Members of the North Carolina General Assembly unanimously approved on Thursday afternoon a bill providing $604.15 million in additional relief funding, with $65 million allocated to public K-12 schools as part of the second round of state legislative actions taken in response to Hurricane Helene and other recent natural disasters.

The revised version of Senate Bill 743, “Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part II” and the accompanying committee report (CR) includes some, but not all, of the education-related funding and policy relief requests shared by NCASA and other education stakeholders, with legislative leaders reiterating that the provisions in SB 743 were merely “the next step” on the lengthy road to recovery.

Despite this caveat, some legislators, and especially those from severely impacted districts, shared concerns that the bill did not contain many of the time-sensitive requests they shared on behalf of their constituents and urged legislative leaders to provide additional extensive relief in the days ahead. The bill was signed into law by Governor Cooper on Friday, October 25th. 

The K-12 education-related provisions included in this most recent round of relief are as follows:

•  Additional School Calendar Flexibility (Sec. 4A.1.) — Provides additional school calendar flexibility for missed instructional time from September 2024 through November 2024 for public school units forced to close any school under its control due to Hurricane Helene; In addition to the up to 20 instructional days that affected PSUs are allowed to waive under the initial hurricane relief bill passed on October 9, SB 743 allows PSUs to request an additional waiver of up to 20 days (or an equivalent number of hours) from the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
   
• Readmission Of Displaced Charter School Students (Sec. 4A.2.) — Allows students who were enrolled in affected charter schools but forced to withdraw due to the hurricane to have been deemed continuously enrolled for admission purposes, and not required to reapply to the school for the 2025-2026 school year.
   
• School Facility Repair & Renovation (CR pg. F2) — Provides $50 million (NR) to DPI for repair and renovation of facilities in counties with a federal disaster declaration due to Hurricane Helene for local school administrative units and lab schools. These funds are for unmet needs not covered by insurance or available federal aid.
   
• School Technology (CR pg. F2) — Provides $5 million (NR) to DPI for replacement of school technology, particularly student and teacher devices, in counties with a federal disaster declaration due to Hurricane Helene.
   
• School Nutrition Food, Supplies, and Equipment Loss (CR pg. F2) — Provides $5 million (NR) to DPI to be used to repair or replace food nutrition equipment, food, and food nutrition supplies in public school units participating in the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program in counties with a federal disaster declaration due to Hurricane Helene.
   
• Increased School Mental Health Support (Sec. 4A.8.(a)) — Provides $5 million (NR) for mental health services, including telehealth and contracted services, for students and staff in public school units (PSUs) impacted by Hurricane Helene; each eligible PSU will receive an initial amount of $30,000, and remaining funds will be distributed on the basis of allotted average daily membership.
   
• Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes Disaster Relief (CR pg. F4) — Provides $10 million (NR) to DHHS for the NC Partnership for Children to distribute funds to Smart Start Local Partnerships that serve counties with a federal disaster declaration due to Hurricane Helene. Partnerships will use the funds for affected child care centers and family child care homes to provide assistance in reopening and maintaining operations, including, but not limited to, cleaning, repairs, and relocating.

NCASA realizes these recent funding and policy relief provisions only scratch the surface of the numerous remaining needs in our affected schools and districts, and we will continue to advocate for our full list of requested relief items, which have been shared and discussed at length with DPI and legislative leaders.

As noted in this most recent legislative reconvening, lawmakers expect to provide additional relief during planned reconvening dates on November 19-22 and December 11-13, as well as during the 2025 long session beginning in January. As our advocacy efforts continue, please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns, or if we can provide any additional support.