State board of public charter schools.

WORKING DRAFT
2008
STATE OF
WYOMING
08LSO-0319

HOUSE BILL
NO.
HB0152

State
board of public charter schools
.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s)
Edmonds
, Cohee, Gingery, Mercer, Samuelson, Teeters, Wallis and Zwonitzer, Dn. and Senator(s)
Jennings

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to charter schools; establishing the state board of public charter schools; providing rulemaking authority
and other powers and duties
; providing
for
charter school applications to the state board of public charter schools or a district board; modifying length of operation under charter;
modifying other
charter
school provisions
;
conforming provisions;
specifying initial
board
terms; providing appropriations; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Wyoming
:

Section 1.

W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
315
and 21
‑
3
‑
316 are
created to read:

21
‑
3
‑
315.

State
board of public charter schools
; membership; terms; compensation; duties
; rulemaking authority; fees
.

(a)

There is
established

the state
board of public
charter school
s.

(b)

Within thirty (30) days after July 1, 2008, t
he speaker of the
Wyoming

house
of representatives
and the president of the
Wyoming

senate
shall
jointly
submit to the governor
a list of fifteen (15) nominees who are qualified to serve on the
state
board of public charter schools.
Thereafter, nominees shall be selected in accordance with subsection (d) of this section.
The
g
overnor shall appoint seven (7) nominees from the list to serve as members of the
state
board
of public charter schools
.
Nominees shall not be
employed by a public school,
a public charter school
or
the
Wyoming

e
ducation
a
ssociation. Nominees
shall
have knowledge or experience in
one
(1)
or more of the following
:

(i)

Student learning, quality teaching and evaluation of accountability in successful schools;

(ii)

The operation of
financially
sound enterprises including leadership and management techniques and budgeting and accounting skills;

(iii)

The educational, social and economic development needs of the state;
and

(iv)

The needs and interests of students and parents in the state and methods of involving parents and community members in schools.

(c
)

Four (4
)
members of the
Wyoming
legislature
shall
serve
on the board
in a nonvoting capacity
,
two (2
)
shall be

member
s
of the Wyoming senate appointed by the
president of the senate and two (2
)
shall be
member
s
of the Wyoming house of representatives
appointed by the
speaker of the house.
Board terms shall coincide with terms for which the legislators are elected. Legislators may be reappointed and vacancies shall be filled by the appoint
ing
authority.

(d)

When a vacancy occurs
on the
voting membership of the
board, the governor:

(i)

May reappoint the member if the member is eligible to serve an additional term under subsection (f) of this section; or

(ii)

S
hall, not later than thirty (30) days after the vacancy occurs, request from the speaker of the house and the president of the senate a
single
list of three (3) nominees who would qualify as a nominee under subsection (b) of this section. The governor shall select one (1) nominee to serve as a member of the board.
Any member selected to fill a vacancy which occurs prior to the expiration of the term of a predecessor shall be appointed only for the remainder of the term.

(e)

If the governor does not appoint members sufficient to bring the membership of the board to seven (7) within thirty (30) days after
receiving
a list of nominees under subsection (b) or (d) of this section, the
s
peaker of the
h
ouse shall, not more than ten (10) days after the thirty (30) day time period, make such appointments as are necessary to bring the membership of the board to seven (7).

(
f
)

E
ach
voting member
shall
serve a term of four (4) years
,
except that of the initial
appointments
the governor shall designate two (2) members to serve a term of three (3) years, two
(2)
members to serve a term of two (2) years and one (1) member to serve a term of one (1) year.
Each member
appointed by the governor
may be reappointed for one (1) subsequent
four (4) year
term.

(g)

The members of the
state
board of public charter schools shall, each year or when requested by a majority vote of the members of the board, elect from their membership one (1) member to serve as chair. Four (4) members
shall
constitute a quorum. The board shall meet at the call of the chair and shall meet at least monthly to carry out the function of the consideration of charter
applications
and the administration and oversight of charter schools.

