Modifies various aspects of charter school program including approval, student admissions and enrollment procedures, and board of trustee membership.

A1113

ASSEMBLY, No. 1113

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

SYNOPSIS

���� Modifies various aspects of charter school program
including approval, student admissions and enrollment procedures, and board of
trustee membership.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning charter schools and amending and
supplementing P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-1 et seq.).

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� (New section)� The board
of trustees of a charter school shall include at least two members who are
members of the local board of education of the charter school district of
residence, and at least two members of the community who are chosen by the
local board of education.

���� 2.��� Section 4 of P.L.1995,
c.426 (C.18A:36A-4) is amended to read as follows:

���� 4.��� a. A charter school may
be established by teaching staff members, parents with children attending the
schools of the district, or a combination of teaching staff members and
parents.� A charter school may also be established by an institution of higher
education or a private entity located within the State in conjunction with
teaching staff members and parents of children attending the schools of the
district.� If the charter school is established by a private entity,
representatives of the private entity shall not constitute a majority of the
trustees of the school, and the charter shall specify the extent to which the
private entity shall be involved in the operation of the school.� The name of
the charter school shall not include the name or identification of the private
entity, and the private entity shall not realize a net profit from its
operation of a charter school.

���� b.��� A currently existing
public school is eligible to become a charter school if the following criteria
are met:

���� (1)�� At least 51% of the
teaching staff in the school shall have signed a petition in support of the
school becoming a charter school; and

���� (2)�� At least 51% of the
parents or guardians of pupils attending that public school shall have signed a
petition in support of the school becoming a charter school.

���� c.����
(1)
An
application to establish a charter school shall be submitted to the
commissioner and the local board of education or State district superintendent,
in the case of a school district under full State intervention, in the school
year preceding the school year in which the charter school will be established.
Notice of the filing of the application shall be sent immediately by the
commissioner to the members of the State Legislature, school superintendents,
and mayors and governing bodies of all legislative districts, school districts,
or municipalities in which there are students who will be eligible for
enrollment in the charter school. The board of education or State district
superintendent shall review the application and forward a recommendation to the
commissioner within 60 days of receipt of the application.�
[
The
commissioner shall have final authority to grant or reject a charter
application.
]

����
(2)�� The commissioner
shall make a determination to grant or reject a charter application.� If the
commissioner makes a determination to grant a charter application, the local
board of education shall vote to accept or to override the commissioner�s
determination by a majority vote of the board within 60 days of the
commissioner�s determination.� The charter application shall be deemed approved
upon the local board of education�s acceptance of the commissioner�s
determination to grant a charter application, or it shall be deemed rejected
upon the local board of education�s override of the commissioner�s
determination.� The local board of education shall not have the authority to
override the commissioner�s determination to reject a charter application.

���� d.���
[
The local
board of education or a
]

A
charter school applicant may appeal the decision of the commissioner
or
the local board of education
to the Appellate Division of the Superior
Court.

���� e.���� A charter school
established during the 48 months following the effective date of this act,
other than a currently existing public school which becomes a charter school
pursuant to the provisions of subsection b. of section 4 of this act, shall not
have an enrollment in excess of 500 students or greater than 25% of the student
body of the school district in which the charter school is established,
whichever is less.

���� Any two charter schools within
the same public school district that are not operating the same grade levels
may petition the commissioner to amend their charters and consolidate into one
school.� The commissioner may approve an amendment to consolidate, provided
that the basis for consolidation is to accommodate the transfer of students who
would otherwise be subject to the random selection process pursuant to section
8 of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-8).

(cf: P.L.2011, c.140, s.2)

���� 3.��� Section 5 of P.L.1995,
c.426 (C.18A:36A-5) is amended to read as follows:

���� 5.��� The application for a
charter school shall include the following information:

���� a.���� The identification of
the charter applicant;

���� b.��� The name of the proposed
charter school;

���� c.���� The proposed governance
structure of the charter school including a list of the proposed members of the
board of trustees of the charter school or a description of the qualifications
and method for the appointment or election of members of the board of trustees;

���� d.��� The educational goals of
the charter school, the curriculum to be offered, and the methods of assessing
whether students are meeting educational goals. Charter school students shall
be required to meet the same testing and academic performance standards as
established by law and regulation for public school students.� Charter school
students shall also meet any additional assessment indicators which are
included within the charter approved by the commissioner;

���� e.���� The admission policy
and criteria for evaluating the admission of students which shall comply with
the requirements of section 8 of this act;

���� f.���� The age or grade range
of students to be enrolled;

���� g.��� The school calendar and
school day schedule;

���� h.��� A description of the
charter school staff responsibilities and the proposed qualifications of
teaching staff;

���� i.���� A description of the
procedures to be implemented to ensure significant parental involvement in the
operation of the school;

���� j.���� A description of, and
address for, the physical facility in which the charter school will be located;

���� k.��� Information on the
manner in which community groups will be involved in the charter school
planning process;

���� l.���� The financial plan for
the charter school and the provisions which will be made for auditing the
school pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.18A:23-1;

���� m.�� A description of and
justification for any waivers of regulations which the charter school will
request;
[
and
]

���� n.���
The names of the
school districts and municipalities in which there are students who will be
eligible for enrollment in the charter school under the provisions of section 7
of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-7); and

����
o.
��� Such other
information as the commissioner may require.

