Revises provisions relating to charter schools. (BDR 34-89)

EXEMPT
(Reprinted with amendments adopted on May 29, 2025)
SECOND REPRINT S.B. 318

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SENATE BILL NO. 318–SENATORS DALY;
DOÑATE, LANGE AND TAYLOR

MARCH 11, 2025
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Referred to Committee on Education

SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to charter schools.
(BDR 34-89)

FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: Yes.

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

AN ACT relating to education; revising provisions relating to
projects for the new construct ion, repair or reconstruction
of certain buildings, facilities and property of a charter
school; providing administrative penalties; and providing
other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Under existing law, a charter school is a public body to which the provision s 1
governing public works apply to its projects for new construction, repair or 2
reconstruction. (Chapter 338 of NRS; NRS 388A.320) Existing law authorizes a 3
charter school to: (1) enter into a contract with specified governmental entities for 4
the provision of facilities to operate the charter school; (2) use any public facility 5
located within the school district in which the charter school is located; or (3) 6
acquire and construct, reconstruct, improve, maintain, equip and furnish any 7
building, structure or p roperty and complete related improvements for the use of 8
any of its educational purposes. (NRS 388A.378) Section 10 of this bill requires a 9
charter school to provide to the sponsor of the charter school: (1) written notice of 10
any project for the new constr uction, repair or reconstruction of any building, 11
structure, facility or property, regardless of its ownership, which the charter school 12
uses for any of its educational purposes if the estimated cost exceeds $100,000; (2) 13
documentation of compliance with t he requirements for competitive bidding for 14
such a project; and (3) records relating to compliance with the requirements for the 15
payment of prevailing wages on such a project. Section 4 of this bill requires the 16
sponsor of the charter school to ensure that a charter school from which it receives 17
notification for a project pursuant to section 10 complies with the provisions 18
relating to the payment of prevailing wages and, with certain exceptions, 19
competitive bidding with respect to the project, and provides penalties for the 20
failure of a sponsor to comply with this requirement. 21

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THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. (Deleted by amendment.) 1
Sec. 2. (Deleted by amendment.) 2
Sec. 3. (Deleted by amendment.) 3
Sec. 4. NRS 388A.223 is hereby amended to read as follows: 4
388A.223 1. Each sponsor of a charter school shall carry out 5
the following duties and powers: 6
(a) Evaluating applications to form charter schools as prescribed 7
by NRS 388A.249 . [;] 8
(b) Approving applications to form charter schools that the 9
sponsor determines are high quality, meet the identified educational 10
needs of pupils and will serve to promote the diversity of public 11
educational choices in this State . [;] 12
(c) Declining to approve applications to form charter schools 13
that do not satisfy the requirements of NRS 388A.249 . [;] 14
(d) Negotiating, developing and executing charter contracts 15
pursuant to NRS 388A.270 . [;] 16
(e) Monitoring, in accordance with this chapter and in 17
accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable charter 18
contract, the performance and compliance of each charter school 19
sponsored by the entity . [;] 20
(f) Determining whether the charter cont ract of a charter school 21
that the entity sponsors merits renewal or whether the renewal of the 22
charter contract should be denied or whether the charter contract 23
should be terminated or restarted, as applicable, in accordance with 24
NRS 388A.285, 388A.300 or 388A.330, as applicable . [;] 25
(g) Determining whether the governing body of a charter school 26
should be reconstituted in accordance with NRS 388A.330 . [;] 27
(h) Adopting a policy for appointing a new governing body of a 28
charter school for which the governi ng body is reconstituted in 29
accordance with NRS 388A.330 . [; and] 30
(i) Conducting site evaluations of each campus of a charter 31
school it sponsors during the first, third and fifth years after entering 32
into or renewing a charter contract. Such evaluations must include, 33
without limitation, evaluating pupil achievement and school 34
performance at each campus of the charter school and identifying 35
any deficiencies relating to pupil achievement and school 36
performance. The sponsor shall develop a plan with the char ter 37
school to correct any such deficiencies. A sponsor may conduct a 38
brief evaluation of a charter school in the third year if the charter 39
school receives, in the immediately preceding year, one of the two 40
highest ratings of performance pursuant to the sta tewide system of 41
accountability for public schools. 42

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(j) Ensuring that each charter school complies with the 1
provisions of NRS 338.013 to 338.090, inclusive, and, except as 2
otherwise provided in NRS 388A.635, with the provisions of 3
chapter 338 of NRS regar ding competitive bidding for any project 4
for which the charter school provides written notification to the 5
sponsor pursuant to subsection 5 of NRS 388A.378. If the sponsor 6
of a charter school fails to ensure that the charter school complies 7
with the provisions of: 8
(1) NRS 338.013 to 338.090, inclusive, the sponsor may be 9
liable for an administrative penalty imposed by the Labor 10
Commissioner, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, of 11
not more than $5,000 for each violation of those provisions by the 12
charter school. 13
(2) Chapter 338 of NRS regarding competitive bidding, the 14
contract for the project is void. 15
2. Each sponsor of a charter school shall develop policies and 16
practices that are consistent with state laws and regulations 17
governing charter schools. In developing the policies and practices, 18
the sponsor shall review and evaluate nationally recognized policies 19
and practices for sponsoring organizations of charter schools. The 20
policies and practices must include, without limitation: 21
(a) The organizational capacity and infrastructure of the sponsor 22
for sponsorship of charter schools, which must not be described as a 23
limit on the number of charter schools the sponsor will approve; 24
(b) The procedure and criteria for soliciting and evaluating 25
charter school applications in accordance with NRS 388A.249, 26
which must include, without limitation: 27
(1) Specific application procedures and timelines for 28
committees to form a charter school that plan to enter into a contract 29
with an educational management organization to operate the charter 30
school, committees to form a charter school that do not plan to enter 31
into such a contract and charter management organizations; and 32
(2) A description of the manner in which the sponsor will 33
evaluate the previous performance of an educational management 34
organization or other person with whom a committee to form a 35
charter school plans to enter into a contract to operate a charter 36
school or a charter management organization that submits an 37
application to form a charter school; 38
(c) The procedure and criteria for evaluating applications for 39
renewal of charter contracts pursuant to NRS 388A.285; 40
(d) The procedure for amending a charter contract and the 41
criteria for determining whether a request for such an amendment 42
will be approv ed which must include, without limitation, any 43
manner in which such procedures and criteria will differ if the 44

