Lawmakers met twice this week to approve amendments to HB47: Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part I.  The changes aim to provide additional appropriations for recovery from Hurricane Helene, extend the state of emergency, and extend certain disaster recovery regulatory and procurement flexibility provisions. The bill received favorable reports from both committees and is expected to reach the House floor for a vote next week

Notably, no amendments were introduced to directly support affected school districts. NCASA has compiled a list of urgent legislative requests on behalf of Western North Carolina schools affected by Helene. These requests include:

• Address Extraordinary Transportation Costs due to damaged roads and bridges that are lengthening bus routes this school year.
• Provide additional Repair, Renovation & Construction Funds for impacted LEA schools.
• Offset Funding in Arrears for 2025-2026 on ADM basis to assist impacted school districts that will lose operational funding due to students leaving or still missing.
• Provide Hold-Harmless for Small Schools Funding for affected public school units.
• Stabilize Low Wealth Funding for affected public school units.
• Waive state requirements for School Performance Grades, School Report Cards, and Low-Performing School and District designations based on 2024-25 data.
• Provide a Hold-Harmless for Principals for salary schedule placement 1/1/2026, eligibility for performance bonuses in Oct. 2025, and recruitment supplement eligibility for 2025-26.
• Require Contextualizing Teacher Performance Data from 2024-25 to clarify the impact on missed instruction due to Hurricane Helene.

NCASA continues to advocate for these critical measures, in addition to our legislative priorities, to ensure that schools receive the support they need to recover and rebuild.