Chapter 115C

(a) A free appropriate public education shall be made available to the following: (1) All children with disabilities who reside in the State, who are the ages of three through 21, who have not graduated from high school, and who require special education and related services. (2)…

(a) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to ensure that: (1) The requirements of this Article and IDEA are met. (2) All educational programs under the supervision of any local educational agency for children with disabilities meet all of the following requirements: a. T…

(a) The Board shall require an annual census of all children with disabilities residing in the State, subdivided for "identified" and "suspected" children with disabilities, to be taken in each school year. Suspected children are those in the formal process of being evaluated or …

(a) The State Board shall monitor all local educational agencies to determine compliance with this Article and IDEA. The State Board also shall monitor the effectiveness of IEPs in meeting the educational needs of children with disabilities. (b) The State Board shall implement an…

The State Board shall report no later than October 15 of each year to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the implementation of this Article and the educational performance of children with disabilities. The report may be filed electronically. Each annual repor…

(a) Each local educational agency, in providing for the education of children with disabilities within its jurisdiction, must comply with IDEA and the rules adopted by the State Board under this Article. In addition, each local educational agency shall have in effect policies, pr…

(a) The policies and procedures for the discipline of students with disabilities shall be consistent with federal laws and regulations. (a1) Any corporal punishment administered on students with disabilities shall be consistent with the requirements of G.S. 115C-390.4. (b) If a c…

(a) The Board shall cause all local educational agencies to provide special education and related services to children with disabilities in their care, custody, management, jurisdiction, control, or programs. (b) The jurisdiction of the Board with respect to the design and conten…

The Board, any two or more local educational agencies, and any other agency and any State department, agency, or division having responsibility for the education, treatment, or habilitation of children with disabilities may enter into interlocal cooperative undertakings under Par…

The State Board of Education shall make available to parents a handbook of procedural safeguards. This handbook for parents shall be made available at least once each school year, except that a copy also shall be given to the parent (i) upon the initial referral or parental reque…

(a) When a child with a disability reaches the age of 18, all of the following apply: (1) Notices required under this Article shall be provided to both the child and the child's parent. (2) All other rights accorded to parents under this Article and IDEA transfer to the child. (3…

(a) Each local educational agency shall provide an opportunity for the parents of a child with a disability to examine all records relating to that child and to participate in meetings with respect to the identification, evaluation, and educational placement of the child, and the…

(a) It is the policy of this State to encourage local educational agencies and parents to seek mediation involving any dispute under this Article, including matters arising before or after filing a petition under G.S. 115C-109.6. (b) Mediation under this section must meet the fol…

(a) The local educational agency shall provide prompt written notice to parents whenever that agency proposes to initiate or change, or refuses to initiate or change (i) the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of a child, or (ii) the provision of a free appropria…

(a) Any party may file with the Office of Administrative Hearings a petition to request an impartial hearing with respect to any matter relating to the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of a child, or the provision of a free appropriate public education of a ch…

(a) Within 15 days of receiving notice of the parent's petition filed under G.S. 115C-109.6 and before the opportunity for an impartial hearing, the local educational agency shall convene a meeting with the parent and the relevant members of the IEP Team who have specific knowled…

(a) In matters alleging a procedural violation, the hearing officer may find that a child did not receive a free appropriate public education only if the procedural inadequacies (i) impeded the child's right to a free appropriate public education; (ii) significantly impeded the p…

(a) Presiding Officer. - The State Board of Education shall elect from its membership a chairman and vice-chairman. A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Per diem and expenses of the appointive members of the Board shall be provided by…

The Board shall adopt rules covering the qualifications of and standards for licensure of teachers, teacher assistants, speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, and others involved in the education and training of children with disabilities. (2006-69, s. 2.)

Each interpreter or transliterator employed by a local educational agency to provide services to hearing-impaired students must annually complete 15 hours of job-related training that has been approved by the local educational agency. (2002-182, s. 6; 2003-56, s. 3; 2006-69, s. 2…

To the extent funds are made available for this purpose, the State Board shall allocate funds for children with disabilities to each local school administrative unit on a per child basis. Each local school administrative unit shall receive funds for the lesser of (i) all children…

Notwithstanding any policy or rule adopted by the State Board of Education, if a local school administrative unit provides services to a student under a current IEP from another state while a determination is being made regarding the student's eligibility for services as a child …

(a) Local educational agencies furnishing special education and related services to children with disabilities may contract with private special education facilities or service providers to furnish these services. (b) As used in this subsection, "nursing services" are services th…

(a) Notwithstanding any other State law and without regard for the place of domicile of a parent, the cost of a free appropriate public education for a child with disabilities who is placed in or assigned to a group home or foster home, under State and federal law, shall be borne…

Notwithstanding any of the other provisions of this Article, it is the intent of the General Assembly that funds appropriated by it for the operation of programs of special education and related services by local school administrative units not be reduced; rather, that adequate f…

