North Carolina § 115C-562 - 8. The Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve.

§ 115C-562. 8. The Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve.

The Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve is established as a reserve to be administered by the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina for the purpose of allocating funds to the Authority for the award of scholarship grants in accordance with this Part. The Reserve shall consist of monies appropriated from the General Fund to the Reserve by the General Assembly and any interest accrued to it thereon. These funds shall be used to award scholarship grants to eligible students for the school year that begins in the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the appropriation is made to the Reserve. The Board of Governors shall only use monies in the Reserve in accordance with the purposes set forth in this section. Funds appropriated in a particular fiscal year to be used for the award of scholarships in the following fiscal year that are unexpended at the end of the fiscal year after the fiscal year in which the funds were appropriated shall be carried forward for one fiscal year and may be used for the purposes set forth in this section. Funds carried forward pursuant to this section that have not been spent within one fiscal year shall revert to the General Fund. The General Assembly finds that, due to the critical need in this State to provide opportunity for school choice for North Carolina students, it is imperative that the State provide an increase of funds of at least ten million dollars ($10,000,000) each fiscal year for 10 years to the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve. Therefore, there is appropriated from the General Fund to the Reserve the following amounts for each fiscal year to be used for the purposes set forth in this section: Of the funds allocated to the Authority to award scholarship grants under this Part, the Authority may retain the lesser of up to four percent (4%) of the funds appropriated or one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) each fiscal year for administrative costs associated with the scholarship grant program. Fiscal Year Appropriation 2017-2018 $44,840,000 2018-2019 $54,840,000 2019-2020 $64,840,000 2020-2021 $74,840,000 2021-2022 $84,840,000 2022-2023 $94,840,000 2023-2024 $104,840,000 2024-2025 $114,840,000 2025-2026 $124,840,000 2026-2027 $134,840,000 For the 2027-2028 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, there is appropriated from the General Fund to the Reserve the sum of one hundred forty-four million eight hundred forty thousand dollars ($144,840,000) to be used for the purposes set forth in this section. When developing the base budget, as defined by G.S. 143C-1-1 , for each fiscal year specified in this subsection, the Director of the Budget shall include the appropriated amount specified in this subsection for that fiscal year. History (2016-94, s. 11A.3(f), (g); 2017-57, s. 6.6(b), (g).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2016-94, s. 39.8 made this section effective July 1, 2016. Session Laws 2016-94, s. 11A.3(c), provides: "It is the intent of the General Assembly to move the Opportunity Scholarship Grant program funding into the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve (Reserve) established under G.S. 115C-562.8 , as enacted by this section, so that funds appropriated for scholarship grants in a fiscal year are awarded to students for the school year in the following fiscal year. This change shall provide additional program stability." Session Laws 2016-94, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2016.'" Session Laws 2016-94, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2016-2017 fiscal year." Session Laws 2016-94, s. 39.7, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 10A.1(a)-(b), as amended by Session Laws 2017-197, s. 2.15, provides: "(a) Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-562.8 , of the funds appropriated by this act for the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the State Education Assistance Authority (Authority) may use up to one million eight hundred thousand dollars ($1,800,000) for the 2017-2018 fiscal year to purchase software necessary to support the administration of the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program and the Special Education Scholarships for Children with Disabilities Program. These funds may also be used for customization of the software, development of interfaces with other internal systems, conversion of data, and training for staff on the new software system. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2017.'" Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.6, is a severability clause. "(a1) The Authority shall work with the Department of Information Technology to ensure, to the extent practicable, that the Authority's computer systems are able to share data among computer systems at The University of North Carolina and constituent institutions, the North Carolina Community College System, the Department of Public Instruction, and other State agencies. "(b) The Authority shall report by October 1 of each year, beginning October 1, 2017, and ending October 1, 2018, to the Fiscal Research Division and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the acquisition of software for administration of the program and all aspects of implementation of the software system and the expenditure of funds." 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. 2.20, provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-562.8 , from the funds carried forward at the end of the 2019-2020 fiscal year pursuant to G.S. 115C-562.8 that were unexpended as a result of the closure of nonpublic schools for in-person instruction due to the COVID-19 emergency, the Authority may remit a scholarship grant awarded to a student for the spring semester of the 2019-2020 school year to a nonpublic school on or before October 1, 2020." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 5, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2016-94, s. 11A.3(g), as amended by Session Laws 2017-57, s. 6.6(g), effective July 1, 2016, added the subsection designation (a) and added subsections (b) and (c). Session Laws 2017-57, s. 6.6(b), effective June 28, 2017, added the last sentence in subsection (b). Legal Periodicals. - For article, "A National Lesson on the Dereliction and Declension of Educational Equality: The Cautionary Tale of California Charter Schools," see 41 Campbell L. Rev. 1 (2019). PART 3. HOME SCHOOLS.