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ENGROSSED HOUSE
BILL NO. 2154 By: Hall of the House
and
Guthrie of the Senate
An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 3-136, as amended by Section 7, Chapter 323,
O.S.L. 2023 (70 O.S. Supp. 2024, Section 3-136),
which relates to the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act;
exempting certain financial statements from contract
requirements; requiring the approval of charter
school budgets before each fiscal year; providing an
effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 3-136, as
amended by Section 7, Chapter 323, O.S.L. 2023 (70 O.S. Supp. 2024,
Section 3-136), is amended to read as follows:
Section 3-136. A. Beginning July 1, 2024, a written contract
entered into between the Statewide Charter School Board and the
governing board of a charter school or statewide virtual charter
school or a written contract entered into between a sponsor and the
governing board of a charter school shall ensure compliance with the
following:
1. Except as provided for in the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act,
a charter school and virtual charter school shall be exempt from all
statutes and rules relating to schools, boards of education, and
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school districts; provided, however, a charter school or virtual
charter school shall comply with all federal regulations and state
and local rules and statutes relating to health, safety, civil
rights, and insurance. By January 1, 2000, the State Department of
Education shall prepare a list of relevant rules and statutes which
a charter school and virtual charter school must comply with as
required by this paragraph and shall annually provide an update to
the list;
2. A charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs,
admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations.
A sponsor may not authorize a charter school or program that is
affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school or religious
institution;
3. The charter contract shall provide a description of the
educational program to be offered. A charter school or virtual
charter school may provide a comprehensive program of instruction
for a prekindergarten program, a kindergarten program, or any grade
between grades one and twelve. Instruction may be provided to all
persons between four (4) and twenty-one (21) years of age. A
charter school or virtual charter school may offer a curriculum
which emphasizes a specific learning philosophy or style or certain
subject areas such as mathematics, science, fine arts, performance
arts, or foreign language. The charter of a charter school or
virtual charter school which offers grades nine through twelve shall
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specifically address whether the charter school or virtual charter
school will comply with the graduation requirements established in
Section 11-103.6 of this title. No charter school shall be
chartered for the purpose of offering a curriculum for deaf or blind
students that is the same or similar to the curriculum being
provided by or for educating deaf or blind students that are being
served by the Oklahoma School for the Blind or the Oklahoma School
for the Deaf;
4. A charter school or virtual charter school shall participate
in the testing as required by the Oklahoma School Testing Program
Act and the reporting of test results as is required of a school
district. A charter school or virtual charter school shall also
provide any necessary data to the Office of Accountability within
the State Department of Education;
5. A charter school or virtual charter school shall be subject
to the same reporting requirements, financial audits, audit
procedures, and audit requirements as a school district. The State
Department of Education or State Auditor and Inspector may conduct
financial, program, or compliance audits. The Statewide Charter
School Board may request that the State Auditor and Inspector
conduct a financial, program, or compliance audit for any charter
school or virtual charter school it oversees. A charter school or
virtual charter school shall use the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System
to report financial transactions to the State Department of
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Education. The charter school or virtual charter school shall be
subject to the limitations on spending, including provisions of the
Oklahoma Constitution, for any funds received from the state, either
through the State Department of Education or other sources.
Notwithstanding the requirements of this paragraph, charter schools
shall be exempt from filing a written itemized statement of
estimated needs and probable income from all sources, as described
in Section 3002 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
6. A charter school or virtual charter school shall comply with
all federal and state laws relating to the education of children
with disabilities in the same manner as a school district;
7. A charter school or virtual charter school shall provide for
a governing board for the school which shall be responsible for the
policies and operational decisions of the charter school or virtual
charter school. All of the charter school or virtual charter school
governing board members shall be residents of this state and shall
meet no fewer than ten (10) months of the year in a public meeting
within the boundaries of the school district in which the charter
school is located or within this state if the governing board
oversees multiple charter schools in this state or oversees a
virtual charter school. The governing board of a charter school or
virtual charter school shall be subject to the same conflict of
interest requirements as a member of a school district board of
education including but not limited to Sections 5-113 and 5-124 of
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this title. Members appointed to the governing board of a charter
school or virtual charter school shall be subject to the same
instruction and continuing education requirements as a member of a
school district board of education and pursuant to Section 5-110 of
this title shall complete twelve (12) hours of instruction within
fifteen (15) months of appointment to the governing board and
pursuant to Section 5-110.1 of this title shall attend continuing
education;
8. A charter school or virtual charter school shall not be used
as a method of generating revenue for students who are being home
schooled and are not being educated at an organized charter school
site or by a virtual charter school;
9. A charter school or virtual charter school shall be as
equally free and open to all students as traditional public schools
and shall not charge tuition or fees;
10. A charter school or virtual charter school shall provide
instruction each year for at least the number of days or hours
required in Section 1-109 of this title;
11. A charter school or virtual charter school shall comply
with the student suspension requirements provided for in Section 24-
101.3 of this title;
12. A charter school or virtual charter school shall be
considered a school district for purposes of tort liability under
The Governmental Tort Claims Act;
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13. Employees of a charter school or virtual charter school may
participate as members of the Teachers' Retirement System of
Oklahoma in accordance with applicable statutes and rules if
otherwise allowed pursuant to law;
14. A charter school or virtual charter school may participate
in all health and related insurance programs available to employees
of a public school district;
15. A charter school or virtual charter school and their
respective governing boards shall comply with the Oklahoma Open
Meeting Act and the Oklahoma Open Records Act;
16. The governing board of a charter school or virtual charter
school shall notify the sponsor within ten (10) business days in the
instance of any significant adverse actions, material findings of
noncompliance, or pending actions, claims, or proceedings in this
state relating to the charter school, the virtual charter school, or
an educational management organization with which the charter school
or virtual charter school has a contract;
17. No later than September 1 each year, the governing board of
each charter school or virtual charter school formed pursuant to the
Oklahoma Charter Schools Act shall prepare a statement of actual
income and expenditures for the charter school or virtual charter
school for the fiscal year that ended on the preceding June 30, in a
manner compliant with Section 5-135 of this title. The statement of
expenditures shall include functional categories as defined in rules
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adopted by the State Board of Education to implement the Oklahoma
Cost Accounting System pursuant to Section 5-145 of this title.
