AN ACT to provide military families additional time to provide proof of residency for public school enrollment.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑366(a9) reads as rewritten:

(a9)    A student who is not a domiciliary of a local school administrative unit shall be permitted to register to enroll in the public schools of that unit by remote means, including electronic means, prior to commencement of the student's residency in the local school administrative unit if all of the following apply:

(1)        A parent or legal guardian is (i) on active military duty and is transferred or pending transfer pursuant to an official military order to a military installation or reservation in the State.State or (ii) will be separating from active military duty within a 12‑month period.

(2)        Upon request by the local school administrative unit where the student seeks to register to enroll, a parent or legal guardian provides a copy of (i) the official military order transferring to a military installation or reservation located in the State.State, (ii) the official separation orders, or (iii) an official military document showing the anticipated date of separation or date of projected Permanent Change of Station to the State.

(3)        A parent or legal guardian completes and submits the local school administrative unit's required enrollment forms and documentation, except that other than proof of residency and documentation related to disciplinary actions pursuant to G.S. 115C‑366(a4) shall not be required until the student transfers into the local school administrative unit, at which time they shall be required prior to commencing attendance.G.S. 115C‑366(a4).

(4)        A parent or legal guardian shall submit proof of residency and documentation related to the disciplinary actions pursuant to G.S. 115C‑366(a4) upon the child commencing attendance. If the proof of residency has not yet become available because the parent or legal guardian and child are residing in temporary housing, the local school administrative unit shall do the following:

a.         Allow the child to enroll and begin attending school in that unit of anticipated domicile for a period of up to one year (i) from the parent or legal guardian's reporting‑for‑duty date, separation date from active military duty, or anticipated separation date from active military duty or (ii) through the end of the school year before being considered a resident of another local school administrative unit.

b.         Allow a child who is a high school junior or senior to enroll and begin attending school in that unit of anticipated domicile through high school graduation.

A local school administrative unit shall make available to a student who registers to enroll pursuant to this subsection the same opportunities available to a student enrolled contemporaneously with domicilia, such as requesting or applying for school assignment, registering for courses, and applying for any other programs that require additional request or application. A student enrolled pursuant to this subsection may not attend school in the local school administrative unit until proof of residency is provided in accordance with the requirements of the local school administrative unit. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to curtail a local school administrative unit's authority pursuant to G.S. 115C‑366(a5).

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2025‑2026 school year.