(cf: P.L.1995, c.426, s.5)

���� 4.��� Section 7 of P.L.1995,
c.426 (C.18A:36A-7) is amended to read as follows:

���� 7.��� A charter school shall
be open to all students
who reside in the charter school district of
residence as approved by the commissioner,
on a space available basis
[
and
]
.� If
available space permits, a charter school may enroll non-resident students from
two additional school districts which are located in municipalities that border
the charter school district of residence.� A charter school
shall not
discriminate in its admission policies or practices on the basis of
intellectual or athletic ability, measures of achievement or aptitude, status
as a handicapped person, proficiency in the English language, or any other
basis that would be illegal if used by a school district; however, a charter
school may limit admission to a particular grade level or to areas of
concentration of the school, such as mathematics, science, or the arts.� A
charter school may establish reasonable criteria to evaluate prospective
students which shall be outlined in the school's charter.

(cf: P.L.1995, c.426, s.7)

���� 5.��� Section 8 of P.L.1995,
c.426 (C.18A:36A-8) is amended to read as follows:

���� 8.��� a. Preference for
enrollment in a charter school shall be given to students who reside in the
[
school
district in which the charter school is located.� If there are more
applications to enroll in the charter school than there are spaces available,
the
]

charter
school district of residence as approved by the commissioner.� A
charter
school shall select students to attend
[
using
a random selection process
]

through a lottery.� The name of each student who is enrolled in the charter
school district of residence shall be placed in the lottery.� In the event that
the parent or guardian of a student who is selected for admission to the
charter school through the lottery determines not to enroll the student in the
charter school, then the charter school shall fill that enrollment space with a
student from the waiting list maintained pursuant to subsection f. of this
section
.� A charter school shall not charge tuition to students
[
who reside in
the district
]
.

���� b.��� A charter school shall
allow any student who was enrolled in the school in the immediately preceding
school year to enroll in the charter school in the appropriate grade unless the
appropriate grade is not offered at the charter school.

���� c.���� A charter school may
give enrollment priority to a sibling of a student enrolled in the charter
school.

���� d.��� If available space
permits, a charter school may enroll non-resident students
from two
additional school districts which are located in municipalities that border the
charter school district of residence
.� The terms and condition of the
enrollment shall be outlined in the school's charter and approved by the
commissioner.

���� e.���� The admission policy of
the charter school shall, to the maximum extent practicable, seek the
enrollment of a cross section of the community's school age population
including racial and academic factors.

����
f.���� A charter school
shall maintain a waiting list for admission of grade-eligible students, and
shall use the waiting list to fill any enrollment spaces that become available
after the lottery conducted pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
��

(cf: P.L.1995, c.426, s.8)

���� 6.��� Section 9 of P.L.1995,
c.426 (C.18A:36A-9) is amended to read as follows:

���� 9.��� A student may withdraw
from a charter school at any time.�
[
A
student may be expelled from a charter school based on criteria determined by
the board of trustees, which are consistent with the provisions of
N.J.S.18A:37-2, and approved by the commissioner as part of the school's
charter.� Any expulsion shall be made upon the recommendation of the charter
school principal, in consultation with the student's teachers.
]
�
A charter
school may not expel a student.

(cf: P.L.1995, c.426, s.9)

���� 7.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill makes several
modifications to the charter school program.� Under current law, a board of
education may review a charter application and submit a recommendation to the
Commissioner of Education, but the commissioner has final authority to grant or
reject a charter application.� Under this bill, a local board of education will
have the authority to either accept or overturn the commissioner�s
determination to grant a charter application.� The commissioner will retain
final authority to reject a charter application.� The bill would allow a
charter school applicant to appeal the decision of the commissioner, or to
appeal the decision of the local board of education if the board acts to reject
the charter application.

���� In addition, the bill limits
the population of students who are eligible for admission to a charter school.�
Under the bill, a charter school will be open to all students who reside in the
charter school district of residence on a space available basis.� If spaces
remain available, a charter school may enroll non-resident students from two
additional school districts which are located in municipalities that border the
charter school district of residence.� The application for a charter school
must include the names of the school districts and municipalities in which
there are students who will be eligible for enrollment.� Under current law, if
space permits the school may enroll non-resident students without geographic
limit.

���� The bill also modifies charter
school enrollment procedures.� Under the bill, students will be selected for
enrollment through a lottery, and the name of each student who is enrolled in
the charter school�s district of residence will be placed in the lottery.� If
the parent or guardian of a student who is selected through the lottery decides
not to enroll the student, the charter school will fill that enrollment space
with a student from the school�s waiting list. The bill provides that each
charter school will maintain a waiting list of grade-eligible students and will
use the list to fill enrollment spaces that become available after the
lottery.� Under current law, a random selection process for charter school
enrollment is only used if there are more applicants than there are openings in
the charter school.

���� In addition, the bill requires
that the board of trustees of a charter school include at least two members who
are members of the local board of education of the charter school district of
residence, and at least two members of the community who are chosen by the
local board of education.� The bill also amends current law to provide that a
charter school may not expel a student.