H1030 - 2016 Appropriations Act. (SL 2016-94)

Overview: Sec. 8.12 of S.L. 2016-94 directs superintendents of local school administrative units to require that parents of hearing or visually impaired children be asked for written consent to release their contact information and information regarding their child and the child's impairment to the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North Carolina School for the Deaf so that the parents can receive more information on the services offered by those schools. The superintendents must report the names and addresses of parents who provide the written consent to the directors of each of the three schools and include information on the type of disability of each child. This report must also be submitted to the Department of Public Instruction. This information must be kept confidential by the receiving schools, however, the parents who provided written consent and whose information was in the report may be contacted by the schools receiving the reports.

This section also provides that the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and the North Carolina School for the Deaf may enroll a foreign exchange student and charge the student the full, unsubsidized per capita cost of education at the school for the period of the student's attendance. If a school seeks to enroll foreign exchange students, it must first submit a plan to the State Board of Education for approval, including the proposed costs to be charged to the students for attendance and information on compliance with federal laws. Foreign exchange students on "F" student visas may only be enrolled in grades 9 through 12 for a maximum of 12 months.

This section became effective July 1, 2016, and applies beginning with the 2016-2017 school year. Local superintendents must present the consent form by October 1, 2016, and make the first report of the contact and disability information by November 30, 2016.