Bill
SB 1012
Prohibits for-profit charter management organizations from operating or servicing NC charter schools, mandating nonprofit management and new in-person assessment and audit requirem
Title: Ban Online For-Profit Charters
Short overview:
SB 1012 would prohibit for-profit management organizations from operating charter schools, require in-person state assessments for students in remote charter academies, limit renewal terms for remote charters, mandate annual financial audits for remote charters, and prohibit renewal of low-performing remote charter academies. The bill also creates funding provisions to support these changes and sets rollout timelines.
Key provisions
1) Prohibition on for-profit charter management
- New law proposed: A charter school may not be managed by or obtain services from for-profit education management organizations (EMOs) or charter management organizations (CMOs).
- Eligible entities for management/services: Only nonprofit EMOs/CMOs would be allowed to manage or provide services to charters.
- Practical consequence: For-profit entities would be barred from managing NC charter schools or contracting to provide management services for them.
2) In-person state assessments for remote charter students
- In-person requirement: Students enrolled in fully remote charter academies must complete state-mandated assessments in person, under the same assessment framework as other students (as per G.S. 115C-174.17).
- Optional in-person meetings: The bill allows optional in-person meetings between students and instructors or between parents and instructors at a charter facility.
- Purpose: To ensure authenticity and monitoring of assessments for remote students.
3) In-person testing program development and administration
- New statute: § 115C-174.17. Department of Public Instruction (DPI) must develop an in-person testing program for remote charter students to take all state-mandated assessments in person.
- Regional testing centers: DPI must establish at least 10 regional testing centers across the state to minimize travel burdens.
- Staffing: DPI must contract for personnel (administrators and proctors) to administer and proctor assessments; these staff may be public school unit employees but must not be employees of the remote charter school being assessed.
- Social work presence: Each assessment site must have at least one social worker present, with students informed of their availability.
4) Remote charter academy approvals and renewal terms
- Renewal term changes: The Review Board’s approval term for remote charters is adjusted to either five years or one year (clarified wording indicates a five-year base with a one-year option for certain circumstances).
- Initial approvals: The Board must approve at least two statewide remote charter academies for operation starting with the 2026-2027 school year and thereafter.
- Renewal considerations: Renewal decisions will consider compliance with the Part’s requirements and the prior five-year performance.
5) Financial reporting and renewal conditions
- School code and reporting: Remote charters receive a school code; nonprofits with in-person codes may report both together or separately as directed, but must provide separate financial reports for each school code.
- Renewal audit: As a condition of renewal, a remote charter academy must submit a financial audit for the previous year.
- Low-performing charters: A remote charter that is identified as low-performing is not eligible for renewal.
6) Appropriations and program funding
- Funding to DPI: $100,000 ongoing (recurring) starting in 2026-2027 to hire High-Performing Placement Coaches to assist families when a remote charter is not renewed due to low performance.
- Funding for in-person assessments: $62,000 ongoing (recurring) starting in 2026-2027 to establish and support the in-person assessment program.
Effective date and applicability
Who would be affected
Potential impacts to monitor
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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