alabama school choice and student opportunity act - act 2015-3

7/26/2019 Alabama School Choice and Student Opportunity Act - Act 2015-3

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1 SB45

2

3

165751 6

By

Senator

Marsh

4 RFD:

Education and Youth f fa i rs

5

Fi r s t Read:

03 MAR 15

6 PFD:

02/25/2015

ACT

No 2015 ·



1

2

3

SB45

4

ENROLLED An

Act,

SB 5

5 To

crea te

the

Alabama

School

Choice and

Student

6

Oppor tuni ty

Act;

to crea te the

Alabama

Publ ic Char te r

School

7

Commission

and

provide

for the

membership,

powers, dut ies

and

8 l i a b i l i t i e s of

the commission; to provide for the app l ica t ion

9 process

for

es t ab l i sh ing

publ ic

char te r

schools

and

convers ion

1

char te r

schools ; to provide for char te r terms,

char te r

11 con t rac t s

and

preopening

requirements

and condi t ions; to

12

provide for accoun tab i l i ty

of

char te r schools pursuant to

a

13

performance

framework,

ongoing

overs ight

and cor rec t ive

14

ac t ion

and

renewal , revocat ion , and nonrenewal of

char te rs ;

15 to

provide

for the operat ion and autonomy of publ ic

char te r



SB 5

1

b)

This

ac t

sha l l

be i n t e rp re t ed to support

the

2 f indings and purposes of t h i s

ac t

and to advance the

continued

3 commitment of

the s t a t e to

the miss ion

and goals

of publ ic

4 educat ion .

5

c) o pr iva te or nonpubl ic school

may

es tab l i sh

a

6 publ ic

char te r

school pursuant to t h i s ac t .

7 Sect ion 3. The

Legis la ture

f inds

and declares

a l l

of

8

the fol lowing:

9

1)

I t

i s

in

the

bes t

i n t e res t s

of the

people

of

1

Alabama to provide

a l l

chi ldren

with

access

to

high qua l i ty

11 publ ic schools .

12

2) I t

i s necessary to

cont inue

to search for ways

13 to s t rengthen the academic performance of

elementary

and

14 secondary publ ic school

s tudents .

15

3) Different

s tuden ts

l ea rn d i f fe ren t ly and

publ ic



SB 5

1 7)

Students

of a l l

backgrounds

are e n t i t l e d to

2

access to

a

high qua l i ty educat ion .

3

8) Therefore,

with t h i s ac t

the Legis la ture

4 in tends

to accomplish a l l of the fol lowing:

5

a.

Provide

school

systems and communities

with

6

addi t ional

tools

tha t

may

be used to be t t e r meet the

7 educat ional needs

of

a diverse s tuden t populat ion .

8

b. Encourage innovat ive educat ional ideas tha t

9

improve

s tudent

learning

for s tudents

a t

a l l academic

levels .

10 c . Empower educators to be nimble and s t r a t eg i c

in

11

t he i r decis ions

on behal f of

s tudents .

12 d. Provide add i t iona l high

qua l i ty

educat ional

13

options for a l l s tudents espec ia l ly

s tuden ts

in low

14 performing schools .

15

e .

Create publ ic schools with freedom and



SB45

1 2) APPLICATION. A proposa l from an appl icant to an

2 authorizer

to

ente r in to a char te r

con t rac t

whereby

the

3 proposed school

obtains

publ ic

char te r

school

s ta tus .

4 3) AT-RISK STUDENT. A

s tudent

who

has

an economic

5

or

academic disadvantage tha t

requires

spec ia l se rv ices and

6 ass i s t ance to

succeed

in educat ional programs. The term

7 includes , but i s not l imi ted to s tuden ts who are

members

of

8 economically disadvantaged fami l i es s tuden ts who are

9

iden t i f i ed

as

having

spec ia l

educat ion

needs,

s tuden ts

who

are

10 l imi ted

in

English prof ic iency

s tuden ts

who are

a t r i sk

of

11

dropping out of high

school , and

s tuden ts

who

do not

meet

12 minimum s tandards of academic prof ic iency.

13

4) AUTHORIZER.

An en t i ty au thor ized

under t h i s ac t

14 to review app l ica t ions approve or

r e j ec t

app l ica t ions en te r

15 in to

char te r con t rac t s with app l ican t s oversee

publ ic

char te r



SB45

1 commission serves as

an appe l la te

body

in spec i f i c

2

circumstances out l ined in

subsect ion a)

of Sect ion 6.

3 7) CONVERSION PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL A publ ic

4

char te r school tha t

exis ted

as

a

non-char te r pub l ic school

5

before becoming

a publ ic

char te r school .

A

conversion

publ ic

6 char te r

school sha l l adopt and

mainta in a pol icy giving

7

enrol lment

prefe rence

to s tuden ts

who

res ide

within the

former

8 at tendance zone of the publ ic school .

9

8)

DEPARTMENT

The

Sta te

Department

of

Educat ion.

10

9) EDUCATION

SERVICE PROVIDER. An e n t i t y with

which

11 a

publ ic

char te r

school

in tends

to con t rac t with for

12 educat ional

design,

implementation, or comprehensive

13

management. This re la t ionship sha l l be

a r t i cu l a t ed

in the

14 publ ic

char te r

school app l ica t ion .

15

10) GOVERNING BOARD The independent board of

a



0

SB45

1

11)

LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD. A

c i t y or county

board

of

2 educat ion exerc i s ing

management

and control of a c i ty or

3 county

loca l

school system pursuant to

s t a t e

law.

4 12)

LOCAL SCHOOL

SYSTEM. A publ ic agency tha t

5 es tabl i shes and

supervises

one

or more publ ic

schools

within

6

i t s

geographical l imi t s pursuant to s t a t e law. A local school

7 system includes a c i ty or

county

school system.

8

13) NATIONALLY

RECOGNIZED AUTHORIZING

STANDARDS.

9

Standards

for

high

qua l i ty

publ ic

char te r

school

au thor iz ing

10

col labora t ive ly

draf ted

and

regu la r ly updated by prac t i t ioner s

11 and pol icy makers from across

the

country who have experience

12 and prac t i ce

in the f i e l d of

char te r authoriz ing.

13

14)

NON CHARTER PUBLIC

SCHOOL.

A

publ ic

school

14

other than

a

school formed pursuant to t h i s ac t .

A

publ ic

15 school tha t i s under

the d i r ec t

management, governance, and



3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

SB 5

govern ing

boa rd

s h a l l

have

a

f i n a n c i a l r e l a ti o n s h i p

to an

educa t ion

s e r v i c e

p r o v i d e r

o r

the s t a f f

o f

the a u t ho r i z e r .

c . I s e s t a b l i s h e d

and

o p e r a t e d

under

t h e t e rms

o f

a

c ha r t e r c o n t r a c t between

t h e gove rn ing boa rd and its

a u t h o r i z e r i n

acco rdance wi th

t h i s

a c t .

d .

I s a

schoo l

to

which

pa r e n t s

choose

to

s end

t h e i r

s tude n t .

e . I s

a schoo l t h a t

admi ts

s t u d e n t s

on

the

b a s i s o f

a

random

s e l e c t i o n

pr oces s

i

more

s tude n t s

a t t empt

to

e n r o l l

f o r admiss ion

than can be

accommodated

f .

Prov ides an e d u c a t i o n a l

program

t h a t s a t i s f i e s

a l l

o f

the

f o l lowing :

1 . I nc ludes any grade

o r

grades

f rom

p r e k i n d e r g a r t e n

to 12th gr ade .

2 May

i nc lude

a

s p e c i f i c academic

appr oach

o r theme



SB45

1

17)

START UP PUBLIC

CHARTER SCHOOL

A publ ic

2

char te r

school tha t did not ex i s t as a non-char te r pub l ic

3

school pr io r to becoming

a publ ic

char te r

school.

4 18) STUDENT. Any

chi ld

who i s e l ig ib le

for

5

a t tendance in publ ic schools in

the

s t a t e .

6

Sect ion 5.

a)

Open

enrol lment .

7

1)

A

publ ic

char te r

school sha l l be open to

any

8 s tudent

res id ing in

the s t a t e .

9

2)

A

school

system

sha l l

not

require

any

s tudent

10

enro l l ed in the school

system to

a t t end

a s ta r t -up publ ic

11

char te r

school .

12

3)

A

publ ic char te r school sha l l

not l imi t

13 admission based on e thn ic i ty , nat iona l

or ig in , re l ig ion ,

14 gender,

income l eve l ,

d i sab i l i ty ,

prof ic iency in

the

English

15 language, or academic or a t h l e t i c

a b i l i t y .



