G.S. 115C-218.85

§ 115C-218.85. Course of study requirements.

(a) Instructional Program. -

(1) The school shall provide instruction each year for at least 185 days or 1,025 hours over nine calendar months, and may include the use of remote instruction in accordance with G.S. 115C-84.3.

(2) The school shall design its programs to at least meet the student performance standards adopted by the State Board of Education and the student performance standards contained in the charter.

(3) A charter school shall conduct the student assessments required by the State Board of Education.

(4) The school is subject to and shall comply with Article 9 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes and The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvements Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq., (2004), as amended.

(5) A charter school shall provide financial literacy instruction as required by the State Board of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-81.65, including required professional development for teachers of the EPF course.

(6) A charter school shall provide computer science instruction as required by G.S. 115C-81.90.

(7) A charter school may offer a sequence of courses in accordance with G.S. 115C-83.31(c) and shall advise students using this sequence to graduate within three years of entering the ninth grade of the availability of early graduate scholarships under Part 7 of Article 23 of Chapter 116 of the General Statutes.

(b) Reading Proficiency and Student Promotion. -

(1) Students in the third grade shall be retained if the student fails to demonstrate reading proficiency by reading at or above the third grade level as demonstrated by the results of the State-approved standardized test of reading comprehension administered to third grade students. The charter school shall provide reading interventions to retained students to remediate reading deficiency, which may include 90 minutes of daily, uninterrupted, evidence-based reading instruction, accelerated reading classes, transition classes containing third and fourth grade students, and summer reading camps.

(2) Students may be exempt from mandatory retention in third grade for good cause but shall continue to receive instructional supports and services and reading interventions appropriate for their age and reading level. Good cause exemptions shall be limited to the following:

a. Limited English Proficient students with less than two school years of instruction in an English as a Second Language program.

b. Students with disabilities, as defined in G.S. 115C-106.3(1), and whose individualized education program indicates (i) the use of the NCEXTEND1 alternate assessment, (ii) at least a two school year delay in educational performance, or (iii) receipt of intensive reading interventions for at least two school years.

c. Students who demonstrate reading proficiency appropriate for third grade students on an alternative assessment of reading comprehension. The charter school shall notify the State Board of Education of the alternative assessment used to demonstrate reading proficiency.

d. Students who demonstrate, through a student reading portfolio, reading proficiency appropriate for third grade students.

e. Students who have (i) received reading intervention and (ii) previously been retained more than once in kindergarten, first, second, or third grades.

(3) The charter school shall provide notice to parents and guardians when a student is not reading at grade level. The notice shall state that if the student's reading deficiency is not remediated by the end of third grade, the student shall be retained unless he or she is exempt from mandatory retention for good cause. Notice shall also be provided to parents and guardians of any student who is to be retained under this subsection of the reason the student is not eligible for a good cause exemption, as well as a description of proposed reading interventions that will be provided to the student to remediate identified areas of reading deficiency.

(4) The charter school shall annually publish on the charter school's Web site and report in writing to the State Board of Education by September 1 of each year the following information on the prior school year:

a. The number and percentage of third grade students demonstrating and not demonstrating reading proficiency on the State-approved standardized test of reading comprehension administered to third grade students.

b. The number and percentage of third grade students not demonstrating reading proficiency and who do not return to the charter school for the following school year.

c. The number and percentage of third grade students who take and pass an alternative assessment of reading comprehension and the name of each alternative assessment used for this purpose with the number of students who passed it.

d. The number and percentage of third grade students retained for not demonstrating reading proficiency.

e. The number and percentage of third grade students exempt from mandatory third grade retention by category of exemption as listed in subdivision (2) of this subsection.

(5) The charter school shall not use a three-cueing system, as defined in G.S. 115C-83.3(9a), or a curriculum with visual memory as the primary basis for teaching word recognition in any instruction or intervention provided to students in grades kindergarten through three.

(1) A charter school shall offer students the opportunity to earn a citizenship proficiency high school diploma endorsement consistent with G.S. 115C-83.32(c).

(2) If necessary due to practical limitations at the charter school, a student may take the civics test required to earn the endorsement pursuant to G.S. 115C-83.32(c) at the nearest high school to the charter school located within the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is located at the time that the nearest high school within the local school administrative unit is scheduled to offer the exam. (1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 731, s. 2; 1997-430, s. 5; 1997-443, s. 8.19; 1997-456, s. 55.4; 1998-212, s. 9.14A(a); 1999-243, s. 8; 2001-462, s. 1; 2004-118, s. 3; 2004-203, s. 45(b); 2006-69, s. 3(e); 2006-137, s. 2; 2007-59, s. 2; 2007-126, s. 2; 2007-323, s. 28.22A(o); 2007-345, s. 12; 2009-239, s. 1; 2009-563, s. 2; 2010-10, s. 2(a); 2011-93, s. 2(a); 2011-145, s. 7.29(b); 2011-164, s. 4; 2011-282, s. 9; 2012-142, ss. 7A.1(f), 7A.3(c), 7A.11(b); 2012-145, s. 2.5; 2012-179, s. 1(c); 2013-307, s. 1.1; 2013-355, s. 1(f); 2013-359, s. 1; 2013-360, ss. 8.43(a), 9.7(q); 2014-5, s. 9; 2014-101, s. 7; 2018-5, s. 7.24(c); 2019-82, s. 4(a); 2021-130, s. 3(c); 2022-59, s. 1(b); 2022-74, s. 7.13(b); 2023-132, ss. 2.6(d), 3(a); 2023-134, ss. 7.26(c), 7.64(e), 7.72(e), 8A.6(p).)