North Carolina § 115C-562 - 5. Obligations of nonpublic schools accepting eligible students receiving scholarship grants.

§ 115C-562. 5. Obligations of nonpublic schools accepting eligible students receiving scholarship grants.

A nonpublic school that accepts eligible students receiving scholarship grants shall comply with the following: Provide to the Authority documentation for required tuition and fees charged to the student by the nonpublic school. Provide to the Authority a criminal background check conducted for the staff member with the highest decision-making authority, as defined by the bylaws, articles of incorporation, or other governing document, to ensure that person has not been convicted of any crime listed in G.S. 115C-332. Provide to the parent or guardian of an eligible student, whose tuition and fees are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship grant, an annual written explanation of the student's progress, including the student's scores on standardized achievement tests. Administer, at least once in each school year, a nationally standardized test or other nationally standardized equivalent measurement selected by the chief administrative officer of the nonpublic school to all eligible students whose tuition and fees are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship grant enrolled in grades three and higher. The nationally standardized test or other equivalent measurement selected must measure achievement in the areas of English grammar, reading, spelling, and mathematics. Test performance data shall be submitted to the Authority by July 15 of each year. Test performance data reported to the Authority under this subdivision is not a public record under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes. Provide to the Authority graduation rates of the students receiving scholarship grants in a manner consistent with nationally recognized standards. Contract with a certified public accountant to perform a financial review, consistent with generally accepted accounting principles, for each school year in which the school accepts students receiving more than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) in scholarship grants awarded under this Part. A nonpublic school that accepts students receiving scholarship grants shall not require any additional fees based on the status of the student as a scholarship grant recipient. A nonpublic school enrolling more than 25 students whose tuition and fees are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship grant shall report to the Authority on the aggregate standardized test performance of eligible students. Aggregate test performance data reported to the Authority which does not contain personally identifiable student data shall be a public record under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes. Test performance data may be shared with public or private institutions of higher education located in North Carolina and shall be provided to an independent research organization selected by the Authority for research purposes as permitted by the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. A nonpublic school shall not discriminate with respect to the categories listed in 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, as that statute read on January 1, 2014. A nonpublic school accepting students receiving scholarship grants that fails to comply with the requirements of this section shall be ineligible to receive future scholarship grants if the Authority determines that the nonpublic school is not in compliance with the requirements of this section. The nonpublic school shall notify the parent or guardian of any enrolled student receiving a scholarship grant that the nonpublic school is no longer eligible to receive future scholarship grants. A nonpublic school may appeal for reconsideration of eligibility after one year. History (2013-360, s. 8.29(a); 2014-100, s. 8.25(d), (d1).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2013-360, s. 8.29(g), provides: "The Authority shall select an independent research organization, as required by G.S. 115C-562.7 , as enacted by this section, beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. The first learning gains report required by G.S. 115C-562.7 , as enacted by this section, shall not be due until December 1, 2018. The first financial review for a nonpublic school that accepts scholarship grant funds, as required by G.S. 115C-562.5(a)(6) , as enacted by this section, shall not be required until the 2015-2016 school year." Session Laws 2013-360, s. 8.29(h), provides: "This section applies beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. In accordance with G.S. 115C-562.2 , as enacted by this section, the Authority shall make applications available for the 2014-2015 school year no later than February 1, 2014, and shall begin awarding grants no later than March 1, 2014. Information about scholarship grants and the application process shall be made available on the Authority's Web site. In accordance with G.S. 115C-562.4 , as enacted by this section, the Division of Nonpublic Education, Department of Administration, shall make available to the Authority a list of all nonpublic schools operating in the State that meet the requirements of Part 1 or Part 2 of Article 39 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes no later than February 1, 2014." Session Laws 2013-360, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2013.'" Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.2, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.1, as amended by Session Laws 2020-49, s. 3(a), provides: "For the purposes of this Part, the following definitions apply: "(1) Authority. - State Education Assistance Authority. "(2) Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. - The period beginning March 10, 2020, and continuing until the Governor signs an executive order rescinding Executive Order No. 116 (Declaration of a State of Emergency to Coordinate Response and Protective Actions to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19). "(3) Federal testing waiver. - The testing waiver granted to the State Board of Education by the United States Department of Education for the 2019-2020 school year, pursuant to section 8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended, which, pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11 , eliminated the collection of certain student assessment data for the 2019-2020 school year. "(4) Modified calendar school. - A school that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar. "(5) State Board. - The State Board of Education. "(6) Year-round school. - A school with a single or multi-track instructional calendar that was adopted prior to March 1, 2020, and provides instructional days in compliance with Section 2.11(b)(1) of this Part throughout the entire school calendar year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, by utilizing at least one of the following plans: "a. A plan dividing students into four groups and requiring each group to be in school for assigned and staggered quarters each school calendar year. "b. A plan providing students be scheduled to attend an average of between 44 and 46 instructional days followed by an average of between 15 and 20 days of vacation, repeated throughout the school calendar year. "c. A plan dividing the school calendar year into five nine-week sessions of classes and requiring each student to attend four assigned and staggered sessions out of the five nine-week sessions to complete the student's instructional year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.2, provides: "The purpose of this Part is to clarify or modify certain requirements in consideration of actions and circumstances related to the COVID-19 emergency, including, but not limited to, the federal testing waiver and the closure of schools for in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 school year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.19(a), provides: "For purposes of this section, the definitions from G.S. 115C-562.1 shall apply." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.19(b), provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-562.5 , for the 2019-2020 school year, a nonpublic school that accepts eligible students receiving scholarship grants is not required to do any of the following: "(1) Provide to the parent or guardian of an eligible student, whose tuition and fees are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship grant, the student's scores on standardized achievement tests. "(2) Administer a nationally standardized test or other nationally standardized equivalent measurement to any eligible students whose tuition and fees are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship grant in grades three and higher. "(3) Submit standardized test performance data from the 2019-2020 school year to the Authority. "(4) If the nonpublic school enrolls more than 25 students whose tuition and fees are paid in whole or in part with a scholarship grant, either of the following: "a. Report to the Authority on the aggregate standardized test performance of eligible students. "b. Provide standardized test performance data from the 2019-2020 school year to an independent research organization." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 5, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2014-100, s. 8.25(d) and (d1), effective August 7, 2014, in subdivision (a)(2), substituted "Provide to the Authority" for "Conduct" and inserted "conducted" following "background check" and inserted subsection (c1).