SB 5

1

6)

I f f a c i l i t y capac i ty i s i n s u f f i c i en t to

enro l l

2

a l l s tudents

who

wish to a t t end

a s t a r t - u p

publ ic char te r

3

school ,

the school sha l l s e lec t s tuden ts

through

a

random

4

se lec t ion

process .

The school sha l l

f i r s t

enro l l s tudents

who

5

res ide

within the

school system in which the

publ ic

char te r

6

school i s

located .

I f the number of loca l s tuden ts wanting to

7

enro l l exceeds the f a c i l i t y s capac i ty , then the school sha l l

8 conduct a random

se lec t ion

process to enro l l s tuden ts who

9

res ide in

the

loca l

school

system.

I f

the

school

has

1

add i t iona l capac i ty a f t e r admit t ing s tuden ts from the

loca l

11

school system,

then

the school

sha l l

admit

any s tuden ts

12

without regard to t h e i r res idency by

a

random

se lec t ion

13 process .

The se lec t ion

sha l l

take

place

in

a publ ic meeting,

14

ca l led

by the

governing

body of the publ ic

char te r

school ,

and

15 fol lowing a l l pos t ing and not ice requirements prescr ibed

by



SB45

1

school system

and then

outs ide

the

loca l school system,

as se t

2 fo r th

in

subdiv is ion 6).

3

8)

A

publ ic char te r school sha l l

give

enrol lment

4 preference to s tudents enro l l ed

in

the publ ic

char te r

school

5

the previous school year and to s ib l ings of s tuden ts a l ready

6

enrol led in

the publ ic

char te r

school .

7

9)

A publ ic

char te r

school

may

give enrol lment

8 preference

to chi ldren

of a publ ic

char te r schoo l s

founders ,

9

governing

board

members,

and

fu l l - t ime

employees, so

long as

10

they cons t i t u t e

no more than 10 percen t of the schoo l s

to ta l

11 s tudent

populat ion .

12 10) This subsect ion does

not

prec lude the

formation

13 of

a

publ ic

char te r

school whose miss ion i s focused on

serv ing

14 spec ia l educat ion

s tudents ,

s tuden ts of the same gender ,

15 s tuden ts

who

pose

such

severe

d isc ip l ina ry

problems

tha t

they



0

SB45

1

publ ic schools .

Nothing

in t h i s ac t

sha l l

prevent loca l school

2

systems from

adminis ter ing placement

t e s t s for

newly

enro l l ed

3

s tudents

who

were

prev ious ly

enro l l ed

in a publ ic

char te r

4

school .

5 c) Determination of s tuden t

capaci ty

of publ ic

6

char te r

schools .

The

capac i ty of the publ ic

char te r

school

7

sha l l be determined annual ly by

the

governing board of

the

8 publ ic

char te r

school

in

conjunct ion with the au thor izer

and

9

in

cons idera t ion

of the

publ ic

char te r school s

a b i l i t y

to

10 f a c i l i t a t e the academic

success of i t s

s tudents , to achieve

11

the other object ives spec i f ied in

the

char te r con t rac t , and

to

12

ensure t ha t

i t s

s tuden t enrol lment does not exceed the

13 capac i ty of

i t s

f a c i l i t y

or s i t e .

14 d)

Student informat ion .

A publ ic

char te r school

15 sha l l maintain records on

a l l

enro l l ed

s tuden ts u t i l i z i n g

the



0

SB45

1

a.

A

local school board, for char te r ing of schools

2 within

the

boundar ies of the

school

system under

i t s

3

ju r i sd ic t ion pursuant to s t a t e law.

4 b .

The

Alabama Publ ic Charter School Commission,

5

pursuant to t h i s sec t ion .

6

2)

A

loca l school board t ha t

r eg i s te r s

as an

7

au thor izer

may

approve

or deny

an

app l ica t ion to form

a

publ ic

8

char te r school

within the

boundaries

of

the loca l

school

9

system

overseen

by

the

loca l

school

board.

10

3)

All au thor iz ing

e n t i t i e s

sha l l

pr io r i t i z e

those

11

appl icat ions t ha t are focused on

serv ing

a t - r i s k s tudents .

12 4)

A

decis ion made

by a

local

school

board

sha l l

be

13

subject

to appeal to the commission. The commission

may

hear

14

an appl icat ion

for

the formation

of a publ ic

char te r

school by

15

an

appl icant only i f one of

the

fol lowing

fac to rs i s met:



0

SB45

1

2)

Upon

rece iv ing not ice of approval of

the

t en th

2 s ta r t -up publ ic

char te r

school to be

approved

in

a f i sca l

3

year, the department sha l l provide not ice to a l l au thor izers

4

t ha t

the cap has been reached

and

no new s ta r t -up publ ic

5

char te r schools may

be approved

in

tha t f i sca l year.

6

3)

The cap exp i res on Apri l 1 immediately

fol lowing

7

the conclusion

of

the

f i f t h

f i sca l year a f t e r the ef fec t ive

8 date of

t h i s ac t .

9 4)

At

the conclusion of the

f i f t h

f i sca l

year, the

10 department

sha l l submit

a

report to the Legis la ture

out l in ing

11 the performance

of

both s ta r t -up and

conversion

publ ic

char te r

12

schools . This repor t sha l l

include, a t a

minimum,

academic

13

performance of a l l publ ic

char te r

schools

in

the

s t a t e

a

14

de ta i l ed update

on the

authoriz ing

process ,

and

15 recommendations for adjustments to publ ic

char te r

school



SB 5

1 3) The commission

sha l l be

composed

of

a to ta l of

2 11 members. The Sta te Board of Education sha l l appoint 10

3

members,

made up

of

four appointees recommended by

the

4

Governor, one appointee recommended by the Lieutenant

5 Governor,

two

appointees

recommended by

the

Pres iden t

Pro

6 Tempore of

the

Senate, and th ree appointees recommended by the

7

Speaker

of

the House

of Represen ta t ives . The

Governor,

the

8

Lieutenant Governor, the President Pro Tempore

of

the Senate,

9

and

the

Speaker

of the

House

of Representat ives

sha l l

each

10 recommend

a

l i s t of no fewer

than

two

nominees

for each

11

appointment

to the

commission.

One recommended appointee

of

12

the Pres ident Pro Tempore of the

Senate

and one recommended

13 appointee of the Speaker of

the

House of

Representat ives

sha l l

14 be

an

appointee recommended by

members

of the Senate

minori ty

15 par ty and

members of

the House

minori ty

par ty respec t ive ly .



1

2

3

SB45

pos i t ion through board ac t io n s p ec i f i c a l l y

to

consider t ha t

ap p l i ca t io n .

5) The appoint ing a u t h o r i t i e s of

the

commission

4

members sha l l

s t r i v e to

se l ec t

ind iv iduals

t ha t co l l ec t ive ly

5 possess

s t rong

exper ience

and

exper t i se in pub l ic

and

6 nonprof i t governance, s t r a t eg i c

planning

management and

7 f inance publ ic school l eadersh ip

assessment ,

cur r iculum and

8

i ns t ruc t ion

and publ ic educat ion law. Each member of the

9

commission

sha l l

have

demonst ra ted

unders tanding

of

and

10

commitment to

ch a r t e r school ing

as a too l fo r s t reng then ing

11 publ ic educat ion and sha l l s ign an agreement

to

hear

the

12

appeal and review documents in a f a i r and imp ar t i a l manner.

13 6) Membership of

the

commission sha l l be i n c lu s iv e

14 and

r e f l e c t

the

r ac i a l gender,

geographic , urban / ru ra l and

15

economic

dive rs i ty

of the s t a t e . The appoint ing au thor i ty



SB 5

1 House of Representat ives

and one

recommended

appointee

of the

2 Pres ident

Pro Tempore of

the

Senate sha l l serve

an

i n i t i a l

3 term of two years .

Thereaf ter

a l l appointees

sha l l

serve two-

4 year terms of of f ice . All

appointments

sha l l be e l ig ib le for

5

reappointment as determined by

the appoin t ing

author i ty

not

6 to exceed a

t o t a l

of

s ix years

of

serv ice

unless the

member

7

was

i n i t i a l l y

appointed to serve

a

one-year term of of f ice . I f

8

the

i n i t i a l term of of f i ce of

an

appointee was one

year

he or

9

she

may serve a

to ta l

of

f ive

years of

serv ice

on

the

10

commission.

