(a) Health and Safety Standards. – A charter school shall meet the same health and safety requirements required of a local school administrative unit. The Department of Public Instruction shall ensure that charter schools provide parents and guardians with information about meningococcal meningitis and influenza and their vaccines at the beginning of every school year. This information shall include the causes, symptoms, and how meningococcal meningitis and influenza are spread and the places where parents and guardians may obtain additional information and vaccinations for their children.

The Department of Public Instruction shall also ensure that charter schools provide parents and guardians with information about cervical cancer, cervical dysplasia, human papillomavirus, and the vaccines available to prevent these diseases. This information shall be provided at the beginning of the school year to parents of children entering grades five through 12. This information shall include the causes and symptoms of these diseases, how they are transmitted, how they may be prevented by vaccination, including the benefits and possible side effects of vaccination, and the places where parents and guardians may obtain additional information and vaccinations for their children.

The Department of Public Instruction shall also ensure that charter schools provide students in grades seven through 12 with information annually on the preventable risks for preterm birth in subsequent pregnancies, including induced abortion, smoking, alcohol consumption, the use of illicit drugs, and inadequate prenatal care.

The Department of Public Instruction shall also ensure that charter schools provide students in grades nine through 12 with information annually on the manner in which a parent may lawfully abandon a newborn baby with a responsible person, in accordance with Article 5A of Chapter 7B of the N.C. Gen. Stat..

The Department of Public Instruction shall also ensure that the guidelines for individual diabetes care plans adopted by the State Board of Education under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-12(31) are implemented in charter schools in which students with diabetes are enrolled and that charter schools otherwise comply with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-375.3

The Department of Public Instruction shall ensure that charter schools comply with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-375.2A. The board of directors of a charter school shall provide the school with a supply of emergency epinephrine auto-injectors necessary to meet the requirements of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-375.2A.

(b) Repealed by Session Laws 2023-78, s. 5(b), effective July 7, 2023.

(b1) (Applicable beginning with the 2024-2025 school year) Each charter school shall comply with the requirements for public school units in Part 2 of Article 8C of this Chapter.

(c) Policy Against Bullying. – A charter school is encouraged to adopt a policy against bullying or harassing behavior, including cyber bullying, that is consistent with the provisions of Article 29C of this Chapter. If a charter school adopts a policy to prohibit bullying and harassing behavior, the charter school shall, at the beginning of each school year, provide the policy to staff, students, and parents as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-390.1(b)(8).

(d) Repealed by Session Laws 2023-78, s. 5(b), effective July 7, 2023.

(e) Repealed by Session Laws 2023-78, s. 5(b), effective July 7, 2023.

(e1) Repealed by Session Laws 2023-78, s. 5(b), effective July 7, 2023.

(e2) Information About Child Abuse and Neglect. – A charter school shall implement the rule addressing student awareness of child abuse and neglect, including sexual abuse, adopted by the State Board of Education under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-12(47).

(f) Access for Youth Groups. – Charter schools are encouraged to facilitate access for students to participate in activities provided by any youth group listed in Title 36 of the United States Code as a patriotic society, such as the Boy Scouts of America, and its affiliated North Carolina groups and councils, and the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, and its affiliated North Carolina groups and councils. Student participation in any activities offered by these organizations shall not interfere with instructional time during the school day for the purposes of encouraging civic education.

(g) Child Sexual Abuse and Sex Trafficking Training Program. – A charter school shall adopt and implement a child sexual abuse and sex trafficking training program in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-375.20

(h) School-Based Mental Health Plan Required. – A charter school shall adopt a school-based mental health plan, including a mental health training program and suicide risk referral protocol, in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-376.5

(i) A charter school shall annually report the information required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-12(48) to the State Board of Education, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Education/Higher Education, and the House Appropriations Committee on Education no later than September 15.

(j) A charter school shall annually update information to the digital learning dashboard, as required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-102.9

(k) Cultural Expression at Graduation Ceremonies. – A charter school shall comply with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-407.40 at all graduation ceremonies.

(l) Muscadine Grape Juice. – A charter school shall strive to ensure that one hundred percent (100%) muscadine grape juice is made available to students as a part of the school’s nutrition program or through the operation of the school’s vending facilities.

(m) Athletic Teams. – A charter school organizing athletic teams for middle or high school students to participate in interscholastic or intramural athletic activities shall do so in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-12(23). (1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 731, s. 2; 1997-430, s. 5; 1997-443, s. 8.19; 1997-456, s. 55.4; 1998-212, s. 9.14A(a); 1999-243, s. 8; 2001-462, s. 1; 2004-118, s. 3; 2004-203, s. 45(b); 2006-69, s. 3(e); 2006-137, s. 2; 2007-59, s. 2; 2007-126, s. 2; 2007-323, s. 28.22A(o); 2007-345, s. 12; 2009-239, s. 1; 2009-563, s. 2; 2010-10, s. 2(a); 2011-93, s. 2(a); 2011-145, s. 7.29(b); 2011-164, s. 4; 2011-282, s. 9; 2012-142, ss. 7A.1(f), 7A.3(c), 7A.11(b); 2012-145, s. 2.5; 2012-179, s. 1(c); 2013-307, s. 1.1; 2013-355, s. 1(f); 2013-359, s. 1; 2013-360, ss. 8.43(a), 9.7(q); 2014-100, ss. 8.23(b), 8.32(b); 2014-101, s. 7; 2015-241, s. 8.26(h); 2015-249, s. 3; 2018-5, s. 7.26(c); 2019-245, s. 4.4(b); 2020-7, s. 1(c); 2021-88, s. 11; 2021-132, s. 6(c); 2021-180, ss. 7.9(d), 7.61(c); 2023-14, s. 6.2(i); 2023-43, s. 3(a); 2023-63, s. 5(c); 2023-78, s. 5(b), (c); 2023-109, s. 1(b).)