(h
)

Members of t
he legislature appointed to the
board
shall receive payment for expenses, per diem and compensation at the rates
and in the amounts
prescribed by law for legislators as necessary to carry out duties under this section
, to be
paid by the legislative service office. Remaining
members
appointed by the
governor

shall
serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties in the manner and amounts provided by law for state employees.

(j
)

The board shall adopt rules and regulations necessary for the administration of
its
duties under this article.

(k)

The chair shall, subject to any rules or regulations adopted by the board, have the power to appoint, terminate and fix the pay of an executive director and such other personnel as the chair considers necessary.

(m)

The board shall provide for an audit of the financial statements of the board by an independent certified public accountant in conformity with generally accepted auditing standards. Each year the results of the audit shall be reported to the joint education interim committee.

(n
)

For the purpose of the approval of charter school applications and the oversight of charter schools, the board may charge a fee to a charter school it has authorized under this article not to exceed one and one-half percent (1.5%) of the per pupil enrol
l
ment revenues for each student enrolled in the charter school.

(o)

As used in this section and W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
316 "board" means the state board of public charter schools.

21
‑
3
‑
316.

Application to local school district or state board of public charter schools
;
application process
.

(a)

A charter applicant seeking to establish a public charter school may submit a charter application to:

(i)

The board of trustees of the
school district in which the proposed public charter school
is to be located and
would operate; or

(ii)

The state board of public charter schools.

(b)

The board shall establish an application process consistent with the requirements of this article
and
for the effective review of charter school applications and the oversight of charter schools approved by the board.
A charter authorizer is not required to approve a charter school and may require an applicant to modify or supplement an application as a condition of approval.

Section 2.

W.S.
9
‑
2
‑
1704(d) by creating a new paragraph (xvii),
21
‑
3
‑
302
(a) by creating
new paragraph
s (iii) and (iv)
,

by
renumbering paragraphs (iii) through (v)
as (v) through (vii)
and by amending and renumbering (vi) as (viii)
, 21
‑
3
‑
303(a) and (d),
21
‑
3
‑
304(b)
, (d), (f) and (j
), 21
‑
3
‑
306
(a) and (b)
, 21
‑
3
‑
308(a), (c) and (d), 21
‑
3
‑
309(
a), (b)(intro), (c)(intro)
and (e), 21
‑
3
‑
310
,
21
‑
3
‑
312
, 21
‑
13
‑
309(m)(iv)(C) and (v)(B)(intro) and 21
‑
15
‑
109(a)(ii)
are amended to read:

9
‑
2
‑
1704.

Reorganization plan; structure; time frame.

(d)

The entities of state government specified in this subsection are designated as separate operating agencies, which are separate and distinct from the departments and offices specified in subsection (a) of this section because of their quasi
‑
judicial responsibility or because of their unique, specialized function which precludes their inclusion in another department. This act does not otherwise apply to separate operating agencies. Separate ope
rating agencies are as follows:

(xvii)

S
tate board of public charter schools
established under W.S
. 21
‑
3
‑
315.

21
‑
3
‑
302.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this article:

(iii)

"Charter applicant" means a person who applies to a charter authorizer to
establish
a charter school;

(iv)

"Charter authorizer" means the
s
tate board of public charter schools
or the
district
board of application by the charter applicant;

(iii)
(v)

"District board" means the board of trustees of a school district elected as the governing body of the school district;

(iv)
(vi)

"New charter school" means a charter school established within the district which is located in a facility or a portion of a facility which is not currently being operated by the district as a public school;

(v)
(vii)

"School district" means each school district now or hereafter legally organized as a body corporate pursuant to W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
101, et seq.;

(vi)
(viii)

"State board" means the state board of education appointed pursuant to W.S. 21
‑
2
‑
301
, except as specified in W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
315(o)
.

21
‑
3
‑
303.

Charter school prohibitions.

