AN ACT to permit students who attend a public school, private school, or home school without an interscholastic athletics PROGRAM in a given sport or particular extracurricular activity to participate in that activity at a public high school.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑407.55(1) reads as rewritten:

(1)      Student participation rules. – These rules shall govern student eligibility to participate in interscholastic athletic activities and shall include, at a minimum, academic standards, enrollment and transfer requirements, attendance requirements, medical eligibility requirements, recruiting limitations, and hardship exceptions. The student eligibility rules shall also contain the following:

a.         A public high school student may participate in the sport at the public high school closest to the student's school that has a program in that sport, subject to the terms and conditions applicable to a regularly enrolled member of that high school's student body, except that the high school may charge a reasonable fee for participation to a student who is not enrolled in the high school as established by the local board of education in accordance with G.S. 115C‑47(6).

b.         A private school or home school student may participate in the sport at the base public high school for the student's address, subject to the terms and conditions applicable to a regularly enrolled member of that high school's student body. If the student's base public high school does not have a program in that sport, the student may participate in the sport at the public high school closest to the student's base public high school that has a program in that sport, subject to the terms and conditions applicable to a regularly enrolled member of that high school's student body. In any of the circumstances under this sub‑subdivision, the public high school may charge a reasonable fee for participation to a student who is not enrolled in the high school as established by the local board of education in accordance with G.S. 115C‑47(6).

SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑47 reads as rewritten:

§ 115C‑47.  Powers and duties generally.

In addition to the powers and duties designated in G.S. 115C‑36, local boards of education shall have the power or duty:

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(4)        To Regulate Extracurricular Activities. – Local boards of education shall make all rules and regulations necessary for the conducting of extracurricular activities in the schools under their supervision, including a program of athletics, where desired, without assuming liability therefor; provided, that all interscholastic athletic activities shall be conducted in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the State Board of Education. The local board of education's rules and regulations shall include that a high school student who attends a home school or private school that does not offer a particular extracurricular activity shall be permitted to participate in the extracurricular activity at the base public high school for the student's address or, if the base school does not offer the activity, at the public high school offering that activity closest to the student's base public high school. A public high school student shall be permitted to participate in an extracurricular activity not offered at the student's school at a public high school offering the activity that is closest to the student's school. The terms and conditions applicable to a student regularly enrolled at the public high school shall also apply to students who participate in an extracurricular activity at the high school as provided by this subdivision, except that the public high school may charge a reasonable fee for participation to a student who is not enrolled in the high school as established by the local board of education in accordance with subdivision (6) of this section.

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(6)        To Regulate Fees, Charges and Solicitations. – Local boards of education shall adopt rules and regulations governing solicitations of, sales to, and fund‑raising activities conducted by, the students and faculty members in schools under their jurisdiction, and no fees, charges, or costs shall be collected from students and school personnel without approval of the board of education as recorded in the minutes of said board; provided, this subdivision shall not apply to such textbooks fees as are determined and established by the State Board of Education. The local board of education shall publish a schedule of fees, charges, and solicitations approved by the local board board, including fees established to allow students not enrolled in a particular public high school to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities, on the local school administrative unit's Web site by October 15 of each school year and, if the schedule is subsequently revised, within 30 days following the revision.

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SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2023‑2024 school year.