AN ACT to amend the law relating to school improvement plans.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑47(38) reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑47.  Powers and duties generally.
In addition to the powers and duties designated in G.S. 115C‑36, local boards of education shall have the power or duty:
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(38)	To Establish School Improvement Teams. – Local boards shall adopt a policy to ensure that each principal has established a school improvement team under G.S. 115C‑105.27 and in accordance with G.S. 115C‑288(l) and that the composition of the team complies with G.S. 115C‑105.27(a). Local boards shall direct the superintendent or the superintendent's designee to provide appropriate guidance to principals to ensure that these teams are established and that the principals work together with these teams to develop, review, and amend school improvement plans for their schools."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑105.27 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑105.27.  Development and approval of school improvement plans.
(a)	In order to improve student performance, each school shall develop a school improvement plan that takes into consideration the annual performance goal for that school that is set by the State Board under G.S. 115C‑105.35 and the goals set out in the mission statement for the public schools adopted by the State Board of Education. The principal of each school, representatives of the assistant principals, instructional personnel, instructional support personnel, and teacher assistants assigned to the school building, and parents of children enrolled in the school shall constitute a school improvement team to develop a school improvement plan to improve student performance. Representatives of the assistant principals, instructional personnel, instructional support personnel, and teacher assistants shall be elected by their respective groups by secret ballot. Unless the local board of education has adopted an election policy, parents shall be elected by parents of children enrolled in the school in an election conducted by the parent and teacher organization of the school or, if none exists, by the largest organization of parents formed for this purpose. Parents serving on school improvement teams shall reflect the racial and socioeconomic composition of the students enrolled in that school and shall not be members of the building‑level staff. Parental involvement is a critical component of school success and positive student achievement; therefore, it is the intent of the General Assembly that parents, along with teachers, have a substantial role in developing school improvement plans. To this end, school improvement team meetings shall be held at a convenient time to assure substantial parent participation.
All school improvement plans shall be, to the greatest extent possible, data‑driven. School improvement teams shall analyze student data to identify root causes for problems and to determine actions to address them. School improvement plans shall contain clear, unambiguous targets, explicit indicators and actual measures, and expeditious time frames for meeting the measurement standards.
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(e)	A school improvement plan shall remain in effect for no more than two years; however, the school improvement team may amend the plan as often as is necessary or appropriate. If, at any time, any part of a school improvement plan becomes unlawful or the local board finds that a school improvement plan is impeding student performance at a school, the local board may vacate the relevant portion of the plan and may direct the school to revise that portion. The procedures set out in this subsection shall apply to amendments and revisions to school improvement plans."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑105.37A(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Definition of Continually Low‑Performing Schools. – A continually low‑performing school is a school that has received State‑mandated assistance and has been designated by the State Board as low performing for at least two of three consecutive years. If the State Board identifies a school as continually low performing:
(1)	The school improvement team at that school shall review its school improvement plan to ensure consistency with the plan adopted pursuant to G.S. 115C‑105.38(b)(3), and
(2)	The plan must be reviewed and approved by the State Board of Education."
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2009‑2010 school year.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 25th day of June, 2009.

	s/	 Walter H. Dalton
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Joe Hackney
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 Governor

Approved 5:43 p.m. this 30th day of June, 2009