End School Corporal Punishment

Map › North Carolina

North Carolina

Legal, but every district has stopped

All 115 districts had stopped the practice by October 2, 2018 (Robeson County April 2018, Graham County October 2, 2018) after two decades of advocacy by NC Child; 57 students reported struck in 2017-18, none since. Stopping is not the same as repealing: as of October 2026 at least two boards still carry a permissive written policy (Bladen County 4355, revised 2011; Randolph County 4355 with its record-of-corporal-punishment form), while most boards use the NCSBA model 4302 language that forbids it. A 2019 bipartisan ban bill cleared House Education and stalled; HB 983 (2025) is pending.

The law

G.S. 115C-390.4 text

Private schools are not covered.

Limits

  • Local board decides; witness required; written parental notice; records; annual report to State Board by race, sex and disability; written parental opt-out offered at enrollment (an opted-out student may be suspended for offenses that otherwise would not require it)

Bills

  • HB 983 (2025-26), Reps. Maria Cervania and Marcia Morey (D): Prohibit corporal punishment in schools; in House Rules since April 14, 2025 pending record
  • S714 (2025-26), Sen. Gladys Robinson (D) with Sen. Kevin Corbin (R) among sponsors: Prohibit corporal punishment in schools; in Senate Rules since March 26, 2025 pending record

Sources: 1 2 3 · verified 2026-09-09

Students struck

YearStudentsBlackBoysWith disabilitiesPer 1,000
2017-1857

US Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection. Students, not incidents; 2023-24 computed by this project from the raw file.

Counties

North Carolina has 347 school districts in 100 counties. Each district is drawn in the colour of its own policy; hover one for its name and rule, click to jump to its row. Counties show through where no district is recorded yet.
Rockingham Franklin Randolph Yadkin Alexander Onslow Orange Cabarrus Iredell Stokes Guilford Person Vance Lenoir Cleveland Transylvania Craven Edgecombe Caldwell Pitt Jones Forsyth Wayne Bladen Polk Mitchell Currituck Lincoln Haywood Durham Greene Johnston New Hanover Chatham Richmond Scotland Davidson Anson Rutherford Yancey Swain Hertford Cumberland Wilkes Sampson Pamlico Washington Moore Robeson Surry Carteret Alleghany Harnett Hoke Perquimans Granville Hyde Watauga Macon Clay Chowan Gates Pasquotank Graham Cherokee Brunswick Halifax Jackson Warren Northampton Ashe Buncombe Burke McDowell Columbus Caswell Henderson Gaston Tyrrell Davie Avery Pender Catawba Mecklenburg Nash Madison Stanly Dare Wilson Duplin Martin Wake Lee Bertie Rowan Alamance Montgomery Union Camden Beaufort
Mixed: some districts here prohibit it, some permit it (1)A district's policy allows it (1)No written rule found; the district reports using it (13)Every sourced district prohibits it (83)District policy not yet checked (2)

The map is counties, and most counties hold several districts: green when every recorded district prohibits it, striped when some prohibit and some permit, red when a district permits it. The table below is district by district. Counties take the state's status unless a recorded district differs. Boundaries: US Census Bureau (public domain). District policies with a source link are verified; the rest were carried over from the original map and are being re-checked.

Districts

111 of 347 North Carolina districts listed; 109 checked against the district's own policy. The rest are marked not checked: the pre-2026 map carried a status for them with no source, and the first ones re-checked in 2026 were wrong more often than not, so those values are shown only as a note and are not used to colour the map. Help check this state.

"Struck 2023-24" is the district's own figure from its own Civil Rights Data Collection filing, joined by federal district id. A blank means the district is not among the 832 the collection names, which can mean it reported none or that it reported nothing at all — the public-use file does not distinguish the two, so no claim is made either way.

