{"id":2158,"date":"2026-06-10T19:39:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T19:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2158"},"modified":"2026-06-10T19:39:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T19:39:18","slug":"the-kids-of-many-first-responders-would-get-free-community-college-under-nc-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2158","title":{"rendered":"The kids of many first responders would get free community college under NC bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

North Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill that would send children of law enforcement officers, firefighters, and experienced correctional officers to community college for free.<\/p>\n

Read more Wake judge dismisses lawsuit alleging NC State ignored trainer\u2019s abuse claims<\/a><\/p>\n

The legislation<\/a> is an attempt to attract more officers and convince them to stay, according to Rep. Mike Schietzelt, a Wake County Republican sponsoring the bill.<\/p>\n

High vacancy rates plague the N.C. Department of Adult Correction, and improving recruitment and retention among first responders and correctional officers is a high priority for the state. The average vacancy rate for correctional officers in NC is 30%, with some prisons seeing vacancies up to 60%, The News & Observer previously reported<\/a>. This bill \u2014 dubbed the Family Support for Those Who Serve Act \u2014 aims to make the stressful, demanding job more appealing.<\/p>\n

If it becomes law, the benefit would apply to children of certain public safety officers between the ages of 17 and 24 who meet admissions standards for community college. For correctional officers to receive the tuition waiver for their kids, they must rack up more than 10 years of experience on the job.<\/p>\n

The program would cost the state an estimated $2 million, Schietzelt told the House\u2019s Higher Education Committee on Wednesday morning. He says that cost could be offset by the savings associated with improved recruitment and retention of public safety officers. Plus, he said it\u2019s an \u201copportunity for a lot of kids to change their stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawmakers heard praise Wednesday morning from Justin Davis, director of legislative affairs for the Department of Adult Correction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a very difficult time recruiting and retaining [correctional] officers,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThese are extremely meaningful benefits that our employees will recognize should this be passed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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His only note? Lawmakers should consider extending the tuition waiver to children of probation officers. That was an issue also raised by Rep. Brian Turner, a Buncombe County Democrat.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbation officers are being asked to go out, do home visits, check on people,\u201d Turner said. \u201cThey\u2019re putting themselves in harm\u2019s way. A lot of times, they are loaned out to their task forces and working with other law enforcement officers. I want to make sure that, if we\u2019re looking at this from that perspective, they might be included as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schietzelt said lawmakers are considering the inclusion of probation officers \u2014 but still need to evaluate how that might increase the cost of the program.<\/p>\n

The House committee unanimously approved the bill Wednesday morning. An identical bill has also been introduced in the Senate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my opinion, community college is the best bang for your buck in the state educationally,\u201d said Rep. Jay Adams, a Hickory Republican. \u201cThis is a small enough population that we can actually measure the results and actually see what it provides for the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more UNC baseball wants one thing \u2014 the national title. \u2018That\u2019s all we\u2019ve talked about\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, the bill will head to the House Committee on Appropriations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Carolina bill would waive community college tuition for children of law enforcement, firefighters and veteran correctional officers to boost recruitment and retention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nThe kids of many first responders would get free community college under NC bill - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The kids of many first responders would get free community college under NC bill - 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