Private School Administrator FAQs

DNPE suggests that you familiarize yourself with each of the following:

1. The current legal requirements for North Carolina conventional non-public schools.
2. Each September, log into the Private School online portal to complete your school’s Annual Report Form. Complete the form each school year.
3. Fire and Sanitation Inspections: Regular fire and sanitation inspections are required.  If it has been longer than 12 months since your last school facility inspections, immediately call or write your county health department and your city or county fire marshal to request the inspections.
4. Student Fire Drills:  Conduct them at least monthly.
5. Nationally Standardized Tests: Required by state law to be administered each year to all students enrolled in grades 3, 6, 9 and 11. Note that this requirement is different from that of North Carolina's public schools.
6. Superintendent Notification: Your local public school superintendent would greatly appreciate notification whenever a student withdraws from your school. This voluntary action on your part will help a great deal in enforcing the compulsory attendance law for students in your local area.
7. Expect a school visit from DNPE at least once every two or three years.  You will receive notice of a school visit from a DNPE official via email at least one week in advance.
8. DEC Requirements:  If your school enrolls students aged 15 - 17, please be sure to read carefully the North Carolina non-public school student Driving Eligibility Certificate Requirements.  Please be certain to always require the student to first take the certificate home to have the parent/guardian sign it, and then return it to your school for you to then place your signature, your school's raised imprinted seal, and enter the date on it.  It is then ready at that point to be given to the student to take to the local North Carolina DMV center.
9. Familiarize yourself with the Non-Public Education General Statutes and Other North Carolina Statutes of Interest to Non-Public Schools.
10. President's Education Awards Program: These certificates are available free from the US Department of Education.  The award may be given to students graduating from elementary, middle and senior high schools (public or private).  Students who have maintained an A- grade average and score in the 85th percentile on a nationally standardized achievement test are eligible.

Contact:
       President's Education Recognition Programs
       US Department of Education
       400 Maryland Avenue SW
       Washington, DC 20202-3521
       Call toll free: (877) 897-4784
       Fax to: (703) 518-6295
       Click on President's Education Awards Programs.
 

Each school is visited within one year of being registered with DNPE and then again once every two to three years.

First, contact the local building inspector's office.  That inspector will approve the building for school usage.

Second, contact the local fire marshal's office to request that a fire inspection be conducted. 

Third, contact the county health department's school sanitation section to request what is known as an "initial courtesy inspection."  The sanitation inspector will then do an initial brief "walkthrough" and give the school administrator only a partially completed Inspection of School form.  He/she will then return at a later unannounced date to assign sanitation grades to each of the items on his/her official Inspection of School form. 

A photocopy of this "initial courtesy inspection" will suffice for attaching to your completed Notice of Intent to Operate A School form. 
See the school sanitation inspection preparation checklist. 

If the school will meet in a leased or rented building, it is suggested that these inspections be done before formally committing to the lease or rental of the facility. Also, be sure the inside of the building is free of asbestos-containing materials.
 

No, provided the school does not operate a pre-kindergarten program. However, non-public schools are encouraged to voluntarily require them initially for each new school staff member.  Read the North Carolina Attorney General's legal opinion. 

The current public school staff health certificate statutory requirement is found in G.S. 115C-323.
 

No, each individual non-public school establishes its own qualifications for its faculty and administrative staff.

A criminal background check can be obtained through the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation in Raleigh or any other certified background check company. Contact Yvonne at (919) 662-4509, extension 6366.

A statewide only record check will usually cost about $15 per person while both a state and a federal criminal record check will usually cost the North Carolina non-public school about $40 per person. Non-public school chief administrators are strongly encouraged to run a criminal background check initially on each new school employee.

Call the Chief of the Teacher Licensure Section of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, at (919) 716-1800 or toll-free within North Carolina only at (800) 577-7994.

Reporting it is required; however, the decision to enforce any criminal statute is always left to the discretion and jurisdiction of the local District Attorney and the Attorney General's Office. G.S. 14-318.2 addresses penalties for abuse.

G.S. 7B-301 requires all persons and institutions to report any "cause to suspect" abuse or neglect of juveniles. 

Therefore, DNPE recommends that the non-public school administrator immediately contact the Director of the Department of Social Services in the North Carolina county where the juvenile resides or is presently located. 

It is further recommended that the non-public school consider including a statement to this effect in its parent handbook, in case the need ever arises for the school to report such information to local authorities. 

For additional information, see G.S. 7B-101 (which defines abuse) as well as G.S. 7B-302 and 7B-303.

No, North Carolina's non-public school statutes do not address this topic. Therefore, private K-12 schools in North Carolina are free to make their own final decisions regarding whether a student is promoted to the next grade level or retained.

G.S. 115C-554 & G.S. 115C-562 exempts them from all public school promotion/retention policies.