NC S1249

Directs the State Board of Education to establish a Blue Ribbon Task Force to study raising the compulsory public school attendance age from 16 to either 17 or 18 years old.

Task force must examine fiscal and educational impacts of raising compulsory attendance age in states that have done so within the last 15 years.

Task force must analyze the relationship between compulsory attendance age requirements (16, 17, or 18) and dropout and high school completion rates across states.

Task force must identify best practices for working with at-risk student populations in states that have raised compulsory attendance age and calculate fiscal impacts for each local school unit in North Carolina.

State Board of Education must submit findings and recommendations to the Joint Legislative Commission on Dropout Prevention and High School Graduation and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by November 15, 2010.