AN ACT to grant advanced teaching roles salary supplement FLEXIBILITY to pitt county schools participating in the community of practice model.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑310.13 reads as rewritten:

§ 115C‑310.13.  Advanced teaching roles salary supplements.

(a)        ATR units may designate up to fifteen percent (15%) of the teachers in each ATR school as adult leadership teachers and five percent (5%) of the teachers in each ATR school as classroom excellence teachers. To the extent funds are made available for the purpose, teachers serving in an advanced teaching role are eligible to receive salary supplements as follows:

(1)        Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for adult leadership teachers. An ATR unit may divide the salary supplement for an adult leadership teacher between the adult leadership teacher and collaborating teachers who team with the adult leadership teacher in a community of practice participating in the R3 Program Community of Practice model.

(2)        Three thousand dollars ($3,000) for classroom excellence teachers.

(b)        Notwithstanding G.S. 115C‑310.5, to the extent funds are made available for this purpose, the State Board of Education shall award funds to ATR units for annual salary supplements for teachers, and the receiving ATR units shall provide the salary supplement to participating teachers in accordance with this section. If State funds are insufficient to cover the full amount of supplement identified in subsection (a) of this section, the State Board of Education and the ATR unit shall disburse any supplement funds pro rata. If funds have been disbursed pro rata, ATR units are encouraged but not required to fund the remainder of the supplement from alternate funding sources.

(c)        The following additional requirements apply to salary supplements received pursuant to this section:

(1)        Loss of a salary supplement received pursuant to this section for any reason shall not be considered a demotion under Part 3 of Article 22 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes.

(2)        A teacher is eligible to continue receiving a salary supplement pursuant to this section as long as he or she remains an adult leadership teacher or a classroom excellence teacher.adult leadership teacher, a collaborating teacher teamed with an adult leadership teacher, or a classroom excellence teacher.

(3)        A teacher is eligible to receive no more than one annual salary supplement pursuant to this section at any time.

(d)       The Department of Public Instruction shall issue guidance to ATR units on how to effectively develop staffing plans and budgets, including how to maximize resources across multiple funding sources and the reach of teachers in advanced teaching roles to a greater number of students.

SECTION 2.  This act applies only to Pitt County Schools.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2025‑2026 school year.