New Fiscal Year Without A Budget(?)

Written by UNC MPA

For the first time in history, North Carolina does not have an approved budget as operations of the new fiscal year are underway. Thanks to current law, there will be no government shutdown and the budget will continue to run on auto-pilot based off of last year’s budget provisions. However, we have had four days of postponed votes in the House on the potential veto override of HB 966, and there is still no conclusion on how the General Assembly plans to address the budget for the 2019-2021 biennium.

While we wait for a decision to be made on the next steps for the budget, whether they go for the override, draft continuing resolutions, or continue operating on auto-pilot, education bills have been flying through committees and sessions this week. Bills regarding teacher contract changes and new personal finance courses (SL 2019-82) as well as studies on the challenges of being an NC Pre-K site (SL 2019-87)have become session law this past week. There were a handful of bills ratified and sent to the Governor this week, including bills modifying the school success indicator (HB 411), higher education changes (HB 668), educator preparation program changes (HB 107), and adjusting the performance grading to a 15-point scale (HB 362).

There were many more education bills that moved through committees and crossed from one chamber to the other this week that will continue moving next week. It is so easy to get caught up in the bills that mandate DPI do something or directs the State Board to do something or requires the Superintendent to do something, but this week I really enjoyed following bills that directly impact and benefit students (which is of course why I am here).

SB 354: Sam’s Law would make the following changes:

Allows parents to petition the student’s school for the development of a seizure action plan
Would require schools to create seizure action plans for each student with a seizure disorder
Requires schools to keep individual plans on file for administrators, nurses, and if the parent allows, volunteers that supervise the student
Provides training for teachers and school employees on administering medication and assisting these students.

The plans would require documentation from the following:

Student’s healthcare provider regarding seizure medication, dosage, administration, and symptoms
Student’s parent indicating who is permitted to administer medication

The school would be provided at least one unopened dosage of the medication from the parent and the school is required to safely and securely store the medication in an accessible location for trained school personnel and volunteers. This bill aims to eliminate the potential detrimental consequences of schools being underprepared for assisting students with seizure disorders.

SB 391: Expand Youth Internship Opportunities

Current law restricts youth under age 18 from being employed in occupations that have been declared hazardous by the US Department of Labor or deemed detrimental to youth by the NC Commission of Labor. These occupations include:

Welding, brazing, torch cutting, electrician,
Work involving exposure to quartz, lead, benzene, or any other volatile compound
Work involving cutting or slicing machines, freezing and packaging machines, ladders or scaffolds, confined spaces, or the use of respirators.

This bill creates an exception for youth ages 16-18 to participate in supervised experiences in occupations found detrimental by the Commissioner of Labor. The following conditions must be met to be eligible for the exception:

Student is enrolled in a school that has partnered with an employer offering the experience;
Employer has submitted written documentation to the Commissioner of Labor that indicates that the work is incidental, intermittent, for a short period of time, performed under direct supervision, and the supervisor is experienced and qualified;
And the employer must provide training and safety instructions as well as an organized schedule of the student’s work.

Aside from tracking and reviewing bills this week, I have also worked on proposing the amount of funding to be granted to school districts from the Mobile App Development Grant Program. It is actually awesome to see the partnerships that have developed between employers and schools and how these schools are using funds to create courses that prepare students for future work with that employer. I have also gotten to review applications for the State Board Student Advisors positions; there are only two positions (one junior, one senior) that are filled by students who serve as the representatives on the Board. We get to begin interviewing this week, and I actually suggested to the interview team best practices for interviewing candidates from HR class LOL.

Most fun I have had this week was attending networking events with my bosses. Here is a pic of me with my building from an event this week 🙂