11 8) A

member

of

the commission

may be

removed

for

12 f a i lu re to perform the dut ies

of

the

appointment.

Whenever a

13 vacancy on the

commission

ex i s t s the appoin t ing

author i ty

14

within

60 days a f t e r the

vacancy occurs sha l l appoint

a

15 member for

the remaining

port ion

of the

term in the

same



SB45

1

the Alabama Open

Meetings

Act

and s t a t e record laws.

2

Notwithstanding the preceding sentence,

members of the

3

commission

may p a r t i c ip a t e

in

a

meeting

of the

commission

by

4

means

of

te lephone conference, video conference, or s imi la r

5 communications equipment by means of

which

a l l

persons

6

par t i c ipa t ing in the meeting

may

hear each

other a t

the

same

7

t ime. Par t i c ipa t ion

by such

means sha l l cons t i t u t e presence

in

8

person

a t a

meeting for a l l purposes, including the

9 es tabl ishment of a

quorum.

Telephone

or

video

conference or

1

s imi la r communications

equipment

sha l l also allow

members

of

11 the publ ic the opportuni ty to s imul taneously

l i s t e n

to

or

12 observe

meetings

of the commission.

13 10) I f

the commission

overru les the decis ion of a

14

loca l

school board and chooses to au thor ize the es tabl ishment

15 of a publ ic

char te r

school

in

tha t loca l school system, the



1

2

3

4

5

SB 5

needed, recommend

to

the

Sta te Super in tendent of Education any

ru le

or regulat ion

changes deemed necessary .

d. Convene s takeholder

groups

and engage experts .

e . Seek and receive s t a t e , federa l , and

pr iva te

funds for operat ional expenses.

6

f .

A

commission member may

not receive compensation,

7

but sha l l be

reimbursed

by the department for t r ave l and per

8 diem expenses a t the same ra t e s and

in

the same manner as

9

s t a t e

employees.

10 g.

The commission

sha l l submit

an

annual repor t to

11

the

department

pursuant to

subsect ion g) .

12 12) In order to overru le the

decis ion

of a

loca l

13 school board and

au thor ize a publ ic

char te r school ,

the

14

commission

sha l l

do

a l l of the

fol lowing:

15

a.

Find evidence of

a

thorough and high-qua l i ty



2

3

4

5

6

7

8

SB 5

d. Take in to cons idera t ion i) other ex i s t ing

char te r

school

app l ica t ions ,

i i ) the qua l i ty

of

school

opt ions ex i s t ing

in

the af fec ted community, i i i ) the

ex is tence of other char te r

schools ,

and iv) any other fac to rs

considered re levant to

ensure

the

establ i shment of

high-

qua l i ty char te r

schools in accordance

with the

in ten t of t h i s

ac t .

e . Find

evidence

tha t

the

loca l school

board er red

9

in

i t s

app l ica t ion

of

nat iona l ly

recognized

au thor iz ing

10 s tandards .

d)

A

loca l school board

may r eg i s t e r

with the

12 department for char te r ing au thor i ty within the boundar ies of

13 the

school system

overseen by the loca l school board. The

4 department sha l l publ ic ize to a l l loca l school boards the

15

opportuni ty to r eg i s te r with

the

s t a t e for char te r ing



0

SB45

1 2) n

explanat ion of the

loca l

school

board s

2

capac i ty

and

commitment to

execute

the dut ies of

qua l i ty

3 char te r

au thor iz ing ,

as

defined by

na t iona l ly

recognized

4

au thor iz ing s tandards .

5 3) n

explanat ion

of

the

loca l school board s

6

s t r a teg ic

vis ion

for char te r ing .

7 4) n

explanat ion

of how

the

loca l

school board

8

plans to

so l i c i t

publ ic

char te r

school app l ican t s ,

in

9

accordance

with

t h i s

ac t .

10 5) A descr ip t ion

or

out l ine

of the performance

11 framework the

loca l

school board wi l l use to guide the

12 es tabl ishment of

a char te r con t rac t

and for ongoing overs igh t

13 and evalua t ion of publ ic

char te r

schools , cons i s t en t with the

14 requirements

of

t h i s ac t .

15

6)

A dra f t of

the

loca l

school board s renewal,



5845

1

2

publ ic

char ter school physica l ly loca ted in

tha t

local school

system may apply di rec t ly

to

the commission.

3 f)

n author ize r may

do a l l of the

fol lowing:

4

1)

Sol i c i t , inv i t e ,

receive , and evaluate

5 appl ica t ions from organizers of

proposed publ ic char ter

6

schools .

7

2)

Approve appl ica t ions tha t

meet

i den t i f i ed

8 educat ional

needs.

9

3) Deny appl ica t ions tha t do

not

meet

i den t i f i ed

10 educat ional

needs.

11 4)

Create

a

framework

to guide the development

of

12

char ter cont rac t s .

13

5)

Negotiate and

execute char ter cont rac t s

with

14

each

approved publ ic

char ter school .

15

6)

Monitor the academic, f i sca l ,

and

organiza t iona l



SB45

1

2) The

academic and

f i n an c i a l performance

o f a l l

2 opera t ing publ i c c h a r t e r schools

overseen

by the au th o r i ze r

3 accord ing

to the performance measures and expec ta t ions

4 sp ec i f i ed

in

the

ch a r t e r co n t rac t s .

5

3) The s t a t u s o f the publ i c ch a r t e r school

6 p o r t fo l i o

of

the au th o r i ze r i d en t i fy in g a l l publ i c c h a r t e r

7 schools wi th in t h a t

p o r t fo l i o

as one of the fo l lowing:

8 a . Approved, bu t

no t ye t

open.

9

b.

Open

and

opera t ing .

10

c .

Terminated.

11

12

13

14

15

d. Closed, i nc lud ing year c lo s e d

and

reason fo r

c los ing .

e . Never opened.

4) The overs igh t and se rv i ces

i

any, provided by

the

a u t ho r i z e r t o

the

publ i c ch a r t e r

schools

under

the purview



SB 5

school

board serv ing as

an

au thor izer

may do

a l l of the

2

fol lowing:

3

1) Expend i t s

own

resources

seek

gran t funds,

and

4

es t ab l i sh partnerships to support i t s

publ ic

char te r

school

5 au thor iz ing a c t iv i t i e s .

6

2) Charge

a

port ion

of

annual

per s tuden t s t a t e

7

a l loca t ions

received by each publ ic

char te r

school t

8

authorizes based

on

the fol lowing schedule:

9 a.

I f

the

loca l

school board

has

overs igh t

over

one

10 to th ree inc lus ive publ ic char te r schools :

Three

percent of

annual per s tudent s t a t e a l loca t ions .

2 b .

I f the loca l school board has overs ight

over four

13 to f ive inc lus ive publ ic

char te r

schools : Two percent

of

4 annual per

s tudent s t a t e a l loca t ions .

15 c. I f the

loca l

school board has

overs ight

over s ix



SB45

1

j) With the except ion of charges fo r overs igh t

2

services as

required in subsect ion

h),

a publ ic

char te r

3

school

may

not

be

requ i red to purchase services from i t s

4

au thor izer

as a condi t ion of

char te r

approval or

of

a

char te r

5 con t rac t

nor

may any such condi t ion

be

impl ied .

6

k)

A

publ ic char te r school au thor ized

by a

loca l

7

school system

may choose to purchase serv ices such as

8

t r anspor t a t ion- re l a t ed

or

lunchroom-re la ted serv ices from i t s

9

au thor izer .

In

such

event , the

publ ic

char te r

school

and

10

au thor izer sha l l execute

an

annual

serv ice con t rac t separa te

11 from the

char te r

con t rac t s ta t ing the

mutual

agreement

of

the

12 par t i e s

concerning any service

fees

to be charged to

the

13 publ ic

char te r

school .

A

publ ic

char te r

school

authorized

by

14

the commission

may

not purchase services from the commission,

15 but cons i s t en t with t h i s sec t ion

may

purchase

services

from



SB45

1 sha l l apply

na t iona l ly

recognized

s tandards

for qua l i ty in

2

char te r au thor iz ing . I f a t

any

time, the

department

f inds

3 t ha t

an

authorizer i s not

in

compliance with

an

ex i s t ing

4

char te r

con t rac t

or the

requirements

of a l l

au thor izers

under

5 t h i s

ac t

the department sha l l not i fy

the

au thor izer in

6 wri t ing

of

any

iden t i f i ed problem, and the

au thor izer

sha l l

7 have

reasonable opportuni ty to respond and

remedy

the problem.

