A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to add charter schools to the public schools ELIGIBLE to establish cooperative innovative high schools.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 14A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 115C‑218.12.  Operation of a cooperative innovative high school.
The board of directors of a charter school may seek to establish a cooperative innovative high school under Part 9 of Article 16 of this Chapter. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a charter school that is approved as a cooperative innovative high school shall also be subject to the statutes and rules applicable to those schools."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑238.50A(3a) reads as rewritten:
"(3a)	Local board of education. – A local board as defined in G.S. 115C‑5(5), a board of directors of a charter school as provided in G.S. 115C‑218.15, or a regional school board of directors as defined in G.S. 115C‑238.61(5)."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑238.53(f) reads as rewritten:
"(f)	Except as provided in this Part and under the terms of the agreement, cooperative innovative high schools:
(1)	Shall have the same exemptions from statutes and rules as charter schools operating under Article 14A of this Chapter, except that a local board of education shall not be exempt from applicable statutes and rules pertaining to its personnel.
…."
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to applications to establish a cooperative innovative high school program submitted on or after that date.