House Bill 983 would prohibit corporal punishment in North Carolina public schools beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. The bill rewrites the state’s corporal punishment statute to make such punishment unlawful, while preserving the distinction between corporal punishment and other forms of discipline such as physical restraint allowed under federal law and existing state law, and reasonable force used by school personnel. It also repeals a separate statute governing civil actions related to corporal punishment.
The bill further updates several education statutes to align with the ban and to expand reporting on school discipline. Local school units, the State Board of Education, and superintendents would be required to track and report data on corporal punishment, suspensions, expulsions, reassignments, and alternative placements, with disaggregation by race, gender, grade level, ethnicity, and disability status. For students with disabilities, the bill clarifies that any corporal punishment-related provisions must comply with federal disability law, though the bill’s main effect is to eliminate corporal punishment as a permissible disciplinary option in public schools.
HB983 would change North Carolina law by removing local school boards’ authority to permit corporal punishment and replacing the existing permissive framework with a statewide prohibition. It would amend multiple sections of Chapter 115C to conform discipline policies, reporting duties, and disability-related provisions to the new ban, and it would repeal G.S. 6-21.4, which relates to civil actions involving corporal punishment. The bill would also require continued public reporting of discipline data, including corporal punishment incidents for the period before the ban takes effect, and would apply prospectively starting in the 2025-2026 school year.
The available context suggests broad support for the bill’s policy direction. The bill’s findings cite research against corporal punishment and note that no local school administrative units currently allow it, while also referencing support from the State Board of Education, the North Carolina PTA, and child-focused advocacy organizations. There is no recorded committee debate or vote history in the provided materials, so the sentiment can only be inferred from the bill text and appears generally favorable to prohibition.
The main policy tension in the bill is between a statewide ban and the prior statutory framework that allowed local school units to decide whether corporal punishment would be permitted. The bill also preserves and clarifies the distinction between corporal punishment and other disciplinary tools, which may matter to school administrators concerned about maintaining authority to use restraint or reasonable force. Another point of sensitivity is the reporting of discipline data by race, disability status, and other demographics, which can raise privacy, compliance, and equity concerns, especially for students with disabilities and for districts that may need to adjust discipline policies and recordkeeping practices.