Read the full stored bill text
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
SESSION LAW 2025-62
SENATE BILL 133
*S133-v-4*
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FO R THE STATE BOARD OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES TO
SOLICIT A LEARNING M ANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR ALL COMMUNITY
COLLEGES, TO PROVIDE AN EXEMPTION FROM T HE DEPARTMENT OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLO GY FOR THE COMMUNITY COLLEGES SYSTEM
OFFICE, AND TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO T HE GENERAL STATUTES
RELATED TO THE NORTH CAROLINA LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEM.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
PART I. COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
SECTION 1.(a) The State Board of Community Colleges shall conduct a
competitive solicitation, including a request for information or a request for proposals, to provide
a learning management system to all community colleges. The competitive solicitation shall be
completed by December 31, 2025, and the transition to the new learning management system
shall be completed by December 31, 2027. Answers to the competitive solicitation shall include
information on how the learning management system would align with the learning management
systems (i) offered by the Department of Public Instruction to local school administrative units
and (ii) used by the constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina.
SECTION 1.(b) By December 31, 2025, the State Board shall rep ort to the Senate
Appropriations Committee on Education/Higher Education, the House Appropriations
Committee on Education, and the Fiscal Research Division on the information received.
PART II. DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EXEMPTION
SECTION 2. G.S. 143B-1320 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B-1320. Definitions; scope; exemptions.
(a) Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this Article:
(1) CGIA. – Center for Geographic Information and Analysis.
…
(17) State agency or agency. – Any agency, department, institution, commission,
committee, board, division, bureau, office, unit, officer, or official of the State.
The term does not include the legislative or judicial branches of government
government, the Community Colleges System Office, or The Uni versity of
North Carolina.
…
(b) Exemptions. – Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, the provisions of
this Chapter do not apply to the following entities: the General Assembly, the Judicial
Department, the Community Colleges System Office, and The University of North Carolina and
its constituent institutions. These entities may elect to participate in the information technology
programs, services, or contracts offered by the Department, including information technology
procurement, in accordance with the statutes, policies, and rules of the Department. The election
must be made in writing, as follows:
(1) For the General Assembly, by the Legislative Services Commission.
Page 2 Session Law 2025-62 Senate Bill 133
(2) For the Judicial Department, by the Chief Justice.
(2a) For the Communit y Colleges System Office, by the State Board of
Community Colleges.
(3) For The University of North Carolina, by the Board of Governors.
(4) For the constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina, by the
respective boards of trustees.
…."
PART III. NORTH CAROLINA LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEM
SECTION 3.(a) Chapter 116E of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
"Chapter 116E.
"Education North Carolina Longitudinal Data System.
"§ 116E-1. Definitions.
(1) "Center" means the Center. – The Governmental Data Analytics Center as
established in Part 8 of Article 15 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes.
(1a) CJIS. – The federal Criminal Justice Information System s in 28 C.F.R. Part
20.
(2) "De-identified data" means a De-identified data. – A data set in which parent
and student identity information, including the unique student identifier and
student social security number, has been removed.
(3) "FERPA" means the FERPA. – The federal Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g.
(3a) HIPAA. – The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996.
(3c) IDEA. – The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §
1400, et seq.
(3h) Public school unit. – As defined in G.S. 115C-5.
(4) "Student data" means data Student data. – Data relating to student
performance. Student data includes State and national assessments, course
enrollment and completion, grade point average, remediation, retention,
degree, diploma or credential attainment, enrollmen t, discipline records, and
demographic data. Student data does not include juvenile delinquency records,
criminal records, and medical and health records.
(5) "System" means the System. – The North Carolina Longitudinal Data
System.System, including compon ents referred to as the North Carolina
Longitudinal Data Service.
(6) "Unique Student Identifier" or "UID" means the Unique Student Identifier or
UID. – The identifier assigned to each student by one of the following:
a. A local school administrative unit public school unit based on the
identifier system developed by the Department of Public Instruction.
b. An institution of higher education, nonpublic school, or other State
agency operating or overseeing an educational program, if the student
has not been assigned an identifier by a local school administrative
unit.public school unit.
(7) "Workforce data" means data Workforce data. – Data relating to employment
status, wage information, geographic location of employment, and employer
information.
"§ 116E-2. Purpose of the North Carolina Longitudinal Data System.
(a) The North Carolina Longitudinal Data System is a statewide data system that contains
individual-level student data and workforce data from all levels of education and the State's
workforce. The purpose of the System is to do the following:
Senate Bill 133 Session Law 2025-62 Page 3
(1) Facilitate and enable the exchange of student data among agencies and
institutions within the State.
(2) Generate timely and accurate information about student performance that can
be used to improve the State's education system and guide decision makers at
all levels.
(3) Facilitate and enable the linkage of student data and workforce data.
(b) The linkage of student data and workforce data for the purposes of the System shall
be limited to no longer than f ive years from the later of the date of the student's completion of
secondary education or the date of the student's latest attendance at an institution of higher
education in the State.
"§ 116E-4. Powers and duties of the Center.
(a) The Center shall have the following powers and duties with respect to the System:
…
(4) Before the use of any individual data in the System, the Center shall do the
following:
a. Create and publish an inventory of the individual student data
proposed to be accessible in the System and required to be reported by
State and federal education mandates.System.
b. Develop and implement policies to comply with FERPA FERPA,
IDEA, HIPAA, CJIS, the Internal Revenue Code, and any other
privacy measures, measures relevant to data available to the System,
as required by law or the Center.
c. Develop a detailed data security and safeguarding plan that includes
the following:
1. Authorized access and authentication for authorized access.
2. Privacy compliance standards.
3. Privacy and security audits.
4. Breach notification and procedures.
5. Data retention and disposition policies.
(5) Oversee routine and ongoing compliance with FERPA FERPA, IDEA,
HIPAA, CJIS, the Internal Revenue Code, and other relevant privacy laws and
policies.
(6) Ensure that any contracts that govern databases that are outsourced to private
vendors include express provisions that safeguard privacy and security and
include penalties for noncompliance.
(7) Designate a standard and compliance time line for electroni c transcripts that
includes the use of UID to ensure the uniform and efficient transfer of student
data between local school administrative units and institutions of higher
education.
(8) Review research requirements and set policies for the approval of da ta
requests from State and local agencies, the General Assembly, and the public.
(9) Establish an advisory committee on data quality to advise the Center on issues
related to data auditing and tracking to ensure data validity.
(b) The Center shall adopt ru les according to Chapter 150B of the General Statutes as
provided in G.S. 116E-6 to implement the provisions of this Article.
(c) The Center shall report annually to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight
Committee, the Joint Legislative Commission on G overnmental Operations, and the Joint
Legislative Oversight Committee on Information Technology beginning July 1, 2019. The report
shall include the following:
(1) An update on the implementation of the System's activities.
(2) Any proposed or planned expansion of System data.
Page 4 Session Law 2025-62 Senate Bill 133
(3) Any other recommendations made by the Center, including the most effective
and efficient configuration for the System.
"§ 116E-5. North Carolina Longitudinal Data System.
(a) There is created the North Carolina Longitudinal Data System. The System shall be
located administratively within the Department of Public Instruction but shall exercise its powers
and duties independently of the Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of
Education.Information Technology.
(b) The System shall allow users to do the following:
(1) Effectively organize, manage, disaggregate, and analyze individual student
and workforce data.
(2) Examine student progress and outcomes over time, including preparation for
postsecondary education and the workforce.
(c) The System shall be considered an authorized representative of the Department of
Public Instruction, The University of North Carolina, and the North Carolina System of
Community Colleges under applicable federal and State statutes for purpo ses of accessing and
compiling student record data for research purposes.
(d) The System shall perform the following functions and duties:
(1) Serve as a data broker for the System, including data maintained by the
following:
a. The Department of Public Instruction.
b. Local boards of education, local school administrative units, and
charter schools.Governing bodies of public school units, as defined in
G.S. 115C-5, and public school units.
c. The University of North Carolina and its constituent institutions.
d. The Community Colleges System Office and local community
colleges.
e. The North Carolina Independent College and Universities, Inc., and
private colleges or universities.
f. Nonpublic schools serving elementary and secondary students.
g. The Department of Commerce, Division of Employment
Security.Commerce.
h. The Department of Revenue.
i. The Department of Health and Human Services.
j. The Department of Labor.
(2) Ensure routine and ongoing compliance with FERPA, IDEA, HIPAA, CJIS,
the Inte rnal Revenue Code, and other relevant privacy laws and policies,
including the following:
a. The required Requiring use of de-identified data in data research and
reporting.
b. The required Requiring disposition of information that is no longer
needed.
c. Providing data security, including the capacity for audit trails.
d. Providing for performance of regular audits for compliance with data
privacy and security standards.
e. Implementing guidelines and policies that prevent the reporting of
other potentially identifying data.
(3) Facilitate information and data requests for State and federal education
reporting with existing State agencies as appropriate.
(4) Facilitate approved public information requests.
(5) Develop a process for obtaining information and data requested by the General
Assembly and Governor of current de-identified data and research.
Senate Bill 133 Session Law 2025-62 Page 5
(e) Use of data accessible through the System shall be regulated in the following ways:
(1) Direct access to data shall be restricted to authorized staff of the System.
(2) Only de-identified data shall be used in the analysis, research, and reporting
conducted by the System.
(3) The System and recipients of data in fulfillment of approved data requests
shall only use aggregate aggregated data in the release of data in reports and
in response to data requests.public reports.
(4) Data that may be identifiable based on the size or uniqueness of the population
under consideration shall not be reported in any form by the System.
(5) The System shall not release infor mation that may not be disclosed under
FERPA, IDEA, HIPAA, CJIS, the Internal Revenue Code, and other relevant
privacy laws and policies.
(6) Individual or personally identifiable data accessed through the System shall
not be a public record under G.S. 132-1.
(f) The System may receive funding from the following sources:
(1) State appropriations.
(2) Grants or other assistance from local school administrative units, public
school units, community colleges, constituent institutions of The University
of North Carolina, or private colleges and universities.
(3) Federal grants.
(4) Any other grants or contributions from public or private entities received by
the System.
(g) Ownership of all data collected and maintained by the System remains with the
contributors to the System. Management and disclosure of data by the System does not change
ownership of the data.
"§ 116E-6. Data sharing.
(a) Local school administrative units, charter schools, Public school units, community
colleges, constituent institutions of T he University of North Carolina, and State agencies shall
do all of the following:
(1) Comply with the data requirements and implementation schedule for the
System as set forth by the Center.
(2) Transfer student data and workforce data to the System in accordance with the
data security and safeguarding plan developed by the Center under
G.S. 116E-5.
(b) Private colleges and universities, the North Carolina Independent Colleges and
Universities, Inc., and nonpublic schools may transfer student data and work force data to the
System in accordance with the data security and safeguarding plan developed under G.S. 116E-5.
(c) All data sharing supported by the System shall comply with all applicable federal and
State data and data privacy laws and regulations."
SECTION 3.(b) This section becomes effective July 1, 2025.
Page 6 Session Law 2025-62 Senate Bill 133
PART IV. EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes
law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 26th day of June, 2025.
s/ Rachel Hunt
President of the Senate
s/ Destin Hall
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Josh Stein
Governor
Approved 9:24 a.m. this 3rd day of July, 2025