GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1129*

Short Title:  ABC's Plan/Consequences for Principals.  	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senators Winner, Lee; Dalton, Dannelly, Garwood, Hartsell, Purcell, Reeves, and Rucho.

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Referred to:  Education/Higher Education.

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May 14, 1998

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE STATUTES GOVERNING THE CONSEQUENCES FOR PRINCIPALS IN SCHOOLS IDENTIFIED AS LOW-PERFORMING UNDER THE ABC'S PLAN, AND TO REQUIRE LOCAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS TO DEVELOP PLANS TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 115C-105.37 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-105.37.  Identification of low-performing schools.
(a)	The State Board of Education shall design and implement a procedure to identify low-performing schools on an annual basis. Low-performing schools are those in which there is a failure to meet the minimum growth standards, as defined by the State Board, and a majority of students are performing below grade level.
(a1)	By July 10 of each year, each local school administrative unit shall do a preliminary analysis of test results to determine which of its schools the State Board may identify as low-performing under this section.  The superintendent then shall proceed under G.S. 115C-105.39.  In addition, within 30 days of the initial identification of a school as low-performing by the local school administrative unit or the State Board, whichever occurs first, the superintendent shall submit to the local board a preliminary plan for addressing the needs of that school.  Within 30 days of its receipt of this plan, the local board shall vote to approve, modify, or reject this plan.  Before the board makes this vote, it shall make the plan available to the public, and in particular to the parents and guardians of the students who are assigned to the school, and shall allow for written comments.  The board shall submit the plan to the State Board within 15 days of the board's vote.  The State Board shall review the plan expeditiously and, if appropriate, may offer recommendations to modify the plan.  The local board shall consider any recommendations made by the State Board.
(b)	Each school that the State Board identifies as low-performing shall provide written notification to the parents of students attending that school. The written notification shall include a statement that the State Board of Education has found that the school has "failed to meet the minimum growth standards, as defined by the State Board, and a majority of students in the school are performing below grade level." This notification also shall include information about the plan developed under subsection (a1) of this section and a description of any additional steps the school is taking to improve student performance."
Section 2.  G.S. 115C-105.39(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Within 30 days of the initial identification of a school as low-performing, whether by the local school administrative unit under G.S. 115C-105.37(a1) or by the State Board under G.S. 115C-105.37(a), the superintendent shall recommend to the local board one of the following concerning the school's principal: (i) the principal should be retained in the same position; (ii) the principal should be retained in the same position and a plan for remediation should be developed; (iii) the principal should be transferred or demoted; or (iv) the principal should be dismissed.  The principal shall be retained in the same position without a plan for remediation only if the principal was in that position for no more than two years before the school is identified as low-performing.  The principal shall be transferred only to a previously held position in which the principal demonstrated success, shall not be transferred to another low-performing school in the local school administrative unit, and shall be transferred only if there is a plan to evaluate the principal for at least one year after the transfer to assure that the principal does not impede student performance at the school to which the principal is transferred.  If the superintendent intends to recommend demotion or dismissal, then the superintendent shall proceed under G.S. 115C-325.  Within 15 days of its decision concerning the superintendent's recommendation, but no later than September 30, the local board shall submit to the State Board a written notice of the action taken and the basis for that action.  If the State Board does not assign an assistance team to that school, then the Board shall take no further action.  If the State Board assigns an assistance team to the school, then the Board shall proceed under G.S. 115C-325(q)(1)."
Section 3.  G.S. 115C-325(q)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1)	
			Upon the receipt of the local board's recommendations as required under G.S. 115C-105.39 concerning the principal in a low-performing school to which the State Board has assigned an assistance team, the State Board shall vote to accept, reject, or modify those recommendations.  The local board shall implement any changes the State Board recommends.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or any other law, the State Board may, at any time, suspend with pay any principal who is assigned to a low-performing school to which an assistance team has been assigned.  These principals shall be suspended with pay pending a hearing before a panel of three members of the State Board.  The purpose of this hearing, which shall be held within 60 days after the principal is suspended, is to determine whether the principal shall be dismissed.  The panel shall order the dismissal of the principal when the State Board receives two consecutive evaluations that include written findings and recommendations regarding that person's inadequate performance from the assistance team. These findings and recommendations shall be substantial evidence of the inadequate performance of the principal.  The panel also shall order the dismissal of the principal when it determines from available information, including the findings of the assistance team, that the low performance of the school is due to the principal's inadequate performance.  The panel may order the dismissal of the principal when (i) it determines that the school has failed to make satisfactory improvement after the State Board assigned an assistance team to that school; or (ii) the assistance team makes the recommendation to dismiss the principal for one or more grounds established in G.S. 115C-325(e)(1) for dismissal or demotion of a career employee.  In all hearings under this subdivision, the burden of proof is on the principal to establish that the factors leading to the school's low performance were not due to the principal's inadequate performance.  The State Board shall adopt procedures to ensure that due process rights are afforded to principals under this subsection. Decisions of the panel may be appealed on the record to the State Board, with further right of judicial review under Chapter 150B of the General Statutes."
Section 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to principals in schools that the State Board of Education identifies as low-performing after July 1, 1998.