Charter schools and virtual charter schools shall not be permitted
to submit estimates of expenditures or prorated amounts to fulfill
the requirements of this paragraph; and
18. A charter school or virtual charter school contract shall
include performance provisions based on a performance framework that
clearly sets forth the academic and operational performance
indicators that shall be used by charter school and virtual charter
school sponsors to evaluate their respective schools. The sponsor
may develop a separate performance framework to evaluate a charter
school or virtual charter school that has been designated by the
State Department of Education as implementing an alternative
education program throughout the school. The sponsor shall require
a charter school or virtual charter school to submit the data
required in this subsection in the identical format that is required
by the State Department of Education of all public schools in order
to avoid duplicative administrative efforts or allow a charter
school or virtual charter school to provide permission to the
Department to share all required data with the Board. The
performance framework shall serve as the minimum requirement for
charter school and virtual charter school performance evaluation and
shall include, but not be limited to, the following indicators:
a. student academic proficiency,
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b. student academic growth,
c. achievement gaps in both proficiency and growth
between major student subgroups,
d. student attendance,
e. recurrent enrollment from year to year as determined
by the methodology used for public schools in
Oklahoma,
f. in the case of high schools, graduation rates as
determined by the methodology used for public schools
in Oklahoma,
g. in the case of high schools, postsecondary readiness,
h. financial performance and sustainability and
compliance with state and Internal Revenue Service
financial reporting requirements,
i. audit findings or deficiencies,
j. accreditation and timely reporting,
k. governing board performance and stewardship including
compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and
terms of the charter contract, and
l. mobility of student population for the virtual charter
school framework.
The sponsor including the Statewide Charter School Board shall
annually evaluate its charter schools or virtual charter schools
according to the performance framework. The results of the
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evaluation shall be presented to the governing board of the charter
school or virtual charter school and the governing board of the
charter school sponsor in an open meeting; and
19. Preceding the beginning of each fiscal year, charter school
governing boards shall approve a budget for the upcoming fiscal
year.
B. An applicant or the governing board of an applicant may hold
one or more charter contracts. Each charter school or virtual
charter school that is part of a charter contract shall be separate
and distinct from any other charter school or virtual charter
school. For the purposes of this subsection, "separate and
distinct" shall mean that a charter school or virtual charter school
governing board with oversight of more than one charter school or
virtual charter school shall not combine accounting, budgeting,
recordkeeping, admissions, employment, or policies and operational
decisions of the charter schools or virtual charter schools it
oversees.
C. The charter contract of a charter school or virtual charter
school shall include a description of the personnel policies,
personnel qualifications, and method of school governance. A
charter school or virtual charter school shall not enter into an
employment contract with any teacher or other personnel until a
contract has been executed with its sponsor. The employment
contract shall set forth the personnel policies of the charter
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school or virtual charter school including, but not limited to,
policies related to certification, professional development,
evaluation, suspension, dismissal and nonreemployment, sick leave,
personal business leave, emergency leave, and family and medical
leave. The contract shall also specifically set forth the salary,
hours, fringe benefits, and work conditions. The contract may
provide for employer-employee bargaining, but the charter school or
virtual charter school shall not be required to comply with the
provisions of Sections 509.1 through 509.10 of this title.
Upon contracting with any teacher or other personnel, the
governing board of a charter school or virtual charter school shall,
in writing, disclose employment rights of the employees in the event
the charter school or virtual charter school closes or the charter
contract is not renewed.
No charter school or virtual charter school may begin serving
students without a contract executed in accordance with the
provisions of the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act and approved in an
open meeting of the governing board of the sponsor or the Statewide
Charter School Board. The governing board of the sponsor or the
Statewide Charter School Board may establish reasonable preopening
requirements or conditions to monitor the start-up progress of newly
approved charter schools or virtual charter schools and ensure that
each brick-and-mortar school is prepared to open smoothly on the
date agreed and to ensure that each school meets all building,
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health, safety, insurance, and other legal requirements for the
opening of a school.
D. The charter of a charter school or virtual charter school
may be amended at the request of the governing board of the charter
school or virtual charter school and upon the approval of the
sponsor.
E. A charter school or virtual charter school may enter into
contracts and sue and be sued.
F. The governing board of a charter school or virtual charter
school shall not levy taxes or issue bonds. A school district that
proposes a bond shall include any charter school established
pursuant to subsection A of Section 3-132 of this title and located
within the school district in planning conversations regarding the
bond.
G. The charter of a charter school or virtual charter school
shall include a provision specifying the method or methods to be
employed for disposing of real and personal property acquired by the
charter school or virtual charter school upon expiration or
termination of the charter or failure of the charter school or
virtual charter school to continue operations. Except as otherwise
provided, any real or personal property purchased with state or
local funds shall be retained by the sponsor. If a charter school
that was previously sponsored by the board of education of a school
district continues operation within the school district under a new
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charter sponsored by an entity authorized pursuant to Section 3-132
of this title, the charter school may retain any personal property
purchased with state or local funds for use in the operation of the
charter school until termination of the new charter or failure of
the charter school to continue operations.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective July 1, 2025.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
Passed the House of Representatives the 25th day of March, 2025.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the ___ day of __________, 2025.
Presiding Officer of the Senate