BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to charter schools; adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this chapter is to authorize the creation of charter schools. Charter schools are public schools that operate independently of a school district and are operated by nonprofit or governmental organizations. Charter schools may not be affiliated with religious institutions.

The goals of charter schools shall include but are not limited to the following:

(1) To improve student learning;

(2) To increase learning opportunities for students in public schools;

(3) To encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods;

(4) To create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site;

(5) To encourage performance-based education programs;

(6) To establish new forms of accountability for schools; and

(7) To encourage the use of innovative assessment methods designed to measure student performance and mastery of desired skills more accurately.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. DEFINITIONS. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Board of trustees" means the governing board established in section 6 of this act.

(2) "Sponsor" means the entity that grants the charter school its charter. Sponsors may include school districts and the state board of education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. APPLICATION AND APPROVAL PROCESS. (1) The state board of education or school district boards of directors may sponsor, consistent with this chapter, the establishment and operation of charter schools.

(2) Persons and entities eligible to submit an application to establish a charter school shall include two or more certificated teachers, ten or more parents, and nonprofit and governmental organizations. Private and religious schools shall not be eligible for charter school status.

(3) The state board of education shall develop an application form for charter schools. The application shall include, but not be limited to:

(a) A description of the charter school's proposed educational program, and a discussion of how the program will achieve the goals of section 1 of this act;

(b) Specific learning standards that pupils are to achieve;

(d) A proposed three-year budget;

(e) Governance, management, and financial policies and procedures; and

(f) Program evaluation and financial audit procedures.

(4) Applications to establish a charter school shall be submitted to the state board of education or to a school district board of directors each year by January 15th.

(5) By May 15th, the state board of education or the school district board of directors shall approve or disapprove applications of schools proposed for the following school year.

(6) The state board of education's or sponsoring school district's approval of a charter school shall be in the form of a written charter signed by the sponsor and the board of trustees of the charter school. Except as provided in this chapter, the sponsor shall be given board authority in establishing the terms and conditions of the charter. At a minimum, the charter shall include:

(a) The applicable requirements of this chapter;

(b) Other educational program requirements, as determined by the sponsor;

(b) Specific learning requirements that pupils are to achieve;

(d) Governance, management, and financial policies and procedure requirements;

(e) Insurance and liability requirements; and

(f) Program evaluation and financial audit requirements.

(7) The term of the charter shall be no longer than three school years. Provisions for renewal and early termination of the charter are provided in section 8 of this act.

(8) Applications that are not approved may be submitted in the following year to the state board of education or to the same, or another, school district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. CONDITIONS AND REQUIREMENTS OF ALL CHARTER SCHOOLS. (1) The primary focus of charter schools shall be to provide a comprehensive program of instruction for at least one grade or age group from five through eighteen years of age.

(2) Charter schools shall design their programs to be consistent with the goals in RCW 28A.150.210, and the essential academic learning requirements developed for the goals. Before the implementation of the essential academic learning requirements, the schools shall meet the learning requirements contained in the school's charter.

(3) Charter schools shall provide instruction each year and shall make available to students enrolled in kindergarten at least a total instructional offering of four hundred fifty hours. Charter schools shall make available to students enrolled in grades one through twelve at least a school-wide average total instructional hour offering of one thousand hours. "Instructional hours" means those hours students are provided the opportunity to engage in educational activity planned by and under the direction of school staff, inclusive of intermissions for class changes, recess, and teacher/parent-guardian conferences that are planned and scheduled by the school for the purpose of discussing students' educational needs or progress, and exclusive of time actually spent for meals.

(4) Charter schools shall comply with chapter 28A.155 RCW and rules relating to the education of handicapped pupils as though the charter schools were a school district.

(5) Charter schools shall annually administer the state-wide assessments in RCW 28A.230.190 through 28A.230.240, and have students participate in the assessments developed by the commission on student learning in RCW 28A.630.885 when the assessments are implemented.

(6) Charter schools shall be nonsectarian in their programs, admissions policies, employment practices, and all other operations, and may not be affiliated with a sectarian school or a religious institution.

