This document outlines legislative and policy priorities for 2023 from the North Carolina Association of School Administrators (NCASA). Key priorities include: providing compensation increases for all school employees, with a focus on critical shortage areas; expanding funding for student mental health support personnel; enhancing school safety support; ensuring adequate funding for high-need student populations and facilities needs; and reforming the state's school accountability system.

1. Department of Health and Human Services
(NCDHHS) to streamline services and billing
practices for Medicaid-eligible student
programs.
EFFECTIVE & EFFICIENT OPERATIONS
@NCASATweets
NCASA is a non-profit membership organization serving
over 7,000 school administrators from across North
Carolina and uniting 12 educational leadership groups
with the common mission of ensuring student success
through visionary leadership. www.ncasa.net
“Piecing Together Support For
North Carolina’s Public Schools”
North Carolina Association Of School Administrators
P.O. Box 26567, Raleigh, NC 27611
info@ncasa.net
Phone: 919-828-1426
AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS
UNDER THE NCASA UMBRELLA
▪ North Carolina Council For
Administrators Of Special
Education (NCCASE)
▪ North Carolina Career &
Technical Education
Administrators (NCACTEA)
▪ North Carolina Federal
Program Administrators
(NCFEPA)
▪ North Carolina Professors Of
Educational Leadership
(NCPEL)
▪ North Carolina Pupil
Transportation Association
(NCPTA)
▪ School Nutrition Association Of
North Carolina (SNANC)
▪ North Carolina School
Superintendents’ Association
(NCSSA)
▪ North Carolina Principals &
Assistant Principals’
Association (NCPAPA)
▪ North Carolina Association For
School Business Officials
(NCASBO)
▪ Personnel Administrators Of
North Carolina (PANC)
▪ North Carolina School Public
Relations Association
(NCSPRA)
▪ North Carolina Technology In
Education Society (NCTIES)
For questions about our legislative and policy
priorities, contact our Advocacy Team:
Elizabeth Yelverton
NCASA Legal Affairs
& Policy Manager
eyelverton@ncasa.net
Katherine Joyce
NCASA Executive Director
kjoyce@ncasa.net
LEAD | INSPIRE | ACHIEVE
• School Calendar – Allow LEAs to set
“student-centered” calendars like charter,
Restart, and Cooperative Innovative High
Schools are now empowered to do.
• Cybersecurity – Expand and make
permanent cybersecurity funding, training,
and overall support for LEAs as digital
threats continue to grow.
• NC Pre-K
◦ Provide additional funding to address
ongoing Pre-K waitlists, expand program
participation, and ensure early learning
opportunities for diverse student
populations.
◦ Count NC Pre-K students for ADM
purposes in determining salary schedule
placement for principals overseeing
these programs.
◦ Exempt or waive LEA-based early
childhood offerings from certain DHHS
regulations for operations of NC Pre-K
programs.
5
2023
Legislative
& Policy Priorities

2. RECRUITING & RETAINING THE
BEST PERSONNEL
current 13% funding cap and revise the
allotment to reflect the differentiated costs of
supporting students with special needs, as
recommended by the Department of Public
Instruction.
• Expand state revenue streams to help all
counties and school districts address the more
than $13 billion in identified school facility
needs through 2026.
• Expand waiver options for school districts
struggling to meet K-3 class size mandates
and eliminate the mandated district-wide
average ratios in those grade levels.
• Continue state support for the
Transportation Fuel Reserve to account for
fluctuating fuel prices impacting school
transportation services.

STUDENT HEALTH & WELL-BEING

• Provide compensation increases for ALL
school employees, and specifically:
◦ Provide targeted increases for
employees working in areas of critical
shortage – including Bus Drivers, Bus
Mechanics, Teacher Assistants, Special
Education Teachers, STEM Teachers,
and Mental Health Support Personnel –
most of whom are currently able to earn
more in the private sector or in a similar
role in another public sector agency.
◦ Reform the principal pay plan to reflect
a career progression pathway; increase
stability in base salary by reducing the
portion dependent on school performance
and adding school complexity and
principal retention components; maintain
the current bonus structure to reward
exceptional performance; and include a
hold-harmless provision to prevent cuts to
any principal’s base pay.
◦ Reinstate advanced degree
supplements for teachers and
principals.
◦ Increase state support for the new job
classifications developed by the State
Board of Education to address the need
for higher starting pay, as well as to
reduce salary compression.
• Expand options for rehiring retirees,
particularly in high-need professions.
• Enhance employee benefits, including
reinstating the paid health insurance for
retirees that was phased out for new
employees as of 1/1/2021.
• Expand qualified staff recruitment through
the following educator pipeline initiatives:
◦ Expand the Teaching Fellows Program to
better reflect its original structure.
◦ Enhance state support for
Grow-Your-Own teacher initiatives.
2
1
• Expand state support for addressing
student mental health needs through the
following initiatives:
◦ Create a School Mental Health
Support Personnel Allotment, like
that created specifically for school
psychologists, to improve staff-to-
student ratios for counselors, nurses,
and social workers, and to better reflect
levels of these critical personnel.
• Allow LEAs that cannot secure qualified
school psychologists to utilize
psychologist funds for other needed
mental health support personnel,
especially those who are clinically trained to
provide therapeutic services.
• Enhance school safety support on all K-12
campuses through the following initiatives:
◦ Make the School Safety Grant Program
permanent with recurring state funding.
◦ Expand state funding to provide a school
resource officer (SRO) at every school.
• Increase collaboration between special
education administrators and the NC
4
ADEQUATE & EQUITABLE RESOURCES
3
• Fund the “Pathways To Excellence For
Teaching Professionals” Refine and
fund the proposed Pathways licensure
and pay pilot program and include
professional development for school
administrators overseeing its
implementation.
• Improve the state’s School Performance
Grades system to include multiple
components reflecting student success.
◦ Retain achievement measures
(EOGs, EOCs, and other performance
indicators for non-tested subjects).
◦ Increase value of “meeting or
exceeding” student growth targets.
◦ Add or retain additional indicators
based on school administrator
feedback.
◦ Revise the definition of
low-performing schools to exclude
those that meet growth.

ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM REFORM
• Expand support for key allotments
focused directly on student learning:
Classroom Teachers, Exceptional Children,
English Language Learners, Teacher
Assistants, and Instructional Support
Personnel.
• Make strategic investments in public
education to enhance learning opportunities
and readiness for college and careers, as
well as to ensure every student is provided
the opportunity for a sound basic education.
• Provide additional state support for
children with disabilities above the