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HB 959

Various Education Changes.

2025-2026 Session Introduced by Brian Biggs and 4 co-sponsors

HB 959 requires districts to adopt internet-safety policies, ban most wireless device use during class, teach social-media/mental-health topics, and expands a residency license for

Signed by Gov. 7/1/2025
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Bill Summary · HB 959

HB 959 — Various Education Changes (Ratified as SL 2025-38; signed 7/1/2025)

Summary — purpose
- The enacted HB 959 (Session Law 2025‑38) is a multi-part K–12 education bill aimed at promoting internet safety, requiring social‑media literacy instruction, regulating student use of wireless devices during instruction, and making several related licensing and accreditation adjustments for teachers and certain schools. The stated goal is to protect students online, improve digital literacy and mental‑health awareness, and clarify permitted device and platform use in school settings.

Key provisions
- Internet safety policies (G.S. 115C‑102.10; G.S. 115C‑47(70))
- Local school boards must adopt internet‑access policies for district devices/services that at minimum:
- Limit student access to age‑appropriate materials;
- Protect safety/security in email/chat and prevent unlawful data access (e.g., hacking);
- Block sites/apps that risk disclosure of student personal information;
- Prohibit student access to social‑media platforms except when expressly directed by a teacher for educational purposes.
- Employees are prohibited from using the TikTok application for job duties in the strongest version; the statute treats TikTok and successor ByteDance apps as prohibited on unit‑owned devices, internet, or as communication/promotion platforms for school organizations.
- Local boards must adopt required policies by January 1, 2026.

  • Social‑media & mental‑health instruction (G.S. 115C‑81.26)

    • The standard course of study must include instruction on social media and health impacts:
    • Provided once in elementary school, once in middle school, and twice in high school.
    • Topics include negative mental‑health effects (including addiction), misinformation, manipulation methods, permanency of online content, personal security, cyberbullying, predatory behavior/human trafficking, reporting suspicious behavior, and protective personal/interpersonal skills.
    • Instruction applies beginning with the 2026–2027 school year.

  • Regulation of wireless communication devices (G.S. 115C‑76.100)

    • Public school units must adopt a wireless‑device policy that, at minimum, prohibits students from using/displaying/keeping powered wireless devices during instructional time.
    • Limited exceptions: teacher‑authorized educational use or emergencies, IEP/Section 504 accommodations, or documented medical needs.
    • Policies must set consequences (including confiscation/discipline). Local units must submit policies to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) by Sept. 1 (year of effective date) and DPI will annually report compliance by Oct. 1.

  • Teacher residency licenses and related changes

    • The act clarifies/expands a “Residency License” (one‑year, renewable twice) eligibility to certain nonpublic schools that meet specific approval and oversight requirements; applicants must hold a bachelor’s (or advanced) degree, complete relevant coursework or pass content exam, be enrolled in a recognized educator preparation program, and meet other State Board rules.

  • Other items

    • The law includes provisions allowing certain schools to seek reaccreditation by the Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission and other miscellaneous statutory edits related to definitions and licensure rules.

Who is affected
- Local boards of education, public school units, school administrators and teachers, students (K–12), parents, and school staff.
- Employees and contractors are restricted from using specified social‑media apps for job duties on school systems.
- Certain nonpublic schools and teacher candidates seeking residency licenses.

Implementation timeline & enforcement
- Signed by the Governor: July 1, 2025 (Ch. SL 2025‑38).
- Policy adoption deadlines: internet safety and wireless device policies due Jan. 1, 2026.
- Social‑media instruction begins in the 2026–2027 school year.
- DPI will collect local policies and report annually on compliance.

Fiscal and operational impacts
- Primary impacts are administrative: local districts must draft/adopt policies, submit them to DPI, and integrate social‑media instruction into curricula. DPI will incur recurring reporting/oversight tasks. No major statewide fiscal appropriation is specified in the ratified law text included.

Note on document set
- Submitted materials also included texts titled HB 959 from other jurisdictions (e.g., a Maryland bill proposing the School Psychologist Interstate Licensure Compact and an Illinois technical amendment). The enacted law described above corresponds to North Carolina’s HB 959 (SL 2025‑38), signed July 1, 2025.

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

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