Increased Academic Transparency.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 878

Short Title: Increased Academic Transparency. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Johnson, Blackwell, Gable, and Willis (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Education - K-12, if favorable, Judiciary 2, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and
Operations of the House
April 10, 2025
*H878-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FO R INCREASED PUBLIC A CCESS TO LESSON PLAN S AND 2
OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1.(a) Article 7B of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by 5
adding a new Part to read: 6
"Part 7. Academic Transparency. 7
"§ 115C-76.75. Inform the public about course materials. 8
(a) The following definitions apply in this section: 9
(1) Action-oriented civics learning assignments or projects. – Assignments or 10
projects that require students to contact elected officials or advocate for a 11
political or social cause or to participate in political or social demonstrations. 12
(2) Course materials. – Any material used for instruction in a course, including, 13
but not limited to, all instructional materials, supplemental materials , 14
textbooks, other reading materials, videos, digital materials, websites, and 15
other online applications. 16
(3) Instructional materials. – Systematically organized material comprehensive 17
enough to cover the primary objectives outlined in the standard course of 18
study for a grade or course. Formats for instructional materials may be print 19
or nonprint, including hardbound books, softbound books, activity -oriented 20
programs, classroom kits, or digital resources that require the use of electronic 21
equipment in order to be used in the learning process. 22
(4) Lesson plan. – An outline of all of the following: 23
a. The instruction provided by a teacher for a course that includes a list 24
of (i) all course materials assigned, distributed, or otherwise presented 25
in the course and (ii) when students must select course materials from 26
a defined list, all course materials on that list. 27
b. Each grade- or school-wide presentation, assembly, lecture, or other 28
activity or event facilitated by the school during instructional hours 29
outside of an individual teacher 's classroom, excluding student 30
presentations. The outline shall include a list of (i) each presenter by 31
name and organization and (ii) any course material used or presented. 32
(5) Supplemental materials. – Educational materials that supplement specific 33
instruction for the standard course of study selected and procured by a local 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 878-First Edition
board of education for a grade or course or general education needs of the 1
school. Supplemental materials may include textbooks, library books, 2
periodicals, audiovisual materials, action-oriented civics learning assignments 3
or projects, and other supplemental instructional materials needed for 4
instructional purposes in the local school administrative unit. Supplemental 5
materials may be print or nonprint, including hardbound books , softbound 6
books, activity -oriented programs, classroom kits, or digital resources that 7
require the use of electronic equipment in order to be used in the learning 8
process. 9
(b) The governing body of a public school unit shall ensure that the following information 10
for each school it governs is prominently displayed on the school website, organized, at a 11
minimum, by subject area and grade level: 12
(1) All lesson plans used shall be posted online no later than 10 days after the 13
lesson was given. Lesson plans shall include the following, at a minimum: 14
a. The names of all instructional and supplemental materials used by the 15
school with an electronic link to the instructional materials website. 16
b. Any other course materials used in a course, organized by title, and the 17
author, organization, or website associated with each material and 18
activity. These course materials shall include materials created by the 19
teacher, with the teacher identified as the author. The lesson plan shall 20
include a brief descriptor of the course materials and a link to the 21
course material, if publicly available on the internet, or information on 22
how to request review of a copy of the course material in person. 23
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the digital 24
reproduction or posting of copies of the course materials themselves. 25
(2) For all public school units, any procedures for the documentation, review, or 26
approval of the lesson plans , including course materials identified in those 27
plans, by the principal, curriculum administrators, or other teachers. 28
(3) For all public school units, the procedure established by the governing board 29
for requesting an in-person review of a course material not publicly available 30
on the internet. 31
(4) For all public school units, a list of teacher and staff training materials and 32
activities used at each school during the current school year. 33
(c) The governing body shall provide access from the website of the public school unit 34
to the information required by subsection (b) of this section at all times, either through a website 35
maintained by the public school unit or by a link to another website where the information is 36
publicly accessible. Public access to th e information shall be maintained by the public school 37
unit for two calendar years from the date the material is posted . The Department of Public 38
Instruction shall make a vailable to public school units one or more templates for providing 39
information as required by this section . A public school unit may exercise flexibility in 40
determining the most effective means of compliance with the requirements of this section, 41
including, but not limited to, utilizing any of the following in its discretion: 42
(1) Providing a template created b y the Department of Public Instruction to 43
teachers to facilitate reporting of lesson plans. 44
(2) Creating one or more templates to provide to teachers to facilitate reporting of 45
lesson plans. The public school unit ma y customize templates for grades or 46
courses and may autopopulate any course materials required by the public 47
school unit as part of the curriculum for a particular grade or course. 48
(3) Allowing utilization of online collaborative software, documents, or 49
spreadsheets to allow multiple authorized users to update content. 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 878-First Edition Page 3
(4) To the extent allowable under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act 1
(FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, p roviding temporary login credentials via a 2
publicly accessible link on the school's website to the school's online learning 3
management system for any grade levels requested, provided that both of the 4
following apply: 5
a. All information required under this section is listed w ithin the online 6
learning management system. 7
b. The login credentials are automatically generated immediately on 8
request and provide access for the requested grade levels for not less 9
than 72 hours at least once per 30-day period for each requestor. The 10
access provided via the login credentials may be limited to the 11
information required by this section and is not required to provide 12
access to academic assessments, answer keys, student generated 13
content, student performance records , or other student identify ing 14
information. 15
(d) A governing body that is responsible for the operation of schools with fewer than 30 16
students cumulatively is not required to comply with the requirements of this section. 17
(e) For purposes of teacher privacy, a teacher or staff member may request that the school 18
use the teacher's or staff member's personal title and last initial rather than the teacher 's or staff 19
member's full name when posting materials online to be viewed by the public." 20
SECTION 1.(b) Article 4 of Chapter 116 of the General Statutes is amended by 21
adding a new section to read: 22
"§ 116-69.3. Inform the public about course materials. 23
The Board of Trustees shall ensure that information about course materials is prominently 24
displayed on the website of the North Carolina School of the Arts for all elementary, middle, and 25
high school programs, in accordance with G.S. 115C-76.75." 26
SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 116-235 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 27
"(k) Course Materials. – The Board of Trustees shall ensure that information about course 28
materials is prominently displayed on the website of the School in accordance with 29
G.S. 115C-76.75." 30
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning wi th 31
the 2025-2026 school year. 32