GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2009

 

 

SESSION LAW 2009-60

HOUSE BILL 223

 

 

AN ACT removing the high school graduation project as a REQUIREMENT for graduation and directing the program evaluation division of the general assembly to study the cost and effectiveness of requiring a high school graduation project.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C-81(b) reads as rewritten:

"(b)      The Basic Education Program shall include course requirements and descriptions similar in format to materials previously contained in the standard course of study and it shall provide:

(1)        A core curriculum for all students that takes into account the special needs of children;

(2)        A set of competencies, by grade level, for each curriculum area;

(3)        A list of textbooks for use in providing the curriculum;

(4)        Standards for student performance and promotion based on the mastery of competencies, including standards for graduation, that take into account children with disabilities and, in particular, include appropriate modifications;

(5)        A program of remedial education;

(6)        Required support programs;

(7)        A definition of the instructional day;

(8)        Class size recommendations and requirements;

(9)        Prescribed staffing allotment ratios;

(10)      Material and equipment allotment ratios;

(11)      Facilities guidelines that reflect educational program appropriateness, long-term cost efficiency, and safety considerations; and

(12)      Any other information the Board considers appropriate and necessary.

The State Board shall not adopt or enforce any rule that requires Algebra I as a graduation standard or as a requirement for a high school diploma for any student whose individualized education program (i) identifies the student as learning disabled in the area of mathematics and (ii) states that this learning disability will prevent the student from mastering Algebra I.

The State Board shall not require any student to prepare a high school graduation project as a condition of graduation from high school prior to July 1, 2011; local boards of education may, however, require their students to complete a high school graduation project."

SECTION 2.  The Program Evaluation Division of the General Assembly shall study the cost and effectiveness of a statewide high school graduation project requirement.  The Division shall report the results of its study to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on or before July 1, 2010.


 

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 1st day of June, 2009.

 

 

                                                                    s/  Walter H. Dalton

                                                                         President of the Senate

 

 

                                                                    s/  Joe Hackney

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

 

 

                                                                    s/  Beverly E. Perdue

                                                                         Governor

 

 

Approved 4:25 p.m. this 5th day of June, 2009