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SB 389 North Carolina Senate · 2025-2026 Session

Add Home Schools to Opportunity Scholarships.

SB 389 expands North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship Program to include home-schooled students. The bill adds a new provision (Section 1(b)(2)) specifying that home-school students would receive up to 25% of the state's average per-pupil funding allocation annually, compared to 45-100% for private school students based on household income. It directly affects home-schooled students in North Carolina who have not yet earned a high school diploma and meet the program's income requirements. The bill defines "home school" as meeting state requirements under Part 3 of Article 39 and specifies that funds cover required educational costs (books, materials) but not tuition or transportation. This change modifies existing scholarship rules without altering income-based tiers for private school students.
Issues: ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesExpands state funding allocation to home-schooled students via Opportunity Scholarship Program, directly impacting budget appropriations for education assistance.90% confidence ✓ EducationSupports EducationExpands scholarship access to home-schooled students, increasing educational choice and funding for non-traditional education pathways90% confidence
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Mar 24, 2025 Last action Mar 25, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Filed → Edition 1 · 3 edits
MINOR
This bill version transition from filing to first edition includes minor formatting updates and one substantive funding clarification. The primary change adjusts how Opportunity Scholarship Grant amounts are calculated, ensuring the funding cap is based on the prior fiscal year's per-pupil allocation rather than an incomplete reference. Technical changes include updated bill identifiers and committee referral information.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on Opportunity Scholarships for homeschool students, with no change to the fundamental eligibility criteria or program structure.
FISCAL

Clarified that the maximum scholarship amount (up to 60% of average State per pupil allocation) is calculated using the prior fiscal year's per-pupil allocation data, correcting an incomplete reference in the original filing version.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill identifiers from DRS35167-MTa-43 to S389-v-1 and added committee referral information to Rules and Operations of the Senate dated March 25, 2025.

Standardized document formatting including session year placement and bill number positioning.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Mar 25, 2025
Committee
Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
upper
Mar 24, 2025
Introduced
Filed
upper
0 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.