N.C. Gen. Stat. § 116-74.42

(1) Program. - A Principal Fellows Program shall be administered by the North Carolina Principal Fellows and TP3 Commission in collaboration with the State Education Assistance Authority. The Principal Fellows Program shall provide up to a two-year scholarship loan to selected recipients and shall provide extracurricular enhancement activities for recipients. The North Carolina Principal Fellows and TP3 Commission shall determine selection criteria, methods of selection, and shall select recipients to receive scholarship loans made under the Principal Fellows Program.

(3) Director. - The director of the Program appointed by the Commission shall oversee the Principal Fellows Program. The University of North Carolina System Office shall provide office space and clerical support staff for the program in accordance with G.S. 116-74.49.

(4) Eligibility for Scholarship Loans. - The Principal Fellows Program shall provide a two-year scholarship loan in the amount specified in subsection (c1) of this section to persons who may be eligible to be selected as school administrators in the public schools of the State by completing a full-time program in school administration in an approved program. Approved programs are those chosen by the Commission from among school administrator programs within the State. No more than 200 principal fellow scholarship loan awards shall be made in each year. The final number of scholarship loan awards per year shall be made in accordance with the Board of Governors' findings concerning the supply and demand of administrators, the State's need for school administrator candidates and within funds appropriated for the scholarship loans. Effective September 1, 1995, and in accordance with school administrator training programs established by the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina, recipients shall be required to complete an approved full-time academic program during the first year of the scholarship loan program and a full-time internship during the second year of the program. In order to attract fellows as interns, local school administrative units may use all or part of the funds allotted for an assistant principal salary for each intern accepted by the local school administrative unit; however, interns shall not serve as assistant principals.

(5) Scholarship Loan Amount. - The scholarship loan shall be thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) per participant for the first year of participation. For the second year of participation, the amount of the scholarship loan per participant shall be sixty percent (60%) of the beginning salary for an assistant principal plus four thousand one hundred dollars ($4,100) for tuition, fees, and books. The Commission may adjust the amount of the scholarship loan specified in this subsection to take into account increases in tuition, fees, and the cost of books, increases in the State principal assistant salary schedule, and changes in the stipend paid to participants in the program during the second year internship.

(6) Student Selection Criteria. - The Commission shall adopt stringent standards, which may include standardized test scores, undergraduate performance, job experience and performance, leadership and management abilities, and other standards deemed appropriate by the Commission, to ensure that only the best potential students receive scholarship loans under the Principal Fellows Program. The Commission shall consider the qualifications of all applicants fairly, regardless of gender or race, and shall consider the geographic diversity of the State. Scholarship loans under the Principal Fellows Program shall be awarded only to applicants who meet the standards set by the Commission, are domiciled in North Carolina, and who agree to work as school administrators in a North Carolina public school or at a school operated by the United States government in North Carolina upon completion of the two-year school administrator program supported by the loan.

(7) Program Selection. - The Commission shall develop and administer the Principal Fellows Program in cooperation with school administrator programs at institutions approved by the Commission. The Commission shall develop criteria and a process for the approval of campus program sites. Extracurricular enhancement activities shall be coordinated with each fellow's campus program and shall focus on the leadership development of program fellows.

(8) Review Committees. - The Commission may form regional review committees to assist it in identifying the best applicants for the program. The Commission and the review committees shall make an effort to identify and encourage women and minorities and others who may not otherwise consider a career in school administration to apply for the Principal Fellows Program.

(9) Administration of the Program. - Upon the naming of recipients of the scholarship loans by the Principal Fellows and TP3 Commission, the Commission shall transfer to the State Education Assistance Authority its decisions. The Authority shall perform all of the administrative functions necessary to implement the requirements for the Principal Fellows Program under this Article, which functions shall include: rule making, dissemination of information, disbursement, receipt, liaison with participating educational institutions, determination of the acceptability of service repayment agreements, and all other functions necessary for the execution, payment, and enforcement of promissory notes required for the Principal Fellows Program under this Article.

History

(1993, c. 321, s. 85(a); 2006-66, s. 9.16(a), (b); 2018-5, s. 10A.3(b); 2018-145, s. 2(b); 2019-60, s. 1(a), ( l ), (s).)

Section Repealed Effective July 1, 2021. - Session Laws 2019-60, s. 1(s), provides: "Effective July 1, 2021, G.S. 116-74.42 and G.S. 116-74.43 are repealed."

Session Laws 2006-66, s. 9.16.(a), (b), which substituted "amount specified in subsection (c1) of this section" for "amount of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) per year, per recipient" in the first sentence of subsection (c); and added subsection (c1), is applicable to recipients of scholarship loans for the 2006-2007 academic year and each subsequent academic year.

Session Laws 2006-66, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2006'."

Session Laws 2006-66, s. 28.6, is a severability clause.

Session Laws 2018-5, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2018.'"

Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.7, is a severability clause.

Session laws 2018-145, s. 2(h), made the amendment of subsection (a2) of this section by Session Laws 2018-145, s. 2(b), effective July 1, 2019, and applicable to the administration of the Transforming Principal Preparation Grant Program and the award of grants under the Program on or after that date.

Session Laws 2019-60, s. 1(a), effective June 27, 2019, repealed Session Laws 2018-145, s. 2(b), which had rewritten subsection (a2) of this section.

Session Laws 2019-60, s. 1(p), provides: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Office of State Budget and Management shall transfer the unexpended balance in the Principal Fellows Trust Fund established under G.S. 116-74.42 to the North Carolina Principal Fellows and TP3 Trust Fund established under G.S. 116-74.41 B."

Session Laws 2019-60, s. 1(q), provides: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning with the 2019-2020 fiscal year, of the funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Principal Fellows Trust Fund established under G.S. 116-74.42 each fiscal year, the sum of three million two hundred fifty-eight thousand dollars ($3,258,000) in recurring funds shall instead be appropriated to the North Carolina Principal Fellows and TP3 Trust Fund established under G.S. 116-74.41 B."

Session Laws 2019-60, s. 1(t), provides: "The North Carolina Principal Fellows and TP3 Commission shall make final scholarship loan awards for the Principal Fellows Program for the 2021 spring academic semester."

Session Laws 2019-60, s. 1(p), provides: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Office of State Budget and Management shall transfer the unexpended balance in the Principal Fellows Trust Fund established under G.S. 116-74.42 to the North Carolina Principal Fellows and TP3 Trust Fund established under G.S. 116-74.41 B."

Session Laws 2019-60, s. 1(q), provides: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning with the 2019-2020 fiscal year, of the funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Principal Fellows Trust Fund established under G.S. 116-74.42 each fiscal year, the sum of three million two hundred fifty-eight thousand dollars ($3,258,000) in recurring funds shall instead be appropriated to the North Carolina Principal Fellows and TP3 Trust Fund established under G.S. 116-74.41 B."

Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2018-5, s. 10A.3(b), effective July 1, 2018, added the subsection headings; and added subsections (a1) and (a2).

Session Laws 2018-145, s. 2(b), rewrote subsection (a2). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note.

Session Laws 2019-60, s. 1(1), effective June 27, 2019, rewrote this section.

Opinions of Attorney General

Commission May Approve School Administrator Programs at Private Institutions and May Award Scholarship Loans to Qualified Persons in Such Programs. - The Principal Fellows Commission has broad authority to approve school administrator programs at private institutions and to permit persons enrolled in such programs to participate in the Principal Fellows Program. See opinion of Attorney General to Karen F. Gerringer, Director, North Carolina Principal Fellows Program, 1999 N.C. AG LEXIS 23 (7/2/99).