8

m)

I f a loca l

school

board ac t ing as an authorizer

9

p e r s i s t s

in

vio la t ing

a

mater ia l

prov is ion

of

a

char te r

1 con t rac t

or

fa i l s

to

remedy any

other

authoriz ing

problem

11 a f t e r due not ice from

the

department, the department sha l l

12

not i fy the

loca l school

board, within

6 days,

tha t t in tends

13 to

revoke

the char te r ing au thor i ty of the

loca l

school board

14

unless

the loca l school board demonstrates a

t imely and

15 sa t i s f ac to ry remedy for

the

vio la t ion or def ic ienc ies .



SB45

Governor, the Speaker of the House of Represen ta t ives and the

2 Pres iden t

Pro

Tempore appoin tees comply with t he reques t s

of

3 the

department

or face a revocat ion of

t h e i r appointment

to

4

the

commission.

5 o)

In

the event of revocat ion of the ch a r t e r in g

6

au thor i ty

of

an

au th o r i ze r the department

sha l l

manage

the

7 t ime ly and order ly t r a n s f e r of

each

char te r co n t rac t held by

8

t ha t

au th o r i ze r t o another au th o r i ze r in the s t a t e with the

9

mutual agreement

of

each

a f f ec t ed

publ ic

ch a r t e r

school

and

10

proposed new au th o r i ze r .

The new

au th o r i ze r

sha l l

assume

the

11 ex i s t ing char te r co n t rac t

fo r

the

remainder

of the char te r

12

term.

13

p) Author ize r power, dut ies and l i a b i l i t i e s .

14

Author izers are responsible for execut ing in accordance with

15

t h i s

ac t the

fo l lowing

e s s e n t i a l powers and dut ies :



2

3

4

5

SB45

5) Monitor ing,

in

accordance with

char te r

con t rac t

terms, the performance and

l ega l

compliance of publ ic

char te r

schools .

6)

Determining whether each

char te r

con t rac t meri t s

renewal

nonrenewal

or revocat ion

6

q)

n au thor izer tha t

grants

a

char te r

to a

7 501 c) 3)

tax-exempt

organ iza t ion fo r the purpose of opening

8 and

operat ing

a

publ ic

char te r

school i s not l i ab le for the

9

debts or

obl igat ions

of the

publ ic

char te r

school , or

for

10 claims

a r i s ing from the performance

of

ac t s er ro r s or

11

omissions by

the char te r school , i f

the

au thor izer has

12

complied with a l l overs igh t r e s p o n s ib i l i t i e s requ i red by

law,

13 including ,

but

not l imi ted to those requ i red by t h i s ac t .

14 r)

Pr inc ip les

and

s tandards for

char te r

15

au thor iz ing .



SB45

1

reasonable

ru l e s

and

regu la t ions to e f f ec t u a t e

t h i s

sec t ion

2 with in 9

days

a f t e r the

e f fec t ive

date of t h i s

ac t .

3 2)

Author izers sha l l car ry out

a l l

of

t h e i r

dut ies

4 under t h i s ac t in a manner

cons i s t en t

with such nat iona l ly

5

recognized p r i n c i p l e s and standards and

with t he

s p i r i t and

6

i n t en t

of t h i s

ac t .

Evidence of mate r i a l or p e r s i s t e n t

fa i lu re

7 to do

so sha l l cons t i t u t e

grounds fo r

los ing char te r

8

au thor iz ing

powers.

9

10

Sec t ion

7.

a)

Request

fo r p roposa l s .

1) To s o l i c i t encourage,

and

guide the development

11 of qual i ty

publ i c

ch a r t e r

school

app l ica t ions

every

l o ca l

12

school board, in i t s ro le as publ ic ch a r t e r school

au thor izer

13 sha l l i s sue and broadly

p u b l i c i ze a reques t fo r

proposa l s

fo r

14

publ i c

char te r school

ap p l i ca t io n s

by 120 days

a f t e r

the

15 e f fec t ive date of

t h i s

ac t and by November 1 in

each



SB45

1 4) Each

loca l

school board s request for proposa ls

2

sha l l presen t the

board s

s t ra t eg ic vis ion for char ter ing,

3

including

a c lear s ta tement

of any

preferences

the

board

4

wishes

to grant to app l ica t ions

t h a t

help

a t - r i s k s tudents .

5 5) The request for proposals sha l l inc lude or

6 otherwise

d i rec t

appl icants

to the performance framework t ha t

7

the

au thor izer has developed fo r pub l ic

char te r

school

8

overs ight and evalua t ion

in accordance

with t h i s ac t .

9

6) The

request for

proposals

sha l l

inc lude the

1

c r i t e r i a

tha t wi l l guide the au thor ize r s decis ion to

approve

11 or deny a

char te r appl ica t ion .

12 7)

The request for proposals sha l l s t a t e

c lear ,

13 appropria te ly de ta i l ed

quest ions

as well as

guide l ines

14

concerning the format and content essen t ia l for appl icants to

15 demonstrate the capac i t ies

necessary

to es tab l i sh and

operate



1

2

3

school .

SB45

c . The loca t ion

or

geographic area proposed for

the

d. The grades to be served

each

year for

the

fu l l

4

term

of

the

char te r cont rac t .

5 e . Minimum planned, and maximum enrol lment

per

6 grade

per

year for

the

term of the char te r cont rac t .

7

f .

Evidence

of need

and community support

for the

8

proposed publ ic

char te r school .

9

g.

A

br ie f

biography

regarding the

exper t i se

and

10 background on the

proposed founding governing

members

and

the

11 proposed school l eadersh ip and

management

team.

12 h.

The

schoo l s proposed

calendar

and sample da i ly

13

schedule.

14

i .

A descr ip t ion of the

academic program.

15 j . A descr ip t ion

of

the schoo l s in s t ruc t iona l



0

5845

1 m A

descr ip t ion

of

cocur r i cu la r

or

ex t racur r i cu la r

2

programs

and how they w i l l be funded and del ivered .

3 n. Plans

and t imel ines

fo r

s tuden t

recrui tment and

4 enrol lment , inc luding random se lec t ion procedures in the

event

5

t ha t

i n t e r e s t exceeds

capac i ty .

6 o. The

schoo l s

s tuden t

di sc ip l ine po l i c i e s ,

7 inc luding those fo r

spec ia l educa t ion

s tuden ts .

8

p .

n

organ iza t ion char t t ha t c l ea r ly presen ts the

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

schoo l s

organ iza t iona l

s t ruc tu re ,

i nc lud ing

l i ne s

of

au thor i ty

and repor t ing

between

t he governing board, s t a f f ,

any

re l a t ed bodies such

as

advisory bodies or paren t and

teacher counci l s ) ,

and

any ex terna l o rgan iza t ions t h a t w i l l

play

a

ro le

in

managing the school .

q.

A c lear descr ip t ion of the

ro l e s

and

r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s for

the

governing board,

the schoo l s



2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

12

13

14

15

SB45

v . Exp lana t ions o f any pa r t ne r sh i p s o r c on t r a c t ua l

r e l a t i o n s h i p s

c e n t r a l

to

t he

s c h o o l s

ope r a t i ons

o r

miss ion .

w. The s c h o o l s p lans

fo r

p r o v i d i n g t r a n s p o r t a t i o n ,

food se rv ice , and

a l l

o t he r

s i g n i f i c a n t

ope r a t i ona l o r

a n c i l l a r y se r v i c e s .

x. O p p o r t u n i t i e s

and

e xpe c t a t i ons f o r

pa r e n t a l

involvement .

y.

A

d e t a i l e d schoo l s t a r t - u p p lan ,

i d e n t i f y i n g

tasks , t im e l ine s

and

r e s pons ib l e i n d i v i d u a l s .

z. Descr ip t ion o f

the

s c h o o l s

f i n a n c i a l p lan

and

p o l i c i e s , i nc lud ing f i na nc i a l c on t r o l s and a ud i t

r equ i remen t s .

This p lan

s h a l l

i nc lude a

d i sc l o su r e

o f a l l dona t ions o f

p r iv a t e funding , i any

inc lud ing , bu t

no t l i m i t e d t o , g i f t s

r ece ived from fo re ign governments fo re ign l e g a l

e n t i t i e s ,

and when

r easonab ly

known

domes t i c

e n t i t i e s

a f f i l i a t e d

with



SB45

1 ee. In the

case

of

an appl icant

who has

submit ted an

2 appl icat ion for 50l c) 3) tax-exempt s ta tus , but has not ye t

3 been approved

for 50l c) 3)

tax-exempt

s ta tus ,

the

appl icant

4 sha l l submit a

copy

of t h e i r

appl icat ion

for

50l c) 3) t ax -

5 exempt s ta tus .

