The North Carolina State Board of Education on Thursday formalized a ban on transgender athletes in middle and junior high school sports and reviewed the latest report on the growth and performance of charter schools across the state.
During its meeting, the board unanimously approved updates to its middle and junior high school athletics manual, formally incorporating a state law that bars transgender athletes from competing on teams that do not match their sex assigned at birth. The vote does not create new policy but aligns the manual with legislation that passed the General Assembly in June 2023 and became law in August 2023 after Republican lawmakers overrode a veto by former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Cooper had called the bill “a solution in search of a problem.”
The updated manual states that “boys shall not participate on a female team and girls shall not participate on a male team,” with limited exceptions, such as when no equivalent team exists. While the ban has been in place since the 2023–2024 school year, Thursday’s vote puts the rule directly into the handbook that governs athletic programs across the state.
The revised Middle/Junior High School Athletic Manual, set to take effect in the 2025–2026 school year, also updates how middle school sports are organized and regulated.
Brad Alford, the Department of Public Instruction’s athletics director, told the board the manual was overhauled into 10 clearer sections and stripped of high school-specific language to better fit middle school programs. It also swaps out gymnastics for lacrosse and adds new weight classes for girls’ wrestling, a sport that Alford said has seen steady growth across North Carolina.
The approved manual will be sent to school districts and athletic directors ahead of the 2025-2026 school year.
Chater schools
The board also reviewed the state’s annual charter school report, which showed that North Carolina’s 208 charter schools now enroll more than 153,000 students, 38,000 more than six years ago. Along with that growth, charter schools have become more diverse, with white student enrollment falling from over 60% in 2010 to around 45% in 2024.
The number of Asian students has more than doubled and Hispanic enrollment has nearly tripled, though Hispanic students remain underrepresented overall. Black student enrollment has stayed relatively steady during that time, according to the state’s annual charter school report.
Despite steady growth, North Carolina’s charter schools continue to face challenges with more than 53% of school leaders citing teacher retention as their top concern, followed by budget pressures and academic recovery from pandemic learning losses. Student proficiency across key subgroups remains below pre-pandemic levels as of 2024, according to the report.
Academically, 68% of North Carolina charter schools earned A, B, or C performance grades, and 70% met or exceeded growth standards. But overall student proficiency remains below pre-pandemic levels, with students with disabilities and Hispanic students facing the greatest academic challenges.
The report also highlighted transportation and facility funding as major challenges for charter schools. Charter schools receive just $2.5 million a year in state transportation grants, despite reporting more than $8 million in eligible expenses, leaving schools to cover the gap from their own budgets.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( State Board of Ed formalizes transgender athlete ban, reviews charter school growth )
Also on site :