GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2009

S                                                                                                                                                     1

SENATE BILL 546*

Short Title:        Calculation of the Dropout Rate.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Senators Graham;  Clodfelter and Dannelly.
Referred to:	Education/Higher Education.

March 12, 2009

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to clarify the calculation of the dropout rate.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C-12(27) reads as rewritten:

"§ 115C-12.  Powers and duties of the Board generally.

The general supervision and administration of the free public school system shall be vested in the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall establish policy for the system of free public schools, subject to laws enacted by the General Assembly. The powers and duties of the State Board of Education are defined as follows:

…

(27)      Reporting Dropout Rates, Suspensions, Expulsions, and Alternative Placements. - The State Board shall report annually to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and the Commission on Improving the Academic Achievement of Minority and At-Risk Students on the numbers of students who have dropped out of school, been suspended, been expelled, or been placed in an alternative program. The data shall be reported in a disaggregated manner and be readily available to the public. The State Board shall not include students that have been expelled from school when calculating the dropout rate.In calculating the dropout rate, the Board shall not include students who transfer to a community college, college, or university before graduation provided that the community college, college, or university has confirmed their enrollment and attendance in a program leading to a GED, high school diploma, or adult high school diploma. A student shall be considered to have dropped out when that student voluntarily withdraws from school or is expelled from school and does not finish at another school.

The Board shall maintain a separate record of the number of students who are expelled from school."

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.