6 f f . Any other i tem tha t the au thor izer deems

7

appropr ia te to assess the app l ican t s a b i l i t y to successful ly

8 open

and

operate a publ ic

char te r

school .

9

9)

Conversion

publ ic

char te r

schools . A

loca l

1

school

board may conver t a non-char te r pub l ic school to a

11 publ ic

char te r school .

12

a.

Any

loca l

school

board s

decis ion to

convert

a

13

school i s not appealable to the commission.

14

1.

After

ident i fy ing

the non-charter publ ic school

15

t has decided

to conver t to

a

publ ic char te r school ,

a

loca l



SB45

1

for

a

pos i t ion

in

the publ ic

char te r

school . The publ ic

2

char te r school

i s

under

no

obl iga t ion to hi re any teacher

or

3

adminis t ra tor .

4 4. At

the t ime

of

conversion to

a

publ ic char te r

5

school , any

t eacher or

adminis t ra tor in

the publ ic

char te r

6

school

may

be al lowed to t r ans fe r in to vacant pos i t ions for

7

which they

are both c e r t i f i e d and

qua l i f i ed in

other

schools

8

in the school

system

pr io r to the hi r ing of

new

personnel for

9 those

vacant

posi t ions .

10 5. I f personnel

reduct ions

are contemplated as the

11 r e s u l t

of

a convers ion to a

char te r model,

tha t sha l l be

12 c lea r ly s t a t ed in the appl ica t ion .

n

approved

convers ion

13 sha l l cons t i t u t e decreased s tudent enrol lment or

a

shortage

of

14

revenues, or

both, for the purposes

of

the

loca l

school

board

15 implementing a reduct ion

in

force pursuant to Sect ion

16-1-33,



SB45

1 addi t iona l ly

require the

appl icants

to do a l l of the

2

fol lowing:

3 a .

Provide

evidence of the education service

4

prov ide r s success in

serv ing

s tudent populat ions

s imi la r

to

5 the

t a rge ted populat ion , including demonstrated academic

6 achievement as well as success fu l management of nonacademic

7 school funct ions , i f appl icable .

8

b . Provide

a

term shee t s e t t i n g fo r th the

proposed

9

durat ion

of the

serv ice con t rac t ; ro les

and

r espons ib i l i t i e s

10

of

the governing board; the school s t a f f ;

and

the educat ion

11 service provider;

scope

of serv ices and

resources

to be

12 provided by the educat ion service

provider;

performance

13 evalua t ion

measures

and t imel ines ; compensation s t ruc tu re ,

14

including

c lear

iden t i f i ca t ion

of a l l fees to be paid to the

15 educat ion service

provider;

methods

of

con t rac t

overs igh t

and



1

2

3

4

SB45

add i t iona l ly requ i re the ap p l i can t

to

provide evidence of p as t

performance and curren t

a b i l i t y

to manage fo r growth.

b) Appl ica t ion decis ion-making

process .

1) In

evalua t ing and

rev iewing

ch a r t e r

5

app l ica t ions ,

au th o r i ze r s sha l l employ procedures ,

prac t i ce s ,

6 and c r i t e r i a

cons i s t en t with

n a t i o n a l l y

recognized

p r i n c i p l e s

7

and

standards

for

q u a l i t y ch a r t e r au thor iz ing . The

ap p l i ca t io n

8 review process

sha l l

inc lude thorough eva lua t ion of each

9

w ri t t en

char te r app l i ca t ion ,

an

i n -pe rson in te rv iew

with

the

10 app l ican t

group,

and an

oppor tun i ty in a

publ ic

forum fo r

11 loca l res iden t s t o l ea rn about and provide

i npu t

on

each

12

ap p l i ca t io n .

13

14

2)

In

dec id ing

whether to

approve ch a r t e r

ap p l i ca t io n s , au th o r i ze r s s h a l l do

a l l

of the fol lowing:

15

a . Grant ch a r t e r s only t o ap p l i can t s t ha t

have



0

SB45

1 char te r

school

from the

community

the publ ic

char te r school

2 wishes to serve.

3 3) n au thor izer sha l l not approve a publ ic

char te r

4

school app l ica t ion tha t

includes

any

of the

fol lowing:

5

a.

Admissions

requirements

for

entry

including ,

but

6

not l imi ted to academic prof ic iency p a r t i cu l a r s k i l l s or

7

competencies, or

f inanc ia l

means.

8

b .

Any

paroch ia l or re l ig ious theme.

9

4)

No

l a t e r

than 60

days

a f t e r

the

f i l i ng

of the

10

char te r

app l ica t ion the au thor izer sha l l decide to approve or

11 deny the char te r appl icat ion; however, an app l ica t ion

12

submitted by

a

publ ic h i s t o r i c a l l y black

col lege

or

univers i ty

13 HBCU),

in par tnership with

a

nat ional nonprof i t

publ ic HBCU

14 support organ iza t ion fo r

a

char te r

school to be operated on

15 or

near

the campus

of

the HBCU may be considered for expedited



SB 5

1 6)

For any char te r denial , the au thor izer

sha l l

2

c lea r ly

s t a t e , fo r pub l ic record ,

i t s reasons

for den ia l . A

3

denied

appl icant

may

subsequent ly reapply to tha t board the

4

following year or

appeal

the denial to the commission.

5 7) Within 30 days of taking

ac t ion

to approve or

6 deny a

char te r app l ica t ion ,

the

au thor izer

sha l l

repor t to the

7

department the

act ion

t has taken . The au thor izer sha l l

8

provide

a

copy of the repor t to the char te r appl icant

a t

the

9

same

t ime

tha t

the

repor t

i s

submit ted

to

the

department.

The

10

report sha l l inc lude

a

copy of the au thor ize r s reso lu t ion

11 se t t ing fo r th the

act ion taken

and

reasons

for the decis ion

12

and assurances as to compliance with a l l

of

the procedural

13 requirements and app l ica t ion elements se t

for th

in t h i s

14

sect ion .

15 c)

1)

The

appl icant

for a publ ic

char te r school ,



SB 5

1 ef fo r t s

of

loca l

school systems to achieve and maintain

a

2 uni tary system.

3

3)

The

au thor izer sha l l

not

approve any

publ ic

4

char te r school

under t h i s

ac t

tha t hampers, delays ,

or in any

5

manner negat ively af fec t s the desegregat ion e f fo r t s of

a

loca l

6

school

system.

7

d)

I n i t i a l

char te r

term. n i n i t i a l

char te r

sha l l

8 be granted

for

a term of

f ive

opera t ing years . The

char te r

9

term

sha l l commence

on

the

publ ic

char te r school s

f i r s t

day

10

of

operat ion. n approved publ ic

char te r

school may delay

i t s

11

opening for one school year in order to

plan

and

prepare

for

12 the

schoo l s

opening. I f the school

requires an

opening

delay

13

of more than one year,

the

school sha l l request an

extens ion

14 from

i t s

au thor izer . The au thor izer may

grant

or

deny

the

15

extension

depending on the

p a r t i cu l a r

schoo l s c i rcumstances .



SB45

1

contract

sha l l include, but need not be

l imi ted to ,

app l icab le

2

federal and s t a t e accoun tab i l i ty requirements. The performance

3 provis ions may

be re f ined or amended by

mutual

agreement

a f t e r

4

the publ ic

char te r

school i s operat ing and has

col lec ted

5

basel ine achievement

data fo r

i t s enro l l ed s tuden t s .

A

6 governing

board

sha l l have received 501 c)

3)

tax

exempt

7

s t a tus

before

beginning char te r

con t rac t nego t ia t ions .

8

2)

The

char te r

con t rac t sha l l

be signed

by the

9

pres iden t

of the

au thor ize r s

board

and

the

pres iden t

of the

10

publ ic

char te r schoo l s governing

body. Within 1 days of

11

executing

a

char te r

con t rac t , the au thor izer sha l l submit to

12 the

department

wri t t en n o t i f i c a t i o n of the executed

char te r

13 con t rac t

and any

a t tachments .

14

3) o

publ ic

char te r

school

may

commence

operat ions

15

without

a

char te r con t rac t executed in accordance with t h i s



0

SB45

1 1) The

performance provis ions within

the char te r

2 contract sha l l be based on a performance

framework

tha t

3 c lea r ly se t s for th the academic and operat ional performance

4

indica tors ,

measures and metrics t ha t w i l l guide the

5 au thor i ze r s evaluat ions

of

each

publ ic

char te r school .