Whenever any federal monies for the special education and related services for children with disabilities are made available, these funds shall be allocated according to a formula designed by the Board consistent with federal laws and regulations. This formula shall ensure equita…

State funds appropriated to the public schools to implement preschool services for children with disabilities under this Article and IDEA shall be used to provide special education and related services to preschool children with disabilities. These State funds shall be used to su…

(a) There is hereby established an Advisory Council to the State Board of Education to be called the Council on Educational Services for Exceptional Children. (b) The Council shall consist of a minimum of 24 members to be appointed as follows: four ex officio members; one individ…

(2014-49, s. 7; 2014-101, s. 7.3; 2014-115, s. 68; 2015-241, s. 11.11(b); 2015-248, s. 10(b); repealed by 2021-180, s. 8A.3(o), effective July 1, 2022.) Part 2. Nondiscrimination in Education. §

The general supervision and administration of the free public school system shall be vested in the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall establish all needed rules and regulations for the system of free public schools, subject to laws enacted by the General…

The State Board of Education shall establish minimum training requirements for members of the State Board of Education. All Board members shall participate in training programs, as required by the State Board. (1991, c. 689, s. 200(c).)

(a) The State Board of Education, in cooperation with the State Board of Community Colleges and the State Human Resources Commission, shall adopt rules and policies to allow any employee at a public school to share leave voluntarily with an immediate family member who is an emplo…

Except as otherwise provided by federal law, local boards of education and their officers and employees shall provide to the State Board and to the Superintendent all information needed to carry out their duties. It is unlawful for any member of the State Board of Education, the …

As provided in G.S. 114-2.3(d) and G.S. 147-17(c1), the State Board of Education shall not use any State funds to employ private counsel to provide litigation services to the State Board of Education. As used in this section, litigation services include legal work conducted in an…

Chemically dependent children excluded from provisions of Article 9. The General Assembly of North Carolina hereby declares that the policy of the State is to ensure that an appropriate education is provided for drug and alcohol addicted children; however, drug and alcohol addict…

The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to ensure that local school administrative units provide an appropriate education for drug and alcohol addicted children. (1989, c. 316.) §

The following definitions apply in this Article: (1) Educational program. - The placement, services, and individualized instruction provided to a student to address the student's educational strengths, weaknesses, and objectives as part of the day program of a school for the deaf…

(a) (Applicable beginning July 1, 2025 - see note) Establishment. - The following are created as separate State agencies governed respectively by boards of trustees: (1) The Governor Morehead School for the Blind of the Department of Public Instruction for the function, purpose, …

(a) Membership. - Each school shall be governed by a separate board of trustees. (1) There shall be five voting members for each board of trustees to be appointed as follows: a. Two members appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of R…

(a) Superintendent. - Each board of trustees of a school shall appoint a superintendent for that school who meets the requirements of G.S. 115C-271 for employment. The superintendent shall act as secretary to the board of trustees in accordance with G.S. 115C-150.12A. All acts of…

A board of trustees shall adopt rules necessary for the administration of the school to implement the requirements of this Article. Each board of trustees shall have the following powers and duties: (1) Sound basic education. - It shall be the duty of the board of trustees to pro…

(a) Rules. - Schools for the deaf and blind shall admit students in accordance with eligibility criteria, standards, and procedures established through rules by the board of trustees in accordance with the requirements of this Article. (b) Eligibility Criteria. - Eligibility crit…

(a) A student who is a resident of North Carolina is entitled to free tuition for the educational programs provided by the schools for the deaf and blind. (b) A student who is a resident of North Carolina whose parent elects for the student to board at the school in order to acce…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) Foreign exchange student. - A student who is domiciled in a foreign country and has come to the United States on a valid, eligible student visa. (2) Nonresident student. - An out-of-state student or …

(a) Request for Consent. - Superintendents of local school administrative units shall require that the following request for written consent, along with any informational materials provided by the school for the blind or the school for the deaf in the service area in which the lo…

Except as otherwise provided in this Article and Article 7B of this Chapter, the requirements of this Chapter shall not apply to the schools for the deaf and blind. Schools for the deaf and blind shall comply with all requirements for State agencies in State law unless otherwise …

The General Assembly believes the public schools should challenge all students to aim for academic excellence and that academically or intellectually gifted students perform or show the potential to perform at substantially high levels of accomplishment when compared with others …

In order to implement this Article, the State Board of Education shall: (1) Develop and disseminate guidelines for developing local plans under G.S. 115C-150.7(a). These guidelines should address identification procedures, differentiated curriculum, integrated services, staff dev…

(a) Each local board of education shall develop a local plan designed to identify and establish a procedure for providing appropriate educational services to each academically or intellectually gifted student. The board shall include parents, the school community, representatives…

In the event that the procedure developed under G.S. 115C-150.7(b)(7) fails to resolve a disagreement, the parent or guardian may file a petition for a contested case hearing under Article 3 of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. The scope of review shall be limited to (i) whet…