HB 1270

AN ACT relative to charter schools and open enrollment districts.

SPONSORS: Rep. O'Hearn, Hills 26; Rep. Hunt, Ches 10

This bill changes establishment and application procedures for charter schools by authorizing a proposed charter school application to be submitted directly to the state board of education. The bill also provides that the payment for all pupils attending a charter school shall be equal to either 80 percent of the district's average per pupil cost of an adequate education grant amount, whichever is less.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Paragraph; Charter Schools; Establishment and Application Procedures. Amend RSA 194-B:3 by inserting after paragraph I the following new paragraph:

I-a. Persons eligible to submit an application to establish a charter school under this chapter shall have the option of initiating a charter school application with the school board of the district in which the charter school intends to be located or, in the alternative, with the state board of education.

2 Charter Schools; Establishment and Application; Role of State Board of Education. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 194-B:3, II to read as follows:

II. Except as expressly provided in this chapter, the duty and role of the local school board and the state board relative to the establishment of a charter school shall be to approve or disapprove the proposed charter school application based upon whether or not the proposed application contains in specific detail the following required elements:

3 Charter Schools; Establishment and Application Procedures Amended. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 194-B:3, II (cc) to read as follows:

(cc) In addition to an application, each charter school applicant, in consultation with either the local school board or the state board depending on which body receives the charter school applicant's initial application, shall prepare a proposed contract. The contract shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following elements:

4 Charter Schools; Establishment and Application Procedures Amended. Amend RSA 194-B:3, III (a)-(b) to read as follows:

(a) Applications for approval of a charter school shall not be submitted to the school board or to the state board until the provisions of RSA 194-B:4, I(d)(1) have been adopted by the school district legislative body.

(b) Proposed applications and contracts to establish a charter school shall be presented by July 1 of the year preceding intended operation of the charter school by its prospective board of trustees to the school board of the district in which the charter school intends to be located or to the state board, depending on which body the applicants select to review the initial charter school application.

5 Charter Schools; Establishment and Application Procedures Amended. Amend RSA 194-B:3, XI to read as follows:

XI.(a) A charter grantee may apply to the school board or state board for amendment to its application and contract, which shall be granted or denied within 30 days at the [~~school board's~~] discretion of the school board or state board. The school board or state board shall notify the school in writing of the decision to grant or deny the proposed amendment, providing reasons for the decision. An approved amended contract shall be promptly signed by the school board within one month of approval.

(b) A charter grantee may appeal the denial by the school board of a proposed application and contract amendment to the state board. The state board shall review the proposed amendment and within 30 days shall notify the school [~~and the school board~~] in writing of the decision to grant or deny the amendment, providing reasons for the decision. For applications initiated with the state board, the school may, in writing, petition the state board to reconsider its decision to deny a proposed application and contract amendment. Upon granting reconsideration, the state board shall within 30 days notify the school in writing of its reconsideration decision on the proposed amendment, providing reasons for the decision.

(c) Within one month of receipt of a notice of approval from the state board [~~on appeal from a school board denial~~], the school board shall promptly execute the proposed amended contract.

(d) [~~When executed~~] Upon execution by the school board, an appealed amended application and contract shall be submitted promptly to the school district legislative body for subsequent ratification or denial without amendment, which decision shall be final. The ratification question shall be placed on the warrant of the next special or annual school district meeting. In districts without annual meetings, the legislative body shall have final authority to ratify or deny the proposed amended application and contract.

6 Charter Schools; Funding Provisions Amended. Amend RSA 194-B:11, I to read as follows:

I. There shall be no tuition charge for any pupil attending an open enrollment or charter conversion school located in that pupil's resident district. Funding limitations in this chapter shall not be applicable to charter conversion or open enrollment schools located in a pupil's resident district. For any other charter or open enrollment school, the pupil's resident district shall pay to such school an amount equal to [~~not less than 80 percent of that district's average cost per pupil as determined by the department of education using the most recent available data as reported by the district to the department~~] either 80 percent of the district's average per pupil cost of an adequate education as determined by data from the most current fiscal year or the district's adequate education grant amount as calculated pursuant to RSA 198:41, whichever is less. Tuition amounts shall be prorated on a per diem basis for pupils attending a school for less than a full school year. To the extent permitted by law, funding for a pupil attending a charter or open enrollment school shall be paid on the same time schedule as the resident district, or on such other terms as the school and the funding source may find mutually acceptable.

7 Repeal. RSA 194-B:3, IV(a) and (b), relative to an appeal from a denial of a charter school application by a school board is repealed.

The Department of Education indicates this bill may decrease local expenditures by an indeterminable amount beginning in FY 2001 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue or state and county expenditures.

The Department states this bill decreases the per pupil amount a local school district has to pay to a charter school. Currently, the school district must pay 80% of the district's per pupil cost. The bill changes this amount to the per pupil adequate education cost of $3,201. Therefor, the difference between the district's per pupil cost and the per pupil adequate education cost, times the number of pupils in the charter school would equal the decrease in school district expenditures. Using the statewide average cost per pupil of $5,960 as an estimate, a district would save $2,759 per pupil ($5,960 - $3,201).