Charter school law-amendments.

WORKING DRAFT

ORIGINAL HOUSE

BILL

NO.
0062

ENROLLED ACT NO. 60, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTIETH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WYOMING
2009 GENERAL SESSION

AN ACT relating to
charter schools; authorizing a phased application process
as specified; granting rulemaking authority;
allowing mediation of application disputes;

modifying ADM computations for funding purposes;
and providing for an effective date.

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

Section 1.

W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
30
7 by creating new subsection
s
(b)
through (d)
,
21
‑
3-308
(a)
and 21
‑
3
‑
314(a)(i)(intro), by creating a new subparagraph (C) and (iii)
are amended to read:

21
‑
3
‑
307.

Charter application; contents; phased-in applicatio
n
process.

(b)

Upon submission of an application under W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
307(a), the superintendent of the school district shall notify the applicant within thirty (30) days of submission whether the application is complete. If the district superintendent determines that the application is incomplete, the superintendent shall advise the applicant of the reasons for the determination in sufficient detail for the applicant to make changes for resubmission of the application to the district superintendent.

(c)

The district superintendent's determination that an application is complete shall not prevent the district superintendent from making subsequent recommendations to, or from opposing the application before, the school board.

(d)

The state superintendent shall through rule and regulation establish charter school application review procedures, including timelines for application components specified under subsection (a) of this section.
The phased application process
prescribed by state
superintendent
rule and regulation
may
provide
a process for
mediation of disputes
concerning completeness of an application
between the applicant and school district, which would
be subject to W.S. 1
‑
43
‑
101 through 1
‑
43
‑
104, would
allow either party to initiate mediation and would impose costs of mediation equally upon both parties. Any mediation process prescribed by rule shall specify professional requirements for the impartial third party facilitat
ing mediation
. If either party refuses to mediate, the dispute may be appealed to the state board as provided in W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
310.

21
‑
3
‑
308.

Hearing by local board; prohibited actions by local board; criteria; compliance with state standards; state board review; contractual authority.

(a)

N
ot later than thirty (30) days after receiving an application for any charter school
as defined in W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
302

which has been determined to be complete pursuant to W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
307(b)
, the district board shall hold a public hearing on the application, at which time the board 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.
F
ollowing review of the application and the public hearing, if applicable, and in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, the district board 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 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 shall approve and adopt the content and terms of the contract as provided in W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
307.

21
‑
3
‑
314.

Students counted among district ADM; determination of charter school funding.

(a)

Each student attending a charter school shall be counted among the average daily membership of the school district in which the school is located and the school shall be included in the district's configuration of schools reported to the state superintendent under W.S. 21
‑
13
‑
309(m)(iv). Average daily membership of the charter school shall be calculated as follows:

(i)

Notwithstanding W.S. 21
‑
13
‑
309(m)(iv)(A), in the first year of operation, the average daily membership for the charter school shall be
multiplied by two (2)
based on the following:

(C)

If the charter is initiated under W.S. 21
‑
3
‑
306 by any person other than the school district in which the charter is operating, the average daily membership computed under subparagraphs (i)(A) and (B) of this subsection shall be multiplied by two (2).

(iii)

For purposes of W.S. 21
‑
13
‑
309(m)(iv)(A), and upon charter school operation for three (3) consecutive school years, charter school average daily membership computed under paragraph (i) of this subsection shall
, i
f the charter is subject to subparagraph (i)(C) of this subsection,

be
divided by two (2) prior to
computing the school's ADM averaged over the three (3) immediately preceding school years;

Section 2.

This act is effective immediately upon co
m
pletion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constit
u
tion.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

Chief Clerk

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