(a) In General. – All acts of local boards of education, not in conflict with State law, shall be binding on the superintendent, and it shall be his duty to carry out all rules and regulations of the board.

All the powers, duties and responsibilities imposed by law upon the superintendents of county administrative units shall, with respect to city administrative units, be imposed upon, and exercised by, the superintendents of city administrative units, in the same manner and to the same extent, insofar as applicable thereto, as such powers and duties are exercised and performed by superintendents of county administrative units with reference to said county administrative units.

(b) To Serve as Secretary to Board. – Superintendents shall be ex officio secretary to their respective boards of education. As secretary to the board of education, the superintendent shall record all proceedings of the board, issue all notices and orders that may be made by the board, and otherwise be executive officer of the board of education. He shall see that the minutes of the meetings of the board of education are promptly and accurately recorded in the minute book which shall be kept in the office of the board of education and be open at all times to public inspection.

(c) To Monitor Condition of School Plants. – It shall be the duty of every superintendent to visit the schools of his unit, to keep his board of education informed at all times as to the condition of the school plants in his administrative unit, and to make immediate provisions to remedy any unsafe or unsanitary conditions existing in any school building.

(d) To Attend Professional Meetings. – It shall be the duty of every superintendent to attend professional meetings conducted by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and such other professional meetings as are necessary to keep him informed on educational matters.

(e) To Report Certain Information to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. – It shall be the duty of every superintendent to furnish as promptly as possible to the State Superintendent when requested by him, information and statistics on any phase of the school work in his administrative unit.

(f) To Administer Oaths When Required. – The superintendent shall have authority to administer oaths to teachers and all other school officials when an oath is required of the same.

(g) To Familiarize Himself with and to Implement State Policies and Rules. – It shall be the duty of the superintendent to keep himself thoroughly informed as to all policies promulgated and rules adopted by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education, for the organization and government of the public schools. The superintendent shall notify and inform his board of education, supervisors, principals, teachers, janitors, bus drivers, and all other persons connected with the public schools, of such policies and rules. In the performance of these duties, the superintendent shall confer, work, and plan with all school personnel to achieve the best methods of instruction, school organization and school government.

(h) To Hold Necessary Teachers’ Meetings. – The superintendent shall hold each year such teachers’ meetings and study groups as in his judgment will improve the efficiency of the instruction in the schools of his unit.

(i) To Distribute Certain Supplies and Information. – The superintendent shall distribute to all school personnel all blanks, registers, report cards, record books, bulletins, and all other supplies and information furnished by the State Superintendent and the State Board of Education and give instruction for their proper use.

(j) To Assist the Local Board in Electing School Personnel. – It shall be the duty of the superintendent to recommend and the board of education to elect all principals, teachers, and other school personnel in the administrative unit.

(k) To Submit Organization Reports and Other Information to the State Board. – Each year the superintendent of each local school administrative unit shall submit to the State Board of Education statistical reports, certified by the chairman of the board of education, showing the organization of the schools in his or her unit and any additional information the State Board may require. At the end of the second month of school each year, local boards of education, through the superintendent, shall report school organization, employees’ duties, and class sizes to the State Board. As of February 1 each year, local boards of education, through the superintendent, shall report all exceptions to individual class size maximums in kindergarten through third grade that occur at that time.

(l) To Maintain Personnel Files and to Participate in Firing and Demoting of Staff. – The superintendent shall maintain in his or her office a personnel file for each teacher that contains complaints, commendations, or suggestions for correction or improvement about the teacher and shall participate in the firing and demoting of staff, as provided in Part 3 of Article 22 of this Chapter.

(m) To Furnish Boundaries of Special Taxing Districts. – It shall be the duty of county superintendents, and of city superintendents where their administrative units are not coterminous with city or township limits, to furnish tax listers at tax listing time the boundaries of each taxing district and city administrative unit in which a special tax will be levied to the end that all property in such district or unit may be properly listed.

(n) To Issue Salary Vouchers. – The authority for a superintendent to issue vouchers for the salary of all school employees, whether paid from State or local funds, shall be a monthly payroll, prepared on forms furnished by the State Board of Education and containing all information required by the State Board of Education. This monthly payroll shall be signed by the principal of the school. If any voucher so drawn is chargeable against district funds, the amount so charged and the district to which said amount is charged shall be specified on the voucher. The superintendent shall not approve the vouchers for the pay of principals or teachers until the monthly and annual reports required by the local board of education are made.

(o) To Participate in the School Budget and Finances. – The superintendent shall participate in the school budget and finances, as provided in Article 31 of this Chapter.

(p) To Require Teachers and Principals to Make Reports. – The superintendents may require teachers to make reports to the principals and principals to make reports to the superintendent. Any superintendent who knowingly and willfully makes or procures another to make any false report or records, requisitions, or payrolls, respecting daily attendance of pupils in the public schools, payroll data sheets, or other reports required to be made to any board or officer in the performance of his duties, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and the certificate of such person to teach in the public schools of North Carolina shall be revoked by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

(q) To Assign School Principals. – Subject to local board policy, the superintendent shall have the authority to assign principals to school buildings. When making an assignment, the superintendent shall consider (i) whether a principal has demonstrated the leadership ability to increase student achievement at a school where conditions indicated a significant risk of low student performance; and (ii) how to maintain stability at a school where, during the time the principal has been at a school, there has been significant improvement on end-of-course or end-of-grade tests and other accountability measures developed by the State Board of Education.

(r) To Maintain Student Discipline. – The superintendent shall maintain student discipline in accordance with Article 27 of this Chapter and shall keep data on each student to whom corporal punishment was administered, who was suspended for more than 10 days, who was reassigned for disciplinary reasons, or who was expelled. This data shall include the race, gender, age, grade level, ethnicity, and disability status of each student, the duration of suspension for each student, whether alternative education services were provided for each student, and whether a student had multiple suspensions in that academic year.

(s) To Provide for Annual Evaluations and Mandatory Improvement Plans. – The superintendent shall provide for the annual evaluation of all licensed employees assigned to low-performing schools that did not receive an assistance team. The superintendent shall determine whether all principals and assistant principals who evaluate licensed employees are trained in the proper administration of the employee evaluations and the development of appropriate mandatory improvement plans. The superintendent also shall arrange for principals and assistant principals who evaluate licensed employees to receive the appropriate training.

(t) Repealed by Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7.13(c), effective July 1, 2012. (1955, c. 1372, art. 5, s. 24; art. 6, ss. 3-6, 10, 15; art. 17, s. 6; art. 18, s. 7; 1959, c. 1294; 1963, c. 688, s. 3; 1965, c. 584, ss. 5, 6, 16; 1969, c. 539; 1973, c. 770, ss. 1, 2; 1975, c. 965, s. 3; 1977, c. 1088, s. 4; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 975, ss. 17, 18, 24; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1025, s. 12; c. 1086, s. 89(c); 1993, c. 169, s. 2; c. 210, s. 4; c. 539, s. 882; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1995, c. 386, s. 2; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 716, s. 25; 1998-5, s. 6; 1998-182, s. 38; 1998-220, s. 10; 2011-282, s. 10; 2011-348, s. 4; 2012-142, s. 7.13(c); 2013-360, s. 9.7(f); 2013-363, s. 3.3(c).)