GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

S	1 

SENATE BILL 976*

Short Title:  Dropout Rate Computation/ABCs Prog.	(Public)

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: Senator Carter.

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Education/Higher Education.

─────────────────────────────────────── 

April 15, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT REGARDING THE COMPUTATION OF DROPOUT RATES FOR THE ABCs PROGRAM.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 115C-105.35 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-105.35.  Annual performance goals; computation of dropout rates for the accountability system.
(a)	The School-Based Management and Accountability Program shall (i) focus on student performance in the basics of reading, mathematics, and communications skills in elementary and middle schools, (ii) focus on student performance in courses required for graduation and on other measures required by the State Board in the high schools, and (iii) hold schools accountable for the educational growth of their students. To those ends, the State Board shall design and implement an accountability system that sets annual performance standards for each school in the State in order to measure the growth in performance of the students in each individual school.
(b)	In calculating dropout rates for the purpose of this accountability system, the State Board shall not include any student who:
(1)	Transfers to a community college;
(2)	Is placed by the courts in a setting in which educational opportunities are provided;
(3)	Is expelled from school;
(4)	Does not return to school after a suspension of 10 days or more; or
(5)	Has previously been counted as a dropout.
The State Board may continue to use other methods of computing dropout rates for other purposes."
Section 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1999.