DistrictCountyPaddlingStruck 2023-24PhonesAIHS startSourceVerified
Aggie AcademyGuilfordNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Alamance-Burlington SchoolsAlamanceProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Alexander County SchoolsAlexanderNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Alleghany County SchoolsAlleghanyProhibitspolicy records_request2026-10-13
Anson County SchoolsAnsonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Ashe County SchoolsAsheProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-12
Asheboro City SchoolsRandolphProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Asheville City SchoolsBuncombeProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Avery County SchoolsAveryNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Beaufort County SchoolsBeaufortProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Bertie County SchoolsBertieProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Bladen County SchoolsBladenAllows4355 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Brunswick County SchoolsBrunswickProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Buncombe County SchoolsBuncombeProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Burke County SchoolsBurkeProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Cabarrus County SchoolsCabarrusProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Caldwell County SchoolsCaldwellProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Camden County SchoolsCamdenProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Carteret County Public SchoolsCarteretProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Caswell County SchoolsCaswellProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Catamount SchoolJacksonProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City SchoolsOrangeNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Charlotte-Mecklenburg SchoolsMecklenburgNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Chatham County SchoolsChathamProhibits4355 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Cherokee County SchoolsCherokeeProhibitspolicy records_request2026-10-12
Clay County SchoolsClayProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Cleveland County SchoolsClevelandProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Clinton City SchoolsSampsonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Columbus County SchoolsColumbusProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Craven County Board of EducationCravenProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Cumberland County SchoolsCumberlandProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Currituck County SchoolsCurrituckProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Dare County SchoolsDareProhibits4300 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Davidson County SchoolsDavidsonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Davie County SchoolsDavieProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Duplin County SchoolsDuplinProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Durham Public SchoolsDurhamNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Edgecombe County Public SchoolsEdgecombeNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public SchoolsPasquotankProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Forsyth County SchoolsForsythNot checked
old map said bans		none yet
Franklin County SchoolsFranklinProhibits4365 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Gaston County SchoolsGastonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Gates County SchoolsGatesProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Granville County SchoolsGranvilleProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Greene County SchoolsGreeneProhibits4300 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Guilford County SchoolsGuilfordProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Halifax County SchoolsHalifaxProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Harnett County SchoolsHarnettProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Haywood County SchoolsHaywoodProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-12
Henderson County SchoolsHendersonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Hertford County SchoolsHertfordProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Hickory City SchoolsCatawbaProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Hoke County SchoolsHokeProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Hyde County SchoolsHydeProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Iredell-Statesville SchoolsIredellProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Jackson County Public SchoolsJacksonProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Johnston County Public SchoolsJohnstonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Kannapolis City SchoolsCabarrusProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Lee County SchoolsLeeProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Lexington City SchoolsDavidsonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Lincoln County SchoolsLincolnProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Macon County SchoolsMaconProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Madison County SchoolsMadisonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Martin County SchoolsMartinProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Mcdowell County SchoolsMcDowellNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-29
Mitchell County SchoolsMitchellProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Montgomery County SchoolsMontgomeryProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Moore County SchoolsMooreProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Mooresville Graded School DistrictIredellProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Mount Airy City SchoolsSurryProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Nash County Public SchoolsNashProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
New Hanover County SchoolsNew HanoverProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Newton Conover City SchoolsCatawbaProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Northampton County SchoolsNorthamptonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Onslow County SchoolsOnslowProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Orange County SchoolsOrangeProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Pamlico County SchoolsPamlicoProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Pender County SchoolsPenderProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Perquimans County SchoolsPerquimansProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Person County SchoolsPersonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Pitt County SchoolsPittProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Polk County SchoolsPolkProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Public Schools Of Robeson CountyRobesonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Randolph County School SystemRandolphAllows4355 portal_harvest2026-10-12
Richmond County SchoolsRichmondProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Roanoke Rapids City SchoolsHalifaxProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Robeson County SchoolsRobesonNot checked
old map said bans		none yet
Rockingham County SchoolsRockinghamProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Rowan-Salisbury SchoolsRowanProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Rutherford County SchoolsRutherfordProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Sampson County SchoolsSampsonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Scotland County SchoolsScotlandProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Stanly County SchoolsStanlyProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Stokes County SchoolsStokesProhibitspolicy records_request2026-10-13
Surry County SchoolsSurryNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Swain County SchoolsSwainProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Thomasville City SchoolsDavidsonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-12
Transylvania County SchoolsTransylvaniaProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Tyrrell County SchoolsTyrrellProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Union County Public SchoolsUnionProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Vance County SchoolsVanceProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Wake County Public SchoolsWakeProhibits4309 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Warren County SchoolsWarrenProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Washington County SchoolsWashingtonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Watauga County SchoolsWataugaNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Wayne County Public SchoolsWayneProhibits4306 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Weldon City SchoolsHalifaxProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Wilkes County SchoolsWilkesProhibitspolicy records_request2026-10-12
Wilson County SchoolsWilsonProhibits4302 portal_harvest2026-10-09
Yadkin County SchoolsYadkinNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Yancey County SchoolsYanceyNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26

In the news

Do something

Parents

File the written refusal with your child's school. In this state the burden is on you to say no; the school must honor it.

Everyone

Write the board or your legislator with the numbers above. The templates cite only verified facts.

Agents

Every district in this state needs a sourced policy entry. The district scan takes about an hour per 40 districts.