(7) Charter schools shall not charge tuition.

(8) Except as provided in this chapter, charter schools shall be exempt from all statutes and rules applicable to a school board or district, although they may elect to comply with one or more provisions of these statutes or rules. However, charter schools shall meet the same health, safety, and civil rights requirements as those required of a school district.

(9) Charter schools shall be located in Washington. Their specific locations may not be proscribed by the sponsor or any other authority except a zoning authority.

(10) The school is subject to the same financial audits, audit procedures, and audit requirements as a school district.

(11) Charter schools shall report at least annually to their sponsor and parents.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. ADMISSION OF STUDENTS. (1) The charter school may limit admission to the following:

(a) Pupils within an age group or grade level; or

(b) Residents of a specific geographic area if the percentage of the population of non-Caucasian people in the geographic area is greater than the percentage of the non-Caucasian population in the congressional district in which the geographic area is located, as long as the school reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of that area.

(2) The school shall enroll an eligible pupil who submits a timely application, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building. In this case, pupils shall be accepted by lot.

(3) The school shall not limit admission to pupils on the basis of intellectual ability, measures of achievement or aptitude, or athletic ability.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. BOARD OF TRUSTEES. (1) Before submitting an application, a board of trustees shall be established. Bylaws containing the terms and qualifications of the board also shall be adopted before applications are submitted.

(2) The board of trustees shall be the school's governing board. Consistent with its charter, the board of trustees may exercise broad discretionary power for the development and implementation of programs, activities, and services for the students enrolled in its school.

(3) The board of trustees shall employ and contract with certificated employees, as provided for in chapters 28A.405 and 28A.410 RCW, who hold valid certificates to perform the particular service for which they are employed in the school. The board of trustees also may employ necessary employees who are not required to hold teaching certificates to perform duties other than teaching, and may contract for other services. The board may discharge teachers and noncertificated employees.

(4) The board of trustees shall decide, or may choose to delegate, matters related to the operation of the school, including budgeting, personnel, curriculum, and operating procedures.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. FULL FUNDING. (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall separately calculate and allocate moneys appropriated for basic education under RCW 28A.150.260 to charter schools. The amount of state funding of charter schools shall be determined by the number of full-time equivalent students enrolled in the school multiplied by the estimated state-wide annual average per full-time equivalent student allocation under RCW 28A.150.260 and applicable rules.

(2) Funding for students who are eligible for special education and transitional bilingual assistance services shall be determined in accordance with applicable statutes and rules that apply to school districts.

(3) The superintendent shall establish rules for the calculation and payment of funds to charter schools.

(4) The board of trustees may not levy taxes or issue bonds.

(5) Charter schools may receive funds from other governmental and private sources.

(6) Money received from the state shall not be used to purchase land or buildings. The school may own land and buildings if obtained through nonstate sources.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. RENEWAL OR TERMINATION OF CHARTERS. (1) The sponsor may or may not renew a charter at the end of the charter's term.

(2) The sponsor may unilaterally terminate a contract during the term of the contract for any reason in subsection (3) of this section. At least sixty days before not renewing or terminating a contract, the sponsor shall notify the board of trustees of the school of the proposed action in writing. The notice shall state the reasons for the proposed action in reasonable detail and the school's board of trustees may request in writing an informal hearing before the sponsor within fourteen days of receiving notice of nonrenewal or termination of the charter. Failure by the board of trustees to make a written request for a hearing within the fourteen-day period shall be treated as acquiescence to the proposed actions. Upon receiving a timely written request for a hearing, the sponsor shall give reasonable notice to the school's board of trustees of the hearing date. The sponsor shall conduct an informal hearing before taking final action. The sponsor shall take final action to renew or not renew a charter by the last day of classes in the school year.

(3) A charter may be terminated or not renewed for the following reasons:

(a) The failure to meet the requirements for pupil performance contained in the contract;

(b) The failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management;

(d) Other good cause shown.

(4) If a charter is terminated or not renewed, the school shall be dissolved.

(5) If a