(a)

This article shall not prohibit any private person or organization from funding or providing other assistance for the establishment or operation of a charter school established pursuant to this article when the
district

board
or the state board of public charter schools

determines the funding or assistance is compatible with the mission of the
district

state education system
.

(d)

No charter school shall enter into a contract with an independent management company without the prior written consent of the
district board. The school district shall be a third party beneficiary to any management contract approved by the district board

charter authorizer which granted the charter
.

21
‑
3
‑
304.

Charter school; requirements; authority.

(b)

A charter school shall be a public school within
the
school district

that grants its charter

in which the school is located
and shall be accountable to the
district board

charter authorizer
for purposes of ensuring compliance with applicable laws and charter provisions and the requirements of the state constitution.

(d)

A charter school shall be administered and governed by a governing body in a manner agreed to by the charter school applicant and the
school district

charter authorizer
. A charter school may organize as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the Wyoming Nonprofit Corporation Act, which shall not affect its status as a public school for any purposes under
Wyoming
law.

(f)

Notwithstanding the provisions of this article to the contrary, a charter school and the
school district

charter authorizer
may agree to extend the length of the charter beyond
five (5)

fifteen (15)
years for the purpose of enhancing the terms of any
lease or financial obligation.

(j)

A charter school
approved by a charter authorizer

may negotiate and contract with a school district, the governing body of a state college or university, or any third party for the use of a school building and grounds, the operation and maintenance thereof, and the provision of any service, activity or undertaking that the charter school is required to perform in order to carry out the educational program described in its charter. Any services for which a charter school contracts with a school district shall be provided by the district at cost. The charter school shall have standing to sue and be sued in its own name for the enforcement of any contract created pursuant to this subsection.
Any school district which refuses to negotiate in good faith, provide services at cost or enter into an agreement with a charter school shall be liable to the charter school for any reasonable expense incurred by the charter school in privately contracting for the service.

21
‑
3
‑
306.

Application for establishing charter schools; conversion of existing schools.

(a)

Any person may apply to
the

district

board

a charter authorizer

for the establishment of a new charter school or a charter school within a school
.
to be located within the school district.

(b)

Administrators and teachers employed by
the

a

district, parents of students enrolled in
the

a
district and any special district advisory group comprised of district residents may apply to
the

district

board

a charter authorizer
to convert an existing public school operating within
the

a
school district to a charter school. An application filed under this subsection shall demonstrate the support of not less than fifty percent (50%) of the teachers employed by the school who teach at the school proposed to be converted, and the parents of fifty percent (50%) of all students attending the school proposed to be converted.

21
‑
3
‑
308.

Hearing by
charter authorizer
for charter schools
; prohibited
actions
; criteria; compliance with state standards; contractual authority.

(a)

Not later than thirty (30) days after receiving an application for any charter school as defined in W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
302, the

district board

charter authorizer

shall
hold
a public hearing on the application, at which time the

board

charter authorizer

shall consider the level of community and parental support for the application if an application for a new charter school, or the level of teacher and parental support if an application for a converted charter school or charter school within a school. Following review of the application and the public hearing, if applicable, and in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, the
district

board

charter authorizer
shall either approve or deny the application within sixty (60) days of receipt. Approval under this article may be conditioned for purposes specified under subsection (c) of this section. In addition, the
board

charter authorizer
may approve an application for the operation of a converted charter school only if it determines teacher and parental support for the conversion are established at the levels required by W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
306(b).
Prior to approving
an
application for a charter school under this section, the
board

charter authorizer
shall approve and adopt the content and terms of the contract as provided in W.S.
21
‑
3
‑
307
.

