NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1963 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 1116

SENATE BILL 396

 

 

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH IN NORTH CAROLINA A SCHOOL FOR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING IN MUSIC AND OTHER PERFORMING ARTS FOR THE SOUTHERN REGION.

 

WHEREAS, North Carolina has established for itself a position of leadership in support and development of the arts, being the first State to establish and support a State Symphony Orchestra, the first to establish an Art Museum, and the first to support outdoor drama and special programs in music and in the other arts, and it is fitting that North Carolina should maintain her position of leadership in providing for the promotion of matters of the human spirit; and

WHEREAS, there is no school in the South which offers professional training to high school musicians or other performing artists, and no conservatory or similar type of school for college students; and

WHEREAS, many of the rural children of the South are deprived of the opportunity to receive intensive training in the performing arts for which they are pre-eminently qualified; and

WHEREAS the cultural heritage of our Nation has been greatly enhanced through the training given talented artists in such schools as the New York High School of Performing Artists, the Juilliard School of Music, and the Curtis Institute, and the lack of such training facilities in the South is depriving many of our most talented young people of the opportunity to receive training at the age when it would be most effective to create interest and proficiency in the performing arts; and

WHEREAS there exist foundations which will support the first regional performing art's training school to be established in the South and which will match funds for five (5) years or more for its support; and

WHEREAS, one or more North Carolina communities stand ready to provide land and buildings needed for the campus of the school; and

WHEREAS it is in the public interest of the people of our State that a regional training school of about 400 to 600 students be established to provide North Carolina and other states of the South with professional training for musicians and others gifted in the performing arts: Now, therefore,

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  Chapter 116 of the General Statutes, as amended, is hereby further amended by adding thereto a new Article which shall be designated Article 4, replacing the Article which was repealed by Chapter 1142, Section Laws of 1957, which Article shall read as follows:

"Article 4.

"116-63.  Policy. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State to foster, encourage and promote, and to provide assistance for the cultural development of the citizens of North Carolina, and to this end the General Assembly does create and provide for a training center for instruction in the performing arts.

"116-64.  Establishment of School. There is hereby established, and there shall be maintained, a school for the professional training of students having exceptional talent in the performing arts which shall be defined as an educational institution of the State, to serve the students of North Carolina and other states, particularly other states of the South.

"116-65.  Board of Trustees to Govern; Appointment, Terms, Officers, Title, Powers Generally. The school shall be governed by a board of trustees consisting of twelve members, appointed by the Governor, who will serve terms of six (6) years, except that, of the first board of trustees appointed pursuant to this Act, four members of the said board of trustees shall serve for terms of six (6) years, four members shall serve for terms of four (4) years, and four members shall serve for terms of two (2) years, with all terms to commence on July 1 of the year in which the members shall be appointed. The conductor of the North Carolina Symphony shall be an ex officio member of the board of trustees. In the event of a vacancy arising, the Governor shall appoint a member to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.

"The board of trustees shall elect annually from their number a chairman and a vice-chairman. The board shall also elect a secretary and a treasurer, who may, but need not be, a member of the board of trustees, and the offices of secretary and treasurer may be held by the same person. The meeting for the election of officers shall be held not earlier than July 1 and not later than September 1 of each year. Officers shall be elected to serve for terms of one (1) year, and until their successors are elected and qualified. The board of trustees shall be known as 'The Trustees of _____________' (here insert name of school) and shall be a body corporate, with all the powers usually conferred upon such bodies and necessary to enable it to acquire, hold and transfer property, make contracts, sue and be sued, and to exercise such other rights and privileges as may be necessary for the management and administration of the school, and for carrying out the provisions and purposes of this Article.

"116-66.  Enumerated Powers of Board. The trustees of the said school shall have authority, in the exercise of which they shall be advised and assisted by the State Board of Education and the State Board of Higher Education, as the level of training programs for high school and college students in the school may require, and by the advisory board of the school:

(1)        To meet, as soon as practicable after appointment, to consider sites which may be offered as a location for the school. From all sites offered, the board of trustees shall recommend to the Governor that site considered most suitable as the location for the said school, and shall, upon the Governor's approval of that site, or of some subsequently recommended site, and pursuant to the authority herein granted to it, establish the school at that approved site.

(2)        To select an appropriate name for the school which shall be acceptable to the Governor and the advisory board, and to supporting donors.

(3)        To receive and accept private donations for such purposes and upon such terms as the donor may prescribe and which are consistent with the provisions of this Article.

(4)        To employ a president, dean or other chief administrative officer of the school, who shall be preferably a noted composer or dramatist, upon such terms and conditions as the trustees shall fix and determine.

