GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001

SENATE BILL 378
RATIFIED BILL

AN ACT to permit an individual who has leadership, management, and administrative ability in a field other than education to serve as a local superintendent of schools.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C-271(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	It is the policy of the State that each local board of education has the sole discretion to elect a superintendent of schools. However, the State Board shall adopt rules that establish the qualifications for election. At a minimum, each superintendent shall have been a principal in a North Carolina public school or shall have  other leadership, management, and administrative experience. In addition, the State Board shall adopt rules that include minimum credentials, educational prerequisites, and relevant experience requirements that would qualify a person to serve as a superintendent without having direct experience or certification as an educator.  It is the duty of each local board to elect a superintendent who is qualified. If a local board elects a superintendent who is not qualified or who cannot qualify under this section, then the election and contract are null and void, and the board shall elect a person who is qualified."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2001, and applies to superintendents elected after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 29th day of May, 2001.

	_____________________________________
		 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

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		 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

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		 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2001