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sponsor determines that the amendment is material or strategically 1
important; 2
(e) If deemed appropriate by the sponsor, a strategic plan for 3
recruiting charter management organizations , educational 4
management organizations or other persons to operate charter 5
schools based on the priorities of the sponsor and the needs of the 6
pupils that will be served by the charter schools that will be 7
sponsored by the sponsor; 8
(f) A description of how the sponsor will maintain oversight of 9
the charter schools it sponsors, which must include, without 10
limitation: 11
(1) An assessment of the needs of the charter schools that are 12
sponsored by the sponsor that is pre pared with the input of the 13
governing bodies of such charter schools; and 14
(2) A strategic plan for the oversight and provision of 15
technical support to charter schools that are sponsored by the 16
sponsor in the areas of academic, fiscal and organizational 17
performance; and 18
(g) A description of the process of evaluation for the charter 19
schools it sponsors in accordance with NRS 388A.351. 20
3. Evidence of material or persistent failure to carry out the 21
powers and duties of a sponsor prescribed by this section constitutes 22
grounds for revocation of the entity’s authority to sponsor charter 23
schools. 24
4. The provisions of this section do not establish a private right 25
of action against the sponsor of a charter school. 26
Sec. 5. (Deleted by amendment.) 27
Sec. 6. (Deleted by amendment.) 28
Sec. 7. (Deleted by amendment.) 29
Sec. 8. (Deleted by amendment.) 30
Sec. 9. (Deleted by amendment.) 31
Sec. 10. NRS 388A.378 is hereby amended to read as follows: 32
388A.378 1. The governing body of a charter school may 33
contract with the board of trustees of the school district in which the 34
charter school is located or in which a pupil enrolled in the charter 35
school resides, with the Nevada System of Higher Education or with 36
a city or county for the provision of facilities to operate the charter 37
school or to perform any service relating to the operation of the 38
charter school, including, without limitation, transport ation, the 39
provision of health services for the pupils who are enrolled in 40
the charter school and the provision of school police officers. If the 41
board of trustees of a school district, a college or university within 42
the Nevada System of Higher Education or a city or county is the 43
sponsor of the charter school, the governing body and the sponsor 44
must enter into a service agreement pursuant to NRS 388A.381 45

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before the provision of such services other than for the provision of 1
school police officers when the provisions of NRS 388A.384 apply. 2
If the board of trustees of a school district provides services to a 3
charter school pursuant to this section or NRS 388A.474, it shall not 4
charge more than its cost for providing such services determined on 5
a cost per pupil basis. 6
2. A charter school may use any public facility located within 7
the school district in which the charter school is located. A charter 8
school may use school buildings owned by the school district only 9
upon approval of the board of trustees of the school district. 10
3. The board of trustees of a school district may donate surplus 11
personal property of the school district to a charter school that is 12
located within the school district. 13
4. A charter school may: 14
(a) Acquire by construction, purchase, devise, gift, exchange or 15
lease, or any combination of those methods, and construct, 16
reconstruct, improve, maintain, equip and furnish any building, 17
structure or property to be used for any of its educational purposes 18
and the related appurtenances, easemen ts, rights -of-way, 19
improvements, paving, utilities, landscaping, parking facilities and 20
lands; 21
(b) Mortgage, pledge or otherwise encumber all or any part of 22
its property or assets; 23
(c) Borrow money and otherwise incur indebtedness; and 24
(d) Use public money to purchase real property or buildings 25
with the approval of the sponsor. 26
5. A charter school shall provide written notice to the sponsor 27
of the charter school of any project for the new construction, 28
repair or reconstruction of any building, structure, facility or 29
property, regardless of ownership, used for any of the educational 30
purposes of the charter school if the estimated cost of the project 31
exceeds $100,000. A charter school shall provide to the sponsor 32
for each such project: 33
(a) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 388A.635, 34
documentation of compliance with the requirements for 35
competitive bidding set forth in chapter 338 of NRS; and 36
(b) The record received by the charter school each month 37
pursuant to subsection 6 of NRS 338.070 for the project. 38
Sec. 11. (Deleted by amendment.) 39
Sec. 12. (Deleted by amendment.) 40
Sec. 13. (Deleted by amendment.) 41
Sec. 14. (Deleted by amendment.) 42

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Sec. 15. This act becomes effective upon passage and 1
approval. 2

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