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HB 848

An Act amending the act of July 7, 1980 (P.L.380, No.97), known as the Solid Waste Management Act, in enforcement and remedies, providing for criminal proceedings.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Tim Brennan and 12 co-sponsors

Cleveland County pilots flexible staffing, unlicensed teacher hires with limits, and funding tweaks (2025–2031) to raise achievement and recruit/retain teachers.

Referred to Environmental & Natural Resource Protection
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Bill Summary · HB 848

Summary — HB 848: Cleveland Cultivation of Excellence Pilot

Status: Passed 1st Reading (Filed Apr 9, 2025). Effective when enacted; applies beginning with the 2025–2026 school year. Pilot sunsets (automatic repeal) at the end of 2031 (Part repealed effective Dec 31, 2031).

Purpose

Establish a time‑limited pilot (the “Cultivation of Excellence Pilot Program”) giving Cleveland County Schools statutory flexibility to test alternative staffing, hiring, and funding practices intended to improve student achievement and to strengthen teacher recruitment and retention.

Key provisions

  • Pilot scope and duration
    • Applies to Cleveland County Schools beginning 2025–2026 through 2030–2031; statutory repeal effective December 31, 2031.
  • Staffing and class size flexibility
    • Cleveland County may exercise flexibility in establishing staffing levels for kindergarten through grade 3 (overrides G.S. 115C‑301(c)).
  • Hiring of unlicensed teachers (overrides G.S. 115C‑295)
    • Permits hiring individuals who do not hold a standard teacher license, subject to limits:
    • Teachers in core subjects (math, science, social studies, language arts) must be college graduates.
    • No more than 50% of teachers at any single school may be unlicensed.
    • No more than 25% of all teachers employed district‑wide may be unlicensed.
    • Required preservice training (before classroom instruction) for unlicensed hires in:
    • Identification and education of children with disabilities
    • Positive management of student behavior
    • Effective communication for defusing/de‑escalating disruptive or dangerous behavior
    • Safe and appropriate use of seclusion and restraint
  • NC Pre‑K staffing flexibility
    • Allows individuals who meet kindergarten teaching assistant requirements to serve as teacher assistants in NC Pre‑K.
  • Budget/allotment flexibility
    • Allows transfers and approvals to move funds between the teacher assistants allotment and the textbooks & digital resources allotment (overrides G.S. 115C‑105.25(b)(3a) and (12)).
  • Oversight, reporting, and termination
    • Annual reports (due Dec. 15 each pilot year) to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and the State Superintendent must include:
    • Counts of licensed vs. unlicensed teachers and long‑term substitute use
    • Recruiting data (licensed/unlicensed hires)
    • NC Pre‑K assistant hires meeting kindergarten assistant requirements
    • Employee retention data
    • Average K–3 class sizes
    • Explanation of allotment flexibility use
    • Analysis of how the flexibilities have contributed to student success (with comparison beginning 2024–25)
    • State Board may terminate Cleveland County’s participation if it finds fiscal mismanagement or violations of state or federal law; termination requires a report to the Oversight Committee within 30 days.
  • Implementation support and intent
    • Legislative intent to provide funding for a teacher compensation model and student behavior intervention programs (elementary & middle schools).
    • Cleveland County may submit an initial implementation report by Dec. 15, 2026, with recommended legislative changes.

Who is affected

  • Cleveland County Board of Education and Cleveland County Schools (primary implementers)
  • Students (especially K–3 and NC Pre‑K participants)
  • Teachers and prospective hires (licensed and unlicensed)
  • Teacher assistants and NC Pre‑K staff
  • State-level oversight bodies: State Board of Education, Department of Public Instruction (State Superintendent), Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Potential benefits: increased local flexibility to address staffing shortages, faster hiring, innovative local staffing and compensation models, targeted behavior intervention funding.
  • Potential risks: expanded use of unlicensed teachers may raise concerns about instructional quality, special education supports, and student safety—mitigated in part by statutory caps, degree requirements for core subject instructors, required preservice training, and annual reporting plus State Board termination authority.
  • Fiscal: the act expresses intent to fund compensation and behavior programs but does not itself appropriate specific sums; local and State funding decisions will determine scale.

For more detail, the bill adds “Part 3B” to Article 16 of Chapter 115C (G.S. §115C‑235) and establishes the statutory framework summarized above.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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