§ 115C-150.15.  Reporting to schools on deaf and blind children.

(a) Request for Consent. - Local superintendents shall require that the following request for written consent, along with any informational materials provided by the school for the blind or the school for the deaf in the service area in which the local school administrative unit is located, be presented to parents or custodians of any children who are deaf or hard of hearing or are blind or visually impaired no later than October 1 of each school year: "North Carolina provides two public schools for the deaf serving students who are deaf or hard of hearing: the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. North Carolina also has a public school for the blind serving students who are blind or visually impaired: the Governor Morehead School for the Blind. Do you consent to the release of your contact information and information regarding your child and his or her hearing or vision status to these schools so that you can receive more information on services offered by those campuses?"

(b) Annual Report to Schools for the Deaf and Blind. - Local superintendents shall report by November 30 each year the names and addresses of parents or custodians of any deaf or hard of hearing or blind or visually impaired children who have given written consent to the directors of the schools for the deaf and blind. The report shall include whether the hearing and visual impairments range from partial to total disability, and if the child has multiple disabilities with the visual or hearing impairment not identified as the primary disability of the student. The report shall also be made to the Department of Public Instruction.

(c) Confidentiality of Records. - The directors of the schools for the deaf and blind shall treat any information reported to the schools by a local superintendent under subsection (b) of this section as confidential, except that a director or the director's designee may contact the parents or custodians of any hearing impaired or visually impaired children whose information was included in the report. The information shall not be considered a public record under G.S. 132-1.

(d) Transfer of Information. - Upon the written request of a parent or custodian of a student who has applied to a school for the deaf or school for the blind, the local superintendent or, if there is no superintendent, the staff member with the highest decision-making authority shall share with the director of the school a copy of all current evaluation data and a copy of the current or proposed individualized education plan for any child enrolled in that public school unit who is identified as a child with a disability who is deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or visually impaired.  (2016-94, s. 8.12(a); 2023-10, s. 1; 2024-1, s. 2.8E(a).)