§ 115C-238.81.  Administration of the North Carolina Virtual Public School program.

(a) NCVPS shall be administered by the Department of Public Instruction in accordance with this Part. NCVPS is not a public school unit, as defined in G.S. 115C-5(11).

(b) NCVPS shall be responsible for the following:

(1) Ensuring access to e-learning course offerings for students residing in rural and low-wealth public school units, in order to expand available instructional opportunities.

(2) Providing e-learning instructional opportunities for courses required as part of the standard course of study for high school graduation and for Advanced Placement (AP) offerings when not otherwise available to students.

(3) Establishing NCVPS course quality standards that meet the standards set by the State Board of Education.

(4) Aligning all courses offered through NCVPS with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

(c) Within funds available, NCVPS shall provide NCVPS courses at no cost to all students in North Carolina who are enrolled in North Carolina's public school units, Department of Defense schools, schools operated by The University of North Carolina under Articles 4 and 29 of Chapter 116 of the General Statutes, and schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(d) NCVPS courses shall be available to nonpublic school students and out-of-state students. The State Board of Education shall establish a separate per-student, per-course tuition for nonpublic school students and out-of-state students which shall be adjusted upward from the in-State student fee structure by an amount determined appropriate by the State Board of Education.

(e) NCVPS shall implement a plan, approved by the State Board of Education, to generate revenue from the sale of courses to out-of-state educational entities. Revenue generated by NCVPS under this subsection shall be used to offset instructional costs to public school units pursuant to G.S. 115C-238.82(d)(3). (2019-51, s. 2.1; 2020-56, s. 6(c).)