North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
Each public school unit must prohibit students from using, displaying, or having a wireless communication device turned on during instructional time, subject to educational/emergency, IEP/504, and documented health exceptions.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Personal devices
- Requirement
- Required with local discretion
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- No student-learning claim
- Adopted / approved
- Jul 1, 2025
- Legal start
- Jul 1, 2025
- School implementation
- Public school units had to adopt the policy by January 1, 2026. Instructional-time restrictions apply with educational, emergency, IEP/504 and documented medical exceptions.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
Local boards must adopt internet-safety policies for school-provided devices/services that limit access to age-appropriate material, protect security and privacy, prohibit unauthorized access, and block social-media platforms except teacher-directed educational use.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Social media / network
- Requirement
- Required
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- No student-learning claim
- Adopted / approved
- Jul 1, 2025
- Legal start
- Jul 1, 2025
- School implementation
- Local boards had to adopt internet-safety policies by January 1, 2026.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
The standard course of study must teach social media's health effects, misinformation, behavior manipulation, permanence of online information, personal security, cyberbullying, predatory behavior, human trafficking, reporting suspicious behavior, and protective skills.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Social-media literacy
- Requirement
- Required
- Grades
- Once during elementary, once during middle, twice during high school.
- Learning evidence
- Student instruction required
- Adopted / approved
- Jul 1, 2025
- Legal start
- Jul 1, 2025
- School implementation
- Current GS115C-81.26 requires instruction once in elementary school, once in middle school and twice in high school. Enacted through SL2025-38 §2(a).
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
NCDPI's generative-AI guide recommends AI literacy across grade levels and curriculum areas and responsible classroom use. This guidance does not create a required standalone AI course.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
AI literacy
- Requirement
- Recommended
- Grades
- Elementary, middle and high-school recommendations; official guide is PK-13
- Learning evidence
- Learning recommended
- Adopted / approved
- Jan 16, 2024
- Legal start
- Jan 16, 2024
- School implementation
- Guidance released January 16, 2024; recommendations, not a mandatory implementation deadline.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
NCDPI encourages local AI guidelines and responsible use, including evaluation, factual verification, editing, revision and transparency. The guidance discusses academic integrity and student-data protection.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Student AI
- Requirement
- Recommended
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- No student-learning claim
- Adopted / approved
- Jan 16, 2024
- Legal start
- Jan 16, 2024
- School implementation
- Guidance released January 16, 2024; district-specific accompanying guidelines are encouraged rather than mandated by this document.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
Requires a passing grade in an approved computer-science course for covered graduation cohorts. Students enrolling after grade11 and students whose IEP prevents completion are exempt; cohort waivers must be checked separately.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Computer science
- Requirement
- Required
- Grades
- Applies beginning with students entering Grade 9 in 2024-25; statutory exemptions and temporary PSU waiver path applied
- Learning evidence
- Student instruction required
- Adopted / approved
- Sep 29, 2023
- School implementation
- Graduation requirement begins with grade9 entrants in 2024–25. SL2026-41 §7.53 extends implementation-delay notifications forWake/Johnston only through2026–27; affected units must submit a course-offering plan byJanuary 1, 2027. Older DPI pages stating no2026–27 waiver do not reflect this later local exception.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
Every public school unit must offer middle-school students an elective introductory computer-science course surveying the field of computer science.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Computer science
- Requirement
- Required
- Grades
- Middle
- Learning evidence
- Course offering required
- Adopted / approved
- Sep 29, 2023
- School implementation
- Middle-school elective offering applies from 2025–26 under SL2023-132 §2(e); a 2025–26 course-availability waiver was provided in §2(d).
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
NCDPI guidance tells schools to move beyond one-size-fits-all screen-time approaches toward intentional, developmentally appropriate and purpose-driven digital-tool use, with strategies supporting learning, well-being and self-regulation.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Screen time
- Requirement
- Recommended
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- No student-learning claim
- Adopted / approved
- Jun 23, 2026
- School implementation
- Guidance announced June 23, 2026; recommended local practices, not a binding numerical screen-time limit.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
Eligible Tier 1 and Tier 2 public school units can receive state-supported access to a K-8 digital-literacy curriculum and implementation support covering online safety, digital citizenship, AI literacy, computer/IT fundamentals, coding and related skills.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Digital literacy
- Requirement
- Optional / resource
- Grades
- K-8
- Learning evidence
- Optional support / resources
- School implementation
- NCDPI page advertises Tier 1/2 PSU participation for 2026–27 with April 30, 2026 interest-survey deadline. SL2026-41 §7.2 subsequently removes the distressed-county limitation from the statutory planning provision. The cited page does not confirm a currently open application window.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
Public school units must adopt student/staff educational AI-use policies by June 30, 2027, after reviewing DPI's model policy.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
AI governance
- Requirement
- Required with local discretion
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- No student-learning claim
- Adopted / approved
- Jul 7, 2026
- Legal start
- Jul 1, 2026
- School implementation
- DPI model policy due December 31, 2026; access for public school units due January 15, 2027; local AI policies due June 30, 2027.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
DPI must maintain an annually reviewed evaluation framework addressing privacy/security/transparency, curriculum alignment and accessibility, plus reviewed-tool and in-use-tool lists and procurement guidance.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
AI governance
- Requirement
- Required
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- No student-learning claim
- Adopted / approved
- Jul 7, 2026
- Legal start
- Jul 1, 2026
- School implementation
- An ongoing department responsibility under the enacted 2026 law; the evaluation framework must be reviewed annually. Local adoption and tool availability are not independently established.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
Teachers in local school units, charters and laboratory schools must complete the designated AI professional development by June 30, 2028; modules require at least 10 hours.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Staff AI
- Requirement
- Required
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- No student-learning claim
- Adopted / approved
- Jul 7, 2026
- Legal start
- Jul 1, 2026
- School implementation
- Friday Institute modules must total at least 10 hours. Teachers in local school administrative units, charter and laboratory schools must complete the designated training by June 30, 2028.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
The K–12 standard course of study integrates digital learning across subjects and grades, including digital skills, inquiry, collaboration and critical thinking.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Digital literacy
- Requirement
- Required with local discretion
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- Curriculum standards required
- School implementation
- Implementation began in the 2020–21 school year. Standards are delivered across curricular areas and K–12 grades; a separate digital-literacy graduation course is not required by this page.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
The integrated K–12 Digital Learning Standards include digital citizenship, data privacy and cyber safety.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Digital citizenship
- Requirement
- Required with local discretion
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- Curriculum standards required
- School implementation
- Implementation began in the 2020–21 school year. Standards are delivered across curricular areas and K–12 grades; a separate digital-literacy graduation course is not required by this page.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
Local school administrative units must report cybersecurity incidents to the Department of Information Technology.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Privacy / cybersecurity
- Requirement
- Required
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- No student-learning claim
- School implementation
- Ongoing statutory incident-reporting requirement; subsection (c) sets no separate number-of-hours reporting deadline.
North Carolina· State / DCCurrent
Local school administrative units may not pay or communicate with an entity encrypting their systems for ransom and must consult state IT when a ransom is requested.
Reviewed against official sources · Oct 4, 2026
Privacy / cybersecurity
- Requirement
- Required
- Grades
- All K-12
- Learning evidence
- No student-learning claim
- School implementation
- Current GS143-800 prohibits ransomware payment/communication and requires consultation with state DIT when a ransom is requested.