Rewriting Rules - Brief Article

School Administrator, March, 1996

School administrators across North Carolina will have far fewer state rules to contend with during the years ahead.

Following the directive of the state board of education, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction soon will roll back years of accumulated regulations in such far-flung areas as planning school bus routes and defining excusable absences from school. The repeal of various state regulations will return authority to local school boards.

The only proposed repeal drawing significant attention during recent public hearings concerned school bus safety, said Harry E. Wilson, attorney for the state education agency. "The feeling was it's easier for the state to say, 'This is what's needed,' rather than let 119 local school boards decide," he said.