Chapter 115C

(a) Proposals. - By July 15 of each year, the State Board of Education shall issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to allow local boards of education to submit ATR plans for approval. Local boards of education shall submit their proposed ATR plans by August 15. The RFP shall require…

(a) Class Size Flexibility. - Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-301, with the approval of the State Board of Education, ATR schools may exceed the maximum class size requirements for kindergarten through third grade during any term of up to three years in which State funds are awarded to…

(a) ATR Unit Review. - The State Board of Education shall review each ATR unit once every five years to ensure the unit is complying with the approved ATR plan. As part of the review, the State Board of Education shall consider at least the following information: (1) The total nu…

(a) Repealed by Session Laws 2025-25, s. 13(c), effective June 26, 2025. (b) Election by Local Boards. - School personnel shall be elected by the local board of education upon the recommendation of the superintendent. (c) Prerequisites for Employment. - All professional personnel…

(a) School officials and other employees shall be paid promptly when their salaries are due provided the legal requirements for their employment and service have been met. All school officials and other employees employed by any local school administrative unit who are to be paid…

(a) School counselors shall implement a comprehensive developmental school counseling program in their schools. Counselors shall spend at least eighty percent (80%) of their work time providing direct services to students. Direct services shall consist of: (1) Delivering the scho…

(a) Definition. - For purposes of this section, the term "school health personnel" refers to school psychologists, school counselors, school nurses, and school social workers. (b) Local Report. - No later than February 15 of each year, the superintendent of each local school admi…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term "school health personnel" refers to the same positions listed in G.S. 115C-316.2(a). (b) To the extent funds are made available, the State Board of Education shall establish a funding allotment for school health personnel positions. …

Any school employee of the public schools other than a superintendent, principal, or teacher, who knowingly and willfully makes or procures another to make any false report or records, requisitions, or payrolls, respecting daily attendance of pupils in the public schools, payroll…

A school social worker shall not be required to transport students without the existence of a written job description or local board policy that imposes this requirement. (2005-355, s. 1.)

The State Board of Education shall provide funds for liability insurance for nonteaching public school personnel to the extent that such personnel's salaries are funded by the State. The insurance shall cover claims made for injury liability and property damage liability on accou…

Personnel files of employees of local boards of education, former employees of local boards of education, or applicants for employment with local boards of education shall not be subject to inspection and examination as authorized by G.S. 132-6. For purposes of this Article, a pe…

(a) Each local board of education shall maintain a record of each of its employees, showing the following information with respect to each employee: (1) Name. (2) Age. (3) Date of original employment or appointment. (4) The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed …

(a) All information contained in a personnel file, except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, is confidential and shall not be open for inspection and examination except to any of the following persons: (1) The employee, applicant for employment, former employee, or his proper…

(a) Any person initially employed in a public school or reemployed in a public school after an absence of more than one school year shall provide to the superintendent a certificate certifying that the person does not have any physical or mental disease, including tuberculosis in…

In the event of the death of any superintendent, teacher, principal, or other school employee to whom payment is due for or in connection with services rendered by such person or to whom has been issued any uncashed voucher for or in connection with services rendered, when there …

(a) Definition of Terms. - Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-325.1, as used in this section, the following definitions apply, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) Repealed by Session Laws 1997-221, s. 13(a). (1a) "Career employee" as used in this section means an employee who was a…

Except as otherwise provided in G.S. 115C-325, as used in this Part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Day" means calendar day. In computing any period of time, Rule 6 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure shall apply. (2) "Demote" means to reduce the salary of a per…

Notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, this Part shall apply to all persons employed in teaching and related educational classes in the schools and institutions of the Departments of Health and Human Services and Public Instruction and the Division of Juvenile Jus…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or any other law, this section shall govern the dismissal by the State Board of Education of teachers, principals, assistant principals, directors, supervisors, and other licensed personnel assigned to a residential school t…

(a) Dismissal of Principals Assigned to Low-Performing Schools With Assistance Teams. - Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part or any other law, this section governs the State Board's dismissal of principals assigned to low-performing schools to which the State Board ha…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part or any other law, this section shall govern the State Board's dismissal of teachers, assistant principals, directors, and supervisors assigned to schools that the State Board has identified as low-performing and to which the St…

(a) Maintenance of Personnel File. - The superintendent shall maintain in his or her office a personnel file for each teacher that contains any complaint, commendation, or suggestion for correction or improvement about the teacher's professional conduct, except that the superinte…

(a) Length of Contract. - A contract between the local board of education and a teacher who has been employed by the local board of education for less than three years shall be for a term of one school year. A new contract or renewal of contract between the local board of educati…

(a) Grounds. - No teacher shall be dismissed, demoted, or reduced to employment on a part-time basis for disciplinary reasons during the term of the contract except for one or more of the following: (1) Inadequate performance. In determining whether the professional performance o…

