AN ACT to REQUIRE annual notification of home school operation and to prohibit establishment of home schools by individuals convicted of certain crimes.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Part 3 of Article 39 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:

Part 3. Home Schools.

§ 115C‑563.  Definitions.

As used in this Part or Parts 1 and 2 of this Article:

(a)        Home school means a Home School. – A nonpublic school consisting of the children of not more than two families or households, where the parents or legal guardians or members of either household determine the scope and sequence of academic instruction, provide academic instruction, and determine additional sources of academic instruction.

(b)        Duly authorized representative of the State means the Director. – The Director, Division of Nonpublic Education, or his staff.or her designee.

(c)        Parent. – A parent or legal guardian.

§ 115C‑564.  Qualifications and requirements.

(a)        A home school shall make the election to operate under the qualifications of either Part 1 or Part 2 of this Article and shall meet the requirements of the Part elected, except that any as follows:

(1)        Any requirement related to safety and sanitation inspections shall be waived if the school operates in a private residence and except that testing residence.

(2)        Testing requirements in G.S. 115C‑549 and G.S. 115C‑557 shall be on an annual basis.

(3)        Each home school shall have a chief administrator who is responsible for submission of all information required by the Director. The chief administrator shall be a parent of one or more children educated in the home school.

(4)        The persons providing academic instruction in a home school shall hold at least a high school diploma or its equivalent.

(b)        By July 1 annually, the chief administrator of a home school shall submit to the Director a notice of intent to operate a home school. The information required in the notice of intent shall be established by the Director and shall include at least the following information:

(1)        The name of the school.

(2)        The name of the chief administrator.

(3)        The mailing address of the chief administrator of the school.

(4)        The physical address of the school.

(5)        Other contact information required by the duly authorized representative of the State.

(6)        The name and date of birth of each child educated in the home school.

(7)        The names of each adult who will provide instruction to any child educated in the home school.

(8)        The dates for the school year during which the home school will operate between July 1 and June 30.

(9)        An attestation that neither the parent nor any other adult who will provide academic instruction to a child enrolled in the home school is barred by the requirements of subsection (d) of this section.

(c)        The Director shall, upon receipt of a fully completed notice of intent to operate, issue an acknowledgment of operation to a home school, unless that home school is not authorized to operate as provided in subsection (d) of this section. A home school that has received an acknowledgment of operation shall be eligible to satisfy the requirements of compulsory school attendance.

(d)       A parent shall not be authorized to establish or continue operation of a home school if any of the following apply:

(1)        The parent serving as chief administrator or any other adult who will provide academic instruction to a child enrolled in the home school has been convicted of any of the following offenses:

a.         Felony child abuse, G.S. 14‑318.4.

b.         Misdemeanor child abuse, G.S. 14‑318.4.

c.         Kidnapping, G.S. 14‑39, where the victim was a minor child.

d.         Abduction of children, G.S. 14‑41.

e.         Offenses under Human Trafficking, Article 10A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, where the victim was a minor child.

f.          Offenses under Protection of Minors, Article 39 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, where the victim was a minor child.

g.         Murder in the first or second degree, G.S. 14‑17.

h.         Offenses under Rape and Other Sex Offenses, Article 7B of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes.

i.          Maliciously assaulting in a secret manner, G.S. 14‑31.

j.          Felonious assault with deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflicting serious injury, G.S. 14‑32.

k.         Assaults on individuals with a disability, G.S. 14‑32.1.

l.          Assault inflicting serious bodily injury, G.S. 14‑32.4.

m.        Stalking, G.S. 14‑277.3A.

n.         Any other violent felony, as defined in G.S. 14‑7.7, where the victim was a minor child.

(2)        The child has been removed from the parent's custody following an adjudication that the child is an abused or neglected juvenile under Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.

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SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to home schools operating beginning with the 2023‑2024 school year.