The

6 performance framework sha l l inc lude indica tors , measures

and

7

metrics for , a t

a minimum:

8 a.

Student academic

prof ic iency, which

includes , but

9

i s

not

l imi ted to ,

performance

on s t a t e

s tandard ized

10

assessments.

11

b. Student academic growth

which includes ,

but i s

12 not l imi ted

to,

performance on s t a t e s tandardized assessments.

13 c . Achievement

gaps in

both prof ic iency and growth

14

between major s tudent

subgroups.

15

d.

Attendance.



SB 5

1 3) The

performance framework sha l l allow

the

2 inclus ion of add i t iona l

r igorous ,

va l id ,

and

r e l i ab l e

3

ind ica to rs proposed by

a

publ ic

char te r

school to

augment

4 ex te rna l evalua t ions of i t s

performance,

provided tha t the

5 au thor izer

approves the

qua l i ty and r igor

of such school-

6 proposed

indica tors ,

and

they

are cons i s t en t with

the

purposes

7

of

t h i s ac t .

8 4) The performance framework sha l l require the

9

disaggregat ion of

a l l

s tuden t

performance

data

by

major

10

s tudent

subgroups

gender, race , pover ty s ta tus , spec ia l

11 educat ion

s ta tus ,

English l ea rner

s ta tus ,

and

g i f ted

s ta tus

12

5)

For each publ ic

char te r

school t oversees , the

13 au thor izer

sha l l

be

responsible for

col lec t ing , analyzing, and

14 report ing a l l

data

from s t a t e assessments in accordance with

15

the performance

framework.



SB45

1

requ i re ove rs igh t

a c t i v i t i e s t h a t enable the au thor izer

to

2

f u l f i l l i t s r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s

under t h i s

ac t ,

inc luding

3 conducting appropr ia te i n q u i r i e s

and

i n v es t i g a t i o n s , so long

4 as those a c t i v i t i e s are

cons i s t en t

with

the i n t en t

of t h i s

5 ac t ,

adhere to

the

terms

o f the char te r con t rac t , and do not

6 unduly proh ib i t the

autonomy granted to

publ ic char te r

7

8

schools .

2) Each au thor izer sha l l annual ly publ i sh and

9 provide ,

as

p a r t

of i t s

annual

r ep o r t

to

the

department

and

10 the Legis la tu re ,

a performance repor t fo r each publ i c

ch a r t e r

11

school

t oversees , in accordance with the

performance

12

framework

se t fo r th in the char te r con t rac t and Sect ion 6. The

13

au th o r i ze r may requ i re each publ ic ch a r t e r school t oversees

14

to

submit

an

annual

r ep o r t to

a s s i s t

the

au th o r i ze r in

15

gather ing complete in format ion about each school , cons i s t en t



2

3

SB 5

short

of revocat ion

in

response to apparent def ic ienc ies

in

publ ic

char te r school

performance or

l ega l

compliance. Such

act ions

or sanct ions

may include,

i f

warranted,

requir ing

a

4

school

to develop

and

execute a cor rec t ive

act ion

plan

wi thin

5 a

spec i f ied

t ime frame.

6 c)

Renewals, revocat ions , and

nonrenewals.

7

1)

A

char te r

may

be renewed for success ive

f ive-

S year

terms

of durat ion, al though the

au thor izer

may

vary the

9

term

based

on

the

performance,

demonstrated

capac i t ies ,

and

10

par t i cu la r

circumstances

of

each

publ ic

char te r school . n

au thor izer

may gran t renewal with spec i f i c condi t ions for

2

necessary improvement to

a publ ic

char te r school .

13

2)

No l a t e r than July 15, the au thor izer sha l l

4

i ssue

a publ ic

char te r school

performance

repor t

and

char te r

15 renewal app l ica t ion

guidance

to any publ ic

char te r

school



SB 5

1 3) The renewal app l ica t ion guidance,

a t

a minimum,

2 sha l l provide

an

opportuni ty

for

the publ ic

char te r

school to

3

do

a l l of

the

fol lowing:

4

a .

Present add i t iona l evidence, beyond the

data

5 contained

in

the

performance

repor t ,

support ing

i t s case

for

6 char te r renewal.

7 b. Describe improvements undertaken or planned for

8 the school .

9

c .

Deta i l

the

schoo l s

plans

for

the

next

char te r

10

term.

11 4)

The renewal

app l ica t ion guidance sha l l inc lude

12 or r e fe r exp l i c i t ly to the c r i t e r i a t ha t

wi l l

guide the

13

au thor i ze r s renewal decis ions , which

sha l l be

based

on the

14 performance framework se t fo r th in the char te r con t rac t and

15

consis tent

with

t h i s

ac t .



SB45

1 accordance

with

the performance

framework

se t

fo r th in the

2

char te r con t rac t .

3

b.

Ensure

tha t

data used

in making renewal decis ions

4 are

ava i l ab le

to the

school

and the

publ ic .

5

c. Provide

a

publ ic report summarizing the evidence

6

basis for each

decis ion .

7

7)

A

char te r

con t rac t

may

be revoked

a t

any t ime i f

8

the au thor izer

determines tha t

the

publ ic

char te r

school

did

9

any

of the

fol lowing

or otherwise

f a i l ed

to

comply

with

t h i s

10

ac t :

11

a. Commits

a

mater ia l and subs t an t i a l v io l a t ion

of

12

any of

the

terms,

condi t ions s tandards , or

procedures

13

required

under t h i s ac t

or

the char te r

cont rac t .

14

b. Fai l s

to

meet

or

make

s u f f i c i en t

progress

toward

15

the performance expectat ions se t fo r th in

the

char te r



2

3

4

5

6

7

8

SB 5

school did

any

of the

fol lowing

or

otherwise

fa i l ed to comply

with t h i s

ac t :

a . Commits a

mater ia l

and subs t an t i a l v io l a t ion of

any of the

terms,

condi t ions s tandards or procedures

requi red under t h i s

ac t

or the

char te r

con t rac t .

b. Fai l s to meet the performance expecta t ions

se t

fo r th

in

the

char te r con t rac t .

c. Fai l s to meet

genera l ly

accepted

standards of

9

f i s ca l

management.

10 d. Subs tan t i a l ly vio la t e s any mater ia l provis ion of

11 law from which the pub l ic

char te r

school was

not

exempted.

12

9)

A

char te r

con t rac t sha l l not be

renewed

a t the

13 end of the con t rac t term i the pub l ic char te r

school

f a i l s to

14 meet the

performance expecta t ions se t

fo r th

in

the

char te r

15 contract

or

fa i l s

to a t t a i n

the minimum

s t a t e

prof ic iency



SB45

1 a grade of D

or

F fo r

the

pas t th ree

most recen t years sha l l

2 be cons idered

to

f a l l

below

the

minimum s t a t e

s t andard .

3 10) An

au th o r i ze r

sha l l

develop

revoca t ion

and

4 nonrenewal processes t ha t do a l l of the fol lowing:

5

a .

Provide

the char te r holders

with a

t imely

6 not i f i c a t ion of the prospect of revocat ion or nonrenewal and

7 of the reasons for such poss ib le c losures .

8 b. Allow the

char te r

holders a

reasonable

amount of

9

t ime

in

which

to

prepare

a

response .

10

c .

Provide

the char te r holders with an oppor tun i ty

11

to submit

documents and give tes t imony

cha l l eng ing

the

12

ra t iona le fo r c losure

and

in suppor t of the

con t inua t ion

of

13 the school a t an order ly proceeding he ld

for

t h a t purpose .

14

d. Allow the

char te r

holders access to

15 r ep resen ta t i o n by counsel , a t the

expense

of

the

ch a r t e r



2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

SB45

department the ac t ion taken, and sha l l provide a copy of the

repor t to the publ ic

char te r

school a t the same t ime tha t the

repor t

i s

submit ted

to the department.

The repor t

sha l l

include

a copy of

the

au thor ize r s reso lu t ion se t t ing

fo r th

the ac t ion taken and reasons for the decis ion

and

assurances

as to compliance with a l l of

the

requirements se t

fo r th

in

t h i s

ac t .

d)

School c losure

and dissolu t ion .