(5)        To employ, or to authorize the chief administrative officer to employ, subject to the approval of the trustees, all such other officers, teachers, instructors and employees as may be necessary for the operation of the school and to prescribe their titles and duties, the chief criteria to be their excellence in the performing arts and their professional standing therein, rather than academic degrees and training.

(6)        To prescribe, with the advice and approval of the State Board of Education and the State Board of Higher Education, as appropriate, and in consultation with the advisory board of the school, the curricula which shall be offered, and the certificates or degrees which shall be awarded upon satisfactory completion of any given course of study.

(7)        To do all things necessary or proper to comply with any conditions which may be prescribed by the State of North Carolina or the United States of America in order to be eligible to receive monies or other assistance appropriated or designated for the benefit of such institutions.

(8)        To fix tuition, fees, and other charges for students attending or applying for attendance at the school.

(9)        To prescribe and require the use of entrance examinations, so that professional training shall be made available only to those students who possess exceptional talent in the performing arts.

(10)      In conformity with the provisions of Article I of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, entitled 'The Executive Budget Act', to provide for an adequate system of accounting for all funds and property received, held, managed, expended or used by the school, and to require persons directly responsible for the handling of such funds to be adequately bonded.

(11)      To utilize, pursuant to agreement with institutions of higher education or with any local administrative school unit, existing facilities and such academic non-arts courses and programs of instruction which will be needed by the students of the school, and, in their discretion, to employ personnel jointly with any such unit on a cooperative, cost sharing basis.

(12)      To hold in trust for the State of North Carolina title to all property which may be acquired by the said board for the benefit of the school.

(13)      To provide for the management of all the affairs of the school, subject to the applicable laws of the State, and particularly subject to the provisions of the Executive Budget Act, and to provide for the handling and expenditure of all monies whatsoever belonging to, appropriated to, or in any way acquired by the said institution or board of trustees; to provide for the erection of all buildings, the making of all needed improvements and the maintenance of the physical plant of said school.

(14)      To confer and cooperate with the Southern Regional Education Board and with other regional and national organizations to obtain wide support and to establish the school as the center in the South for the professional training and performance of artists.

(15)      To perform such other acts and do such other things as may be necessary or proper for the exercise of the foregoing specific powers, including the adoption and enforcement of all reasonable rules, regulations and bylaws for the government and operation of the school under this Article and for the discipline of students.

"116-67.  Advisory Board. An advisory board, to consist of at least ten members who shall have achieved national, or international distinction as performers, playwrights, or composers, shall be appointed by the Governor, to serve for terms of eight (8) years each; provided, that of the original advisory board, one-third shall be appointed for terms of eight (8) years, one-third shall be appointed for terms of six (6) years, and one-third shall be appointed for terms of four (4) years. The members of the advisory board shall be notified of all meetings of the board of trustees, and shall be invited to attend such meetings and to advise and counsel with the board of trustees, but the members of the advisory board shall not be entitled to vote. Vacancies arising on the said advisory board shall be filled by election of replacement members by the advisory board, with the approval of the Governor, for terms of eight (8) years, or, if to fill a vacancy arising during an unexpired term, for the remainder of the term of the vacating member.

"116-68.  Endowment Fund. The board of trustees is authorized to establish a permanent endowment fund, and shall perform such duties in relation thereto as are prescribed by the provisions of G.S. 116-46(7).

"116-69.  Purpose of School Program. The primary purpose of the school shall be the professional training, as distinguished from liberal arts instruction, of talented students in the fields of music, drama, the dance, and allied performing arts, at both the high school and college levels of instruction, with emphasis placed upon performance of the arts, and not upon academic studies of the arts. The said school may also offer high school and college instruction in academic subjects, and such other programs as are deemed necessary to meet the needs of its students and of the State, consistent with appropriations made and gifts received therefor, and may cooperate, if it chooses, with other schools which provide such courses of instruction. The school, on occasion, may accept elementary grade students of rare talent, and shall arrange for such students, in cooperation with an elementary school, a suitable educational program.

"116-70.  All of the powers, duties and responsibilities herein conferred shall be subject to the provisions of Article 1, Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, entitled 'Executive Budget Act', and Article 2, Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, entitled 'State Personnel Department'."

Sec. 2.  Upon receipt of a firm commitment for the gift of matching funds from other sources, the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) shall be appropriated to the board of trustees from the Contingency and Emergency Fund for the operation of the school during the fiscal year 1963-64, and the sum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) for the operation of the school during the fiscal year 1964-65, provided none of this appropriation shall be used to provide capital costs of a campus, and further provided that such appropriation shall be expended, in the operation of the school, to the end that education at the school for high school students from North Carolina shall be free.

Sec. 3.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 4.  This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 24th day of June, 1963.