A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to clarify eligibility for extended teacher contracts.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑325.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑325.3.  Teacher contracts.
(a)	Length of Contract. – A contract between the local board of education and a teacher who has been employed by the local board of education for less than three years shall be for a term of one school year. A new contract or renewal of contract between the local board of education and a teacher who has been employed by the local board of education as a teacher for three consecutive years immediately preceding the effective date of the new or renewed contract shall be for a term of one, two, or four school years.
(a1)	Determination of Consecutive Years of Employment. –
(1)	A teacher may be deemed to have been employed for three consecutive years by a local board of education for the purposes of this section if the teacher worked for at least 120 workdays as a teacher in a full‑time permanent position in each of the prior three school years.
(2)	If the teacher in a full‑time permanent position did not work for at least 120 workdays in a school year because the teacher was on sick leave, disability leave, or on leave taken in accordance with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq., for the purposes of this section, that school year shall not (i) be deemed to constitute a consecutive year of employment for the teacher nor (ii) be considered a break in the continuity of consecutive years of employment for the teacher.
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SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to contracts executed on or after that date.