1)

Pr io r

to

any

publ ic

char te r

school

c losure

decis ion, an

au thor izer

sha l l have developed a publ ic

char te r

11

school

c losure p ro toco l to ensure t imely no t i f i ca t ion to

12 paren ts ,

order ly

t r an s i t i o n o f s tuden ts

and

s tuden t records to

13 new

schools , and proper

dispos i t ion of

school

funds,

property ,

14

and

asse t s

in accordance with

the requirements of

t h i s

ac t .

15 The protocol sha l l speci fy tasks , t imel ines , and responsible



SB 5

1

the State Treasury to

the

cred i t

of

the

Education Trust Fund.

2

I f the asse ts

of

the

school are i n s u f f i c i en t

to

pay a l l

3

par t i e s to

whom

the

school owes compensation,

the

4 p r i o r i t i z a t i o n

of

the d is t r ibu t ion of

asse ts

may be determined

5 by decree

of

a court of law.

6 e)

Char ter

t r ans fe r s . Transfer of a

char te r

7

con t rac t ,

and

of overs igh t of t ha t publ ic

char te r school ,

from

8

one au thor izer to another

before the

expi ra t ion

of the

char te r

9

term

sha l l

not

be

permi t ted

except

by

spec ia l

pe t i t ion

to

the

1 department by a publ ic

char te r school or i t s author ize r . The

11

department sha l l review

such

pe t i t ions on

a

case-by-case bas i s

12 and may gran t t r ans fe r reques t s

in

response to spec ia l

13

circumstances

and evidence tha t

such a t r ans fe r

would serve

14 the bes t i n t e res t s

of

the publ ic

char te r

schoo l s s tuden t s .

15 f) Annual

repor t .

n or before

November 1

of each



SB 5

economically comparable groups

of

s tuden ts

in

non-charter

2 publ ic schools . In addi t ion , the annual repor t sha l l inc lude

3 the

department s assessment of the successes , chal lenges , and

4

areas

for improvement in

meeting the

purposes

of

t h i s ac t ,

5

including the department s recommendations as to

any suggested

6

changes

in s t a t e law

or

pol icy necessary to

s t rengthen the

7 s t a t e s

publ ic

char te r

schools .

8 Sect ion 9.

(a) Legal

s ta tus

of

a publ ic

char te r

9

school .

10 (1) Notwiths tanding any provis ion of law to

the

contrary , to the

extent

tha t

any

provis ion of t h i s ac t i s

2

incons i s t en t

with any

other s t a t e

or loca l

law,

ru le , or

13 regulat ion , the

provis ions

of t h i s ac t

sha l l

govern and be

4

cont ro l l ing .

15

(2)

A publ ic

char te r

school sha l l

be subject

to a l l



1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

SB 5

school

board,

the State Board

of

Education,

or

the Sta te

Department o f Education.

4) A s ing le governing board may

hold

one or more

char te r con t rac t s . Each publ ic char te r school tha t i s par t of

a

char te r con t rac t sha l l be separa te and

d i s t i n c t

from any

others .

5)

A s ta r t -up publ ic

char te r

school

sha l l

funct ion

as a

loca l educat ional

agency LEA) . A publ ic

char te r school

sha l l

be

responsible for

meeting

the

requirements

of LEAs

under

app l icab le

federa l

s t a t e and loca l laws, including

11

those r e la t ing

to spec ia l

educat ion .

LE s t a tus sha l l

not

12 preclude a publ ic char te r school from developing

partnerships

13

with

school systems for serv ices resources and

programs by

14 mutual agreement o r

formal

cont rac t .

15 6)

A convers ion publ ic

char te r

school

sha l l

remain



SB45

1 8) The governing board of a

publ ic

char te r school

2

sha l l hold

meetings in

the loca l school system

in which

the

3 publ ic

char te r

school i s

loca ted

and

a t

t imes convenient for

4

parents to

at tend.

5 9) All

members of

a governing board sha l l be

6 subject

to the

Sta te

Ethics

Law.

7 b)

Powers

of

publ ic

char te r

schools .

A

publ ic

8 char te r

school sha l l have a l l the

powers

necessary for

9 carry ing out the terms

of

i t s char te r con t rac t

including

the

10

fol lowing powers:

11 1) To

receive

and disburse

funds for

school

12

purposes.

13 2) To secure

appropr ia te

insurance

and to

ente r

14

i n to

con t rac t s

and

l eases .

15 3) To

con t rac t with

an

educat ion

service

provider



1

2

3

4

5

6

SB45

7)

To acqui re

rea l proper ty fo r

use

as i t s f a c i l i t y

or

f ac i l i t i e s

from publ ic or

pr iva te

sources .

8) To

sue

and be sued

in i t s

own

name.

c)

General

requi rements .

1)

A publ ic

char te r school sha l l not

discr imina te

agains t any

person on the bas i s of

race

creed, co lor

sex,

7

d i sab i l i ty

or

nat ional

o r ig in or

any

other

ca tegory t ha t

8 would be unlawful i done by a non-char te r pub l ic

school .

9

2) o

publ ic

char te r

school

may

engage

in

any

10 sec ta r i an

prac t ices

in i t s educat ional program, admissions or

11

employment

pol i c i e s

or opera t ions .

12

3)

A publ ic

char te r

school sha l l not discr imina te

13 agains t any s tudent

on

the

bas i s of

nat iona l o r ig in minor i ty

14

s t a tus

or

l imi ted p rof ic iency

in

Engl ish .

Consis tent

with

15 federa l c iv i l

r igh t s

laws, publ ic char te r

schools

sha l l



SB 5

1

d)

Appl icab i l i ty of other laws,

ru les ,

and

2

regulat ions .

3

1) Public

char te r

schools sha l l be sub jec t to

the

4

same c iv i l r igh t s , heal th , and sa fe ty requirements,

including ,

5 but not

l imi ted

to , s t a t e

and loca l

publ ic

heal th

and bui ld ing

6

codes, employee f ingerpr in t ing and

criminal background checks

7 app l icab le

to

other pub l ic

schools

in the s t a t e ,

except

as

8

otherwise

spec i f i ca l ly

provided in t h i s

ac t .

9

2)

Public

char te r

schools

sha l l be

subject

to

the

1

s ta tewide

end-of-year

annual s tandardized assessment as

11 app l icab le to o ther pub l ic

schools in

the s t a t e , but

nothing

12

here in sha l l prec lude

a publ ic

char te r school from

13

es tabl i sh ing

add i t iona l s tuden t assessment

measures

tha t go

14

beyond

s ta te

requirements

i f the

schoo l s au thor izer

approves

15 such

measures.



0

SB45

1

qua l i f i c a t ion of t eachers and

other

in s t ruc t iona l s t a f f . In

2 accordance with subsect ion (a) , t eachers

in

publ ic

char te r

3

schools sha l l be exempt from

s t a t e

teacher

c e r t i f i c a t i o n

4

requirements.

5

(2)

Star t up publ ic

char te r schools

may

e lec t

to

6 par t i c ipa te

in

the

Teachers

Reti rement

System

and Publ ic

7 Education

Employees Health Insurance Plan. Such e lec t ion must

8 take place pr io r to the execut ion of the

char te r contract and

9

once made i s i r revocable . Conversion char te r schools sha l l

10 par t i c ipa te

in

the

Teachers

Retirement System

and Public

11 Education

Employees Health Insurance

Plan

and sha l l provide

12 compensation

fo r t eachers

and

school nurses tha t complies with

13 the

pro

r a ta

da i ly

r a te

of

pay as

provided in

the s t a t e

14

minimum sa l a ry

schedules

fo r t eachers

and

school

nurses .

15

Employees of

par t i c ipa t ing s ta r t up publ ic

char te r schools

and



2

3

SB 5

4) Pub l i c c h a r t e r school employees , t e a c he r s and

othe r i n s t ru c t i o n a l s t a f f s h a l l be

sub j e c t t o

t he Sta t e Eth ics

Law,

Chapter

25,

T i t l e

36, Code

of Alabama

1975.

4 f) Access to ex t r acu r r i cu l a r

and

i n t e r s c h o l a s t i c

5 a c t i v i t i e s . Nothing in

t h i s

ac t s h a l l

be

cons t rued

to

prevent

6 a pub l i c ch a r t e r school from forming an a t h l e t i c team and

7

p a r t i c i p a t i n g

in

i n t e r s c h o l a s t i c a t h l e t i c s

in t he S t a t e

of

8 Alabama. I f a pub l i c c h a r t e r school e l e c t s fo r

ts

s tude n t s t o

9 p a r t i c i p a t e in a t h l e t i c c on t e s t s

or compet i t ions

then t he

10

schoo l s h a l l pursue membership in t he Alabama High School

11 A th le t i c

Assoc ia t ion

and s h a l l adhere to a l l gu i de l i ne s

12

13

14

15

ru l e s

r e gu l a t i ons

and bylaws as othe r

member

schools .

