporate the information provided in the application, as modified during the charter approval 26
process, and any terms and conditions imposed on the charter school by the Review Board, or if 27
the approval is granted through an appeal pursuant to G.S. 115C-218.9, any conditions imposed 28
by the State Board of Education. No other terms may be imposed on the charter school as a 29
condition for receipt of local funds." 30
SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 115C-218.85 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 31
"(d) Notwithstanding G.S. 116-11(10a) or any other provision of law to the contrary, a 32
charter school shall not be required to list class rank on a student's official transcript or record." 33
SECTION 1.(d) G.S. 115C-218.90(a) is amended by adding a new subdivisi on to 34
read: 35
"(7) A charter school may develop and use any evaluation for conducting 36
evaluation of teachers provided that it includes standard s and criteria similar 37
to those used in the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards and 38
North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process, or such other evaluation standard 39
and process required to be used by local school administrative units." 40
SECTION 1.(e) G.S. 115C-218.94 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 41
"(c) The Review Board shall require charter schools that are identified as low-performing 42
or continually low-performing to prepare and report on plans to improve the performance of the 43
school. The requirements of G.S. 115C-105.27 shall not apply to charter schools." 44
SECTION 1.(f) G.S. 115C-218.105 reads as rewritten: 45
"§ 115C-218.105. State and local funds for a charter school. 46
… 47
(a2) The State Board shall may withhold or reduce distribution of funds to a charter school 48
if any of the following applies: 49
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 556-First Edition Page 3
(1) The change in funding is due to an annual adjustment based on enrollment or 1
is a general adjustment to allocations that is not specific to the charter or 2
actions of that charter school. 3
(2) The Review Board notifies the State Board that the charter school has 4
materially violated a term of its charter, has violated a State statute or federal 5
law, or has had its charter terminated or nonrenewed. 6
(3) The Superintendent of Public Instruction Review Board notifies the State 7
Board that the charter school has failed to meet generally accepted standards 8
of fiscal management or has violated a State or federal requirement for receipt 9
of funds. 10
… 11
(c2) The Superintendent of Public Instruction Review Board shall, in consultation with 12
charter schools and local school administrative units, create a standardized enrollme nt 13
verification and transfer request document that each charter school shall use to request the per 14
pupil share of the local current expense fund from the local school administrative units. Charter 15
schools shall only be required to list the name, age, grad e, address, date of charter enrollment, 16
date of charter withdrawal, district of residence, and student identification number of each student 17
as provided to the charter school by the student's parent or guardian in the enrollment verification 18
and transfer request document that the charter school submits to the local school administrative 19
units. A charter school, in its discretion, may take further steps to confirm the student's residence 20
in a particular local school administrative unit. 21
(c3) The Superintendent of Public Instruction Review Board shall, in consultation with 22
charter schools and local school administrative units, create a standardized procedure that local 23
school administrative units shall use when transferring the per pupil share of the local cur rent 24
expense fund to charter schools. The standardized procedure for transfer of the per pupil share of 25
the local current expense fund shall require, to the extent practicable, that the local school 26
administrative units make the transfers by electronic transfer. 27
…." 28
SECTION 1.(g) G.S. 115C-218.123 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 29
"(c) If a school is operating under a charter that allows for a remote academy as part of the 30
charter, and the school enrolls or intends to enroll 250 or more students in the remote academy, 31
the school may request that the Review Board grant the remote academy portion of the school a 32
separate charter by submitting the information listed under subsection (a) of this section with the 33
request. R equests sub mitted pursuant to this section shall be review ed through an expedite d 34
process to be established by the Review Bo ard. The Review Board shall not require a planning 35
year for remote academies granted a charter pursuant to this section." 36
SECTION 1.(h) G.S. 115C-218.125 reads as rewritten: 37
"§ 115C-218.125. Evaluation. 38
(a) The State Board of Education shall evaluate the success of remote charter academies 39
approved under this Part. Success shall be measured by school performance scores and grades, 40
retention rates, attendance rates, and, for grades nine through 12, high school completion and 41
dropout rates. The Board shall report by November 15 of each year to the Joint Legislative 42
Education Oversight Committee on the evaluation of these academies and on any recommended 43
statutory changes. 44
(b) If a school is operating under a charter that includes in-person instruction and a remote 45
charter academy, the remote charter academy shall receive a separate school performance grade 46
and be treated as a separate school for the purposes of assessing the performance of the remote 47
charter academy pursuant to G.S. 115C-12(9)c1., 115C-83.15, 115C-218.94, and 115C-218.95." 48
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with 49
the 2025-2026 school year. 50