A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT permitting students who attend a public school, private school, home school, or charter school without an interscholastic athletics PROGRAM in a given sport to participate in that sport at a public high school.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑12(23) reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑12.  Powers and duties of the Board generally.
The general supervision and administration of the free public school system shall be vested in the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall establish policy for the system of free public schools, subject to laws enacted by the General Assembly. The powers and duties of the State Board of Education are defined as follows:
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(23)	Power to Adopt Eligibility Rules for Interscholastic Athletic Competition. – The State Board of Education may adopt rules governing interscholastic athletic activities conducted by local boards of education, including eligibility for student participation. These rules shall provide that any high school student who attends:
a.	A public high school that does not have an interscholastic athletics program in a given sport may participate in that sport at the 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 school's student body.
b.	A private school, home school, or charter school that does not have an interscholastic athletics program in a given sport may participate in that 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 school's student body. If the student's base school does not have a program in the sport, the student may participate in the sport at the public high school closest to the student's base school that has a program in that sport, subject to the terms and conditions applicable to a regularly enrolled member of that school's student body.
The State Board of Education may authorize a designated organization to apply and enforce the Board's rules governing participation in interscholastic athletic activities at the high school level."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2009‑2010 school year.