(c)

The
district

board
charter authorizer

shall require
t
he applicant
to
provide information regarding the proposed operation and potential effects of the school, including but not limited to the facilities to be utilized by the school, the manner in which administrative services of the school are to be provided and a demonstration that the school is adequately insured for liability, including errors and omissions coverage, and that the school district is indemnified to the fullest extent possible. As authorized under subsection (a) of this section, the applicant may request
the
district

board and the board may
charter authorizer to

approve the
charter application subject to specified conditions which provide the applicant sufficient time to acquire necessary funding for securing or otherwise finalizing arrangements for facilities or equipment necessary for the operation of the proposed school.
In addition,
t
he
district board may

charter authorizer shall

upon request of the applicant and approval of the
charter school application
, make available for use by the charter school any district facility which is closed, not operational and otherwise feasible for use as an educational building as defined under W.S. 21
‑
15
‑
109(a)(ii).

(d)

Upon the approval of any application by the
district

board

charter authorizer
, the applicant shall

provide

written notice of that approval

including a copy of the application to the state superintendent.
If
the
district

board

charter authorizer

denies
the application, the

board

charter authorizer
shall not later than forty-five (45) days following the date of its decision, notify the applicant of the denial in writing together with its reasons for denial
.

The
charter
applicant may submit a revised application
to the charter authorizer
for reconsideration
after
receipt
of the reasons for denial.

21
‑
3
‑
309.

Length of operation under charter; renewal; revocation.

(a)

A charter may be granted pursuant to this article for a period not to exceed
five (5)

fifteen (15)
years and may be renewed for successive periods not to exceed
five (5)

fifteen (15)
years for each renewal period. A material revision of the provisions of a charter petition may be made only with the approval of the
local
board granting

charter authorizer that granted

the charter.

(b)

A charter school renewal application submitted to

the
school district

a charter authorizer

shall contain:

(c)

A charter may be revoked or not renewed by the

district

board

charter authorizer

if the
board

charter authorizer

determines
that the charter s
chool did any of the following:

(e)

If
a

district

board

charter authorizer

revokes or does not renew a
charter, the

board

charter authorizer
shall state its reasons fo
r the revocation or nonrenewal.

21
‑
3
‑
310.

Appeal; standard of review; procedures.

(a)

A charter applicant or any other person

who wishes to appeal a decision of

a
district
board

charter authorizer
concerning a charter school shall provide the state board and the
district

board

charter authorizer
with a notice of appeal within forty-five (45) days after receiving the

local

board's

charter
authorizer's

written decision and reasons for denial. If the appeal is of a denial, nonrenewal
,
or revocation of a charter, the person bringing the appeal shall limit the grounds of the appeal to the grounds for denial specified by the
district board

charter authorizer
. The notice shall include a brief statement of the reasons the charter school applicant contends the

district

board's

charter authorizer's

denial was in error.

(b)

If the notice of appeal, or the motion to review by the state board, relates to
a
district
board's

charter authorizer's
decision to deny, refuse to renew
,
or revoke a charter
,
or to a
district

board
'
s

charter authorizer's

unilateral imposition of conditions that are unacceptable to the charter school or the charter applicant,
the appeal and review process shall be as follows:

(i)

Within sixty (60) days after receipt of the notice of appeal or the making of a motion to review by the state board and after reasonable public notice, the state board, at a public hearing which shall be held in the school district in which the proposed charter school has applied for a charter, shall review the decision of the
district

board

charter authorizer

and make its findings. If the state board finds that the
local

board's

charter authorizer's
decision was contrary to the best interests of the pupils, school district or community, the state board shall remand

such

the
decision to the
district

board

charter authorizer
with written instructions for reconsideration
.

thereof.

The instructions shall include specific recommendations concerning the matters requiring reconsideration;

(ii)

Within thirty (30) days following the remand of a decision to the
district

board

charter authorizer
and after reasonable public notice, the
district

board

charter authorizer
, at a public hearing, shall reconsider its decision and make a final decision;

(iii)

If the
district

board's

charter authorizer
's
final decision is still to deny, refuse to renew or revoke a
charter
,
or
to
unilaterally impose conditions unacceptable to the charter school or the charter applicant,
a second notice of appeal may be filed with the state board within thirty (30) days following

such

the
final decision;

(iv)

Within thirty (30) days following receipt of the second notice of appeal or the making of a motion for a second review by the state board and after reasonable public notice, the state board, at a public hearing, shall determine whether the final decision of the
district board

charter authorizer

was contrary to the best interests of the pupils, school district or community. If such a finding is made, the state board shall remand the final decision to the
local

board

charter authorizer
with instructions to approve the charter application. The decision of the state board may require changes to the contract to be executed by the charter school

and the
school district
.

