AN ACT to provide In‑Person Learning for students in certain local school ADMINISTRATIVE units.

Whereas, high failure rates in remote learning classes among middle and high school students are being reported statewide; and

Whereas, the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development found for every one‑third of a school year lost, current students will suffer a 3% loss in income across their entire careers; and

Whereas, even last summer, experts at Harvard University warned that school closures are a disaster that some students may never recover from; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Notwithstanding Article 1A of Chapter 166A of the General Statutes, any executive order, secretarial order, or directive, or any county or city ordinance authorized pursuant to Article 1A of Chapter 166A of the General Statutes, or any other provision of law, local school administrative units shall have the option to provide full‑time in‑person instruction five days a week to all students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 12 in accordance with this act for the remainder of the scheduled 2020‑2021 school year. Local boards of education shall continue to provide remote instruction options for students to participate in, at the discretion of the parent or guardian, for the remainder of the 2020‑2021 school year.

SECTION 2.  For the purposes of this act, in‑person instruction includes all of the following components:

(1)        Is offered to the student in person by a teacher of record on a local school administrative unit campus. Continued enrollment in a North Carolina Virtual Public School course or other e‑learning course offering or use of prerecorded learning materials integrated in instruction that occurs on a local school administrative unit campus shall be considered to meet this requirement.

(2)        Meal service.

(3)        Transportation services to the campus where the student is assigned.

SECTION 3.  This act applies only to the Beaufort County Schools, Brunswick County Schools, Burke County Schools, Carteret County Schools, Cleveland County Schools, Craven County Schools, Granville County Schools, Haywood County Schools, Jones County Schools, Madison County Schools, McDowell County Schools, Mitchell County Schools, Onslow County Schools, and Yancey County Schools.

SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.