Sec t ion 10. a)

Enrol lment .

S tudents e n r o l l e d in and

a t t end ing pub l i c ch a r t e r schools s h a l l

be

inc luded

in

a l l

en ro l lmen t and a t t endance counts of s tude n t s

o f

the l o ca l



SB 5

a.

In t h e i r i n i t i a l

year

and

in

subsequent

years

to

2 accommodate growth

as

a r t i cu l a t ed

in

t h e i r

app l ica t ion ,

3

funding for publ ic

char te r schools

sha l l be provided from

the

4 Education Trust Fund in the Foundation

Program

appropr ia t ion

5 for

current

uni t s . Subsequent year funding fo r pub l ic

char te r

6

schools

sha l l

be based on the Foundation Program a l loca t ion

7

and

other pub l ic school Education Trust Fund

appropria t ions .

8 b. For each of

i t s s tudents ,

a publ ic

char te r school

9

sha l l receive the same

amount

of

s t a t e funds

including

funds

10 earmarked for the Foundation

Program t ranspor ta t ion ,

school

nurses technology coord ina to rs , and

other

l ine i tems t ha t may

2

be

inc luded

in

the appropr ia t ion fo r the Foundation

Program

3

Fund tha t , for

the

then-current f i sca l year would have

4 otherwise

been

a l loca ted

on behal f

of

each

publ ic

char te r

15 school s tudent to the

loca l

school system where the s tudent



SB45

1 expendi tures or t ranspor ta t ion . As necessary the department

2

sha l l promulgate processes

and procedures

to determine the

3 spec i f ic

loca l

revenue a l loca t ions according to the

Foundation

4

Program for each publ ic

char te r

school .

5 d. The s t a t e

funds

descr ibed in

paragraph

a .

sha l l

6 be

forwarded on

a

quar te r ly

bas is

to the publ ic

char te r

school

7

by the

department. The

loca l

funds descr ibed

in paragraph b.

8 sha l l

be forwarded on

a quar te r ly

bas i s to the publ ic

char te r

9

school

by

the

loca l educat ional

agency

of the

s tuden t s

1 res idence notwi thstanding

the

overs igh t

fee

reduct ions

11 pursuant

to

Sect ion 6.

Addit ional ly ,

any loca l

revenues

12

13

r es t r i c ted , earmarked or committed by s ta tu to ry prov is ion ,

cons t i t u t iona l provis ion,

or

board

covenant

pledged or imposed

14

by

formal

act ion

of the

loca l

board

of educat ion or

other

15

au thor iz ing body of government

sha l l be excluded

by the

local



2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

SB 5

have

been

rece ived

by

the loca l educat ion

agency of

the

s tuden t s res idence for each s tuden t who now a t tends a

conversion

publ ic char te r

school ,

minus

any

amounts otherwise

excluded pursuant to

t h i s

sec t ion .

g. I f

necessary , the

department sha l l adopt

ru les

governing how to

ca lcula te and

d i s t r i b u t e

these per-s tudent

a l loca t ions , as well as any

ru les

governing cos t - shar ing

for

s tuden ts par t i c ipa t ing in spec ia l i zed gi f t ed , t a l en ted ,

vocat iona l ,

t echn ica l ,

or career educat ion programs.

10

2)

Categor ica l funding. The

department

sha l l d i rec t

11

the propor t iona te share of moneys genera ted under

federal and

12 s t a t e ca tegor ica l a id

programs

to

pub l ic

char te r schools

13 serving s tuden ts e l ig ib le for such aid . The s t a t e sha l l ensure

14

t ha t

publ ic

char te r

schools

with

rap id ly

expanding

enrol lments

15 are

t r e a t ed equi tably

in

the ca lcula t ion

and disbursement of



SB45

1

char te r

con t rac t a l te rna te arrangements for the prov is ion of

2 and payment for spec ia l

educat ion se rvices .

3

4) General ly accepted accounting pr inc ip l e s ;

4

independent

audi t .

5

a.

A publ ic

char te r

school sha l l

adhere to general ly

6

accepted accounting

pr inc ip les .

7

b .

A publ ic

char te r school

sha l l

annual ly engage an

8

independent

c e r t i f i e d publ ic accountant to

do

an

independent

9

audi t

of the

schoo l s f inances .

A publ ic

char te r school sha l l

1 f i l e a copy of each aud i t repor t and accompanying management

11

l e t t e r to i t s au thor izer

by June

1.

This

aud i t sha l l inc lude

12

the same

requirements

as those requ i red of

loca l

school system

13

pursuant

to Sect ion

16-13A-7,

Code

of

Alabama

1975.

14

5)

Transporta t ion

funding.

15

a. The

department sha l l disburse s t a t e



SB45

1 Sect ion 11.

a)

Access to Alabama Publ ic

School

and

2 College Authori ty PSCA) funds.

3

1)

Public

char te r schools

sha l l have the same

4 r igh t s

and

access

to

PSC funding oppor tun i t i es

as non-charter

5

publ ic schools .

6 2)

The

PSC

and the

department

sha l l

adopt and

7 maintain a pol icy

to

ensure

tha t publ ic

char te r schools

8

receive

access to equi table f a c i l i t i e s funding.

9 b) Access to loca l school system f a c i l i t i e s

and

10 land.

11 1) A publ ic char te r school sha l l have a r igh t

of

12 f i r s t re fusa l to

purchase or

lease

a t

or

below

fa i r

market

13 value a

closed

or

unused

publ ic school f a c i l i t y or proper ty

14

loca ted

in

a

school

system

from

which

t

draws

i t s

s tuden ts

i f

15 the school

system

decides to

se l l

or

lease

the publ ic school



2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

SB45

i s

sea rchable a t l e a s t

by

each

f a c i l i t y s name and

address .

This

l st

s h a l l

be

updated a t l e a s t once

a

year

by May

1 .

Sec t ion

12.

The pr ov i s ions

o f

t h i s a c t a r e

severab le . I f any p a r t of t h i s ac t i s de c l a r e d i n v a l id or

unc ons t i t u t i ona l , t h a t

d ec la ra t i o n s h a l l not

a f f e c t t he p a r t

t h a t remains.

Sec t ion 13. This a c t

s h a l l

become

e f f ec t i v e

immedia te ly fo l lowing

ts passage and approva l by

the

Governor

or

ts o therwise becoming law.



2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

SB45

P r e s ide n t

and

Pres id ing Of f i c e r

of

t he Senate

Speaker

o f t he

House of Represen ta t ives

SB45

Senate

10 MAR 15

I

hereby

c e r t i f y t h a t t he

with in

Act

o r ig in a t ed

in and

passed

the Senate

as

amended.

Pa t r i c k

Har r i s

S e c r e t a r y

SENA tt

ActiON

HOUSE ACTION

NSOR

ATE:

I hereby certify that the Resolution as

..,3 - ~ D



I

required in Section C of Act No. 81-889

RD 1 Rl'D

PONSORS

was adopted aud is attached to the Bill,

SB 4 5

19

yeas e 1 / nays

abstain 0

REPORT OF STANDING COMMITTEE

I

PATRICK HARRIS,

This bill having been referred by the

20

Secretary

H ~ u O { to 4 standinft committee on

21

.

VlP=

Y)

R>

1 {

was

acted upon by such committee in

22

session, and returned therefrom to the

I hereby certify that the not ice & proof is

House with the recommendation that

it be

attached to the Bill, SB

Passed, w/amend(s)

/sub_L_

.

23

as required in the General Acts

of

Ala-

h i s ~

d y o l ~ ,2015:.

bama, 1975Act

No

919.

f:J r j ,

Chairperson

24

PATRICK HARRIS,

\

25

Secretary

L

26

DATE:

3:_

'1L

2 0

r-

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

RF

0 ~ t . . t . B

RD2CAL

27

Senate Conferees

28

DATE:

2 0 _

29

RE-REFERRED D RE-COMMITTED D

30

Committee

31

32

I hereby certify that the Resolution as

required in Section C of Act No. 81-889

33

was4dopted

and is attached to the Bill,

SB

5 .

34

YEAS

(p'-{

NAYS

.3< f

I .

JEFF WOODARD,

alabama school choice and student opportunity act - act 2015-3

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