GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

S	3 

SENATE BILL 225*
Education/Higher Education Committee Substitute Adopted 3/17/99
House Committee Substitute Favorable 4/7/99

Short Title:	Ass't Principal Provisional Cert./AB.	(Public)
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Sponsors:	
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Referred to	 
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March 4, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING CERTIFICATION AND EMPLOYMENT OF ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.   G.S. 115C-284(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	The State Board of Education shall have entire control of certifying all applicants for supervisory and professional positions in all public elementary and high schools of North Carolina; and it shall prescribe the rules and regulations for the renewal and extension of all certificates, and shall determine and fix the salary for each grade and type of certificate which it authorizes. The State Board of Education shall require each applicant for an initial certificate or graduate certificate, other than an applicant who is qualified under Article 19A of this Chapter, to demonstrate the applicant's academic and professional preparation by achieving a prescribed minimum score at least equivalent to that required by the Board on November 30, 1972, on a standard examination appropriate and adequate for that purpose.  If the Board shall specify the National Teachers Examination for this purpose, the required minimum score shall not be lower than that which the Board required on November 30, 1972.  The Board may not require an applicant who is qualified under Article 19A of this Chapter to take an additional exam to demonstrate academic competence.  The Board shall not issue provisional certificates for principals.
The Board shall issue a one-year provisional assistant principal's certificate to an employee of a local board only if (i) the local board determines there is a shortage of persons who hold or are qualified to hold a principal's certificate, and (ii) the employee enrolls in an approved program leading to a masters degree in school administration before the provisional certificate expires.  The Board shall extend the provisional certificate for a total of no more than two additional years while the employee is completing the program."
Section 2.  G.S. 115C-289(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	All persons employed as assistant principals in State-allotted positions, or as assistant principals in full-time positions regardless of funding source, in the public schools of the State or in schools receiving public funds, shall, in addition to other applicable requirements, be required either to hold or be qualified to hold a principal's certificate or a provisional assistant principal's certificate in compliance with applicable law and in accordance with the regulations of the State Board of Education.  It shall be unlawful for any board of education to employ or keep in service any assistant principal who neither holds nor is qualified to hold a principal's certificate or a provisional assistant principal's certificate in compliance with applicable law and in accordance with the regulations of the State Board of Education.  Persons who hold a provisional assistant principal's certificate and who are employed as assistant principals shall be employed under G.S. 115C-287.1(h)."
Section 3.  G.S. 115C-287.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(h)	An individual who holds a provisional assistant principal's certificate and who is employed as an assistant principal under G.S. 115C-284(c) shall be considered a school administrator for purposes of this section.  Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, a local board may enter into one-year contracts with a school administrator who holds a provisional assistant principal's certificate.  If the school administrator held career status as a teacher in the local school administrative unit prior to being employed as an assistant principal and the State Board for any reason does not extend the school administrator's provisional assistant principal's certificate, the school administrator shall retain career status as a teacher unless the school administrator voluntarily relinquished that right or is dismissed or demoted under G.S. 115C-325.  Nothing in this subsection or G.S. 115C-284(c) shall be construed to require a local board to extend or renew the contract of a school administrator who holds a provisional assistant principal's certificate."
Section 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.