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RichmondCC Adding 6 New Teaching Licensure Pathways

Jun 3

Elementary school teacher Jamaya Crump stands in her classroom.June 3, 2026 - Richmond Community College has been given the green light by the State Board of the North Carolina Community College System to add six more Residency Licensure Certificates to its college curriculum. This was announced at RichmondCC’s Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday.

RichmondCC currently offers an Elementary Education Residency Licensure Certificate that is designed for individuals with bachelor's degrees who are currently or intending to teach in elementary schools. It provides a local and convenient pathway for elementary classroom teachers to receive their North Carolina teacher’s license.

“Formerly known as lateral entry, these are people who are already teaching, but they need to become licensed,” said Elementary Education Licensure Program Coordinator Krystal Harris. “This certificate program allows them to take the required courses while they are teaching and then be able to sit for the state licensure exam.”

RichmondCC began offering this program in 2024. Because of its success, the State Board is allowing RichmondCC to offer six more licensure programs:

  • Birth through Kindergarten Residency Licensure Certificate
  • High School Math Residency Licensure Certificate
  • High School Science Residency Licensure Certificate
  • Middle School Math Residency Licensure Certificate
  • Middle School Science Residency Licensure Certificate
  • Special Education Residency Licensure Certificate

RichmondCC will begin offering three of those this coming fall semester: Birth through Kindergarten, High School Math and Special Education.

“We thought we were just going to get approved for the middle school programs, but they basically opened it up for us, which means we are doing a good job, and they are happy with our performance with this type of curriculum,” RichmondCC President Brent Barbee said.

Because the State Board approved these curriculum additions, RichmondCC’s Board of Trustees did not have to vote to approve.

Also at the Board of Trustees meeting, Barbee provided an update on several construction projects, including the repaving of a large section of the parking lot on the Hamlet Campus. The Board approved and accepted the bid from Barnhill Contracting Company. That project will take approximately three weeks, and the College plans to have those renovations completed during July.

The Board also approved the bid from Piedmont Commercial Roofing for replacing the roof of the Cole Auditorium.

Due to a minor change order in the Hendrick Center for Automotive Training, completion of that project will be delayed a few weeks, pushing the final date to Aug. 9. However, RichmondCC leadership is planning an initial walk-through of the new facility on Monday.