21
‑
3
‑
312.

Charter authorizer
to report to state board.

Each
district board

charter authorizer

granting a charter pursuant to this article
shall annually report to the state board on each charter school
operating within the district
,

authorized by the
charter
authorizer regarding
compliance with the provisions of
the

each
charter and shall assure the state board that students attending
the
charter
school

are receiving an education consistent with the educational opportunities available to all students within
the school district
.

21
‑
13
‑
309.

Determination of amount to be included in foundation program for each district.

(m)

In determining the amount to be included in the foundation program for each district, the state superintendent shall:

(iv)

Based upon reports from each district on schools operating within that district for the current school year and on grade configurations contained within each reported school during that school year, compute the average daily membership (ADM) for each reported school and each grade within each reported school in accordance with identified grade configurations subject to the following:

(C)

After the 2006-2007 school year, and excluding charter schools established under W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
301 through
21
‑
3
‑
314

21
‑
3
‑
31
6
, any modification to the configuration of grades in which students are enrolled during any school year such that the configuration differs from that in which students were enrolled during the 2005-2006 school year shall be documented by the district within reports submitted under this subsection and shall require approval by the state superintendent. Approval by the state superintendent under this subparagraph shall be based upon appropriate delivery of the required educational program, the cost effectiveness of the modified grade configuration for the delivery of adequate educational services to students and any extraordinary circumstances related to the safe and efficient delivery of the education program to students. This subparagraph relates only to the configuration of schools for application to the education resource block grant model and not to the authority of a district to configure grade levels at each of its schools.

(v)

Based upon ADM computations and identified school configurations within each district pursuant to paragraph (iv) of this subsection, compute the foundation program amount for each district as prescribed by the education resource block grant model adopted by the Wyoming legislature as defined under W.S. 21
‑
13
‑
103(a)(xiv), as contained within the spreadsheets and accompanying reports referenced under W.S. 21
‑
13
‑
103(a)(xvii) and (xviii) and on file with the secretary of state pursuant to W.S. 21
‑
13
‑
103(c). The following criteria shall be used by the state superintendent in the administration of the education resource block grant model:

(B)

Alternative schools qualifying for separate consideration under the education resource block grant model may be established by a school district for offering educational programs to students with educational needs which the district finds are not appropriately met by other schools in the district, excluding charter schools established under W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
301 through
21
‑
3
‑
314

21
‑
3
‑
31
6
. Alternative schools included within a district's configuration of schools identified under paragraph (iv) of this subsection shall for purposes of the education resource block grant model:

21
‑
15
‑
109.

Major building and facility repair and replacement payments; computation; square footage allowance; use of payment funds; accounting and reporting requirements.

(a)

As used in this act:

(ii)

"Educational building" means a school building or facility primarily used for providing the educational programs offered by a district in compliance with law which is owned by the district, including a school building or facility owned by the district and used for operating a charter school established under W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
301 through
21
‑
3
‑
314

21
‑
3
‑
31
6
;

Section 3.

W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
303(e)
and 21
‑
3
‑
309(d) are
repealed.

Section 4
.

(a)

For the period commencing July 1, 2008, and ending June 30, 2009, the following amounts are appropriated from the general fund to be expended only as necessary to fund the expenses associated with the state
board of public charter schools
established under W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
315, as created under Section 1 of this act:

(i)

One hundred
fifty thousand dollars ($15
0,000.00) to the
state board of public charter schools
, a portion of which may be used to acquire contractual services necessary to carry out duties prescribed by this act
; and

(ii)

Ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) to the legislative service office.

Section
5
.

This act is effective July 1, 2008.

(END)

1
HB0152