AN ACT to allow licensed registered nurses to serve as school nurses.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑315(d2) reads as rewritten:

(d2)    School Nurses. – The State Board of Education, in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, may adopt rules to establish the qualifications and training required to be hired or contracted for as a certified school nurse except the subject to the following:

(1)        The Board may not require or impose a requirement that would require a nurse to obtain a four‑year degree as a condition of employment.

(2)        Any person licensed as a registered nurse under Article 9A of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes that has at least two years' experience serving in a hospital or health clinic may serve in the role of school nurse and may not be required to possess or promise to obtain any other certification or license as a condition of serving in that role. Registered nurses employed by the governing body of a public school unit as a school nurse shall be paid under the certified school nurse pay scale as established by the State Board of Education.

SECTION 2.  The State Board of Education has authority to adopt temporary rules to enact the provisions of this act until such a time as permanent rules can be adopted.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.