(a) Immediate Suspension Without Pay. - If a superintendent believes that cause exists for dismissing a teacher for any reason specified in G.S. 115C-325.4 and that immediate suspension of the teacher is necessary, the superintendent may suspend the teacher without pay. Before su…

(a) Recommendation of Dismissal or Demotion. - A teacher may not be dismissed, demoted, or reduced to part-time employment for disciplinary reasons during the term of the contract except upon the superintendent's recommendation based on one or more of the grounds in G.S. 115C-325…

The following procedures shall apply for a board hearing for dismissal, demotion, reduction to part-time employment for disciplinary reasons, or disciplinary suspension without pay: (1) The hearing shall be private. (2) The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with reasonable…

(a) A teacher who (i) has been dismissed, demoted, or reduced to employment on a part-time basis for disciplinary reasons during the term of the contract as provided in G.S. 115C-325.4, or has received a disciplinary suspension without pay as provided in G.S. 115C-325.5, and (ii)…

(a) Teacher Resignation Following Recommendation for Dismissal. - If a teacher has been recommended for dismissal under G.S. 115C-325.4 and the teacher chooses to resign without the written agreement of the superintendent, then: (1) The superintendent shall report the matter to t…

(a) For the purposes of this section, "misconduct" includes any of the following: (1) Conduct that justifies automatic revocation of a license under G.S. 115C-270.35(b). (2) The infliction of a physical injury against a child other than by accident or in self-defense. (b) Any sup…

(a) The General Assembly finds that there is a shortage of qualified public school employees available in certain geographical areas of the State. The elimination of administrative and fiscal limitations on job-sharing arrangements would make employment in a public school an attr…

The Board and each local educational agency shall make positive efforts to employ and advance in employment qualified handicapped individuals. (1977, c. 927, s. 1; 1981, c. 423, s. 1.)

(a) As used in this section: (1) "Criminal history" means a county, state, or federal criminal history of conviction of a crime, whether a misdemeanor or a felony, that indicates the employee (i) poses a threat to the physical safety of students or personnel, or (ii) has demonstr…

(a) For purposes of this section, the term "contractual personnel" includes any individual or entity under contract with the local board of education whose contractual job involves direct interaction with students as part of the job. For purposes of this section, the term "contra…

(a) Annual Evaluations; Low-Performing Schools. - Local school administrative units shall evaluate at least once each year all licensed employees assigned to a school that has been identified as low-performing. The evaluation shall occur early enough during the school year to pro…

(a) Annual Evaluations. - All teachers who are assigned to schools that are not designated as low-performing and who have not been employed for at least three consecutive years shall be observed at least three times annually by the principal or the principal's designee and at lea…

Each local school administrative unit shall ensure that individual teachers are provided access to school-level value-added data, the teacher's own value-added data, when applicable, and the teacher's evaluation dashboard through the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS…

The State Board shall develop guidelines for local boards to use to create assessment teams. A local board shall assign an assessment team to every low-performing school in the local school administrative unit that has not received an assistance team. Local boards shall ensure th…

(a) Development of Performance Standards. - The State Board, in consultation with local boards of education, shall revise and develop uniform performance standards and criteria to be used in evaluating certified public school employees, including school administrators. These stan…

All employees of a local school administrative unit involved in the making or administering of contracts, as described in G.S. 14-234, shall receive a minimum of two hours of conflicts of interest training regarding the making and administering of contracts, as follows: (1) The t…

(a) Each local board of education may adopt a policy addressing the sexual harassment of local board employees by students, other local board employees, or school board members. The policy may, at a minimum, set out (i) the consequences of sexually harassing school employees and …

(a) As used in this section, the following definitions apply: (1) "Education employee association" includes teacher associations, teacher organizations, and classified education employees' associations. (2) "School" means a charter school or a school operated by a local school ad…

(a) All public school employees shall be permitted a minimum of five days per school term of sick leave, pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education as provided in G.S. 115C-12(8). (b) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulation…

(a) In addition to paid parental leave authorized by G.S. 126-8.6, a school employee may use annual leave or leave without pay to care for a newborn child or for a child placed with the employee for adoption or foster care. A school employee may also use up to 30 days of sick lea…

(a) Workers' Compensation Act Applicable to School Employees. - The provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act shall be applicable to all school employees, and the State Board of Education shall make arrangements necessary to carry out the provisions of the Workers' Compensation…

(a) For the purpose of this section, "employee" shall mean any teacher, helping teacher, librarian, principal, supervisor, superintendent of public schools or any full-time employee, city or county, superintendent of public instruction, or any full-time employee of Department of …

Provisions for retirement plans for public school employees may be found in Chapter 135 of the General Statutes. (1981, c. 423, s. 1.)

(a) The State Board of Education may authorize and empower any local board of education, the board of trustees of any community college, or other governing authority, within the State, to establish a voluntary payroll deduction plan for premiums for any type of group insurance, i…

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Chapter for the adoption of State and local salary schedules for the pay of teachers, principals, superintendents, and other school employees, local boards of education may enter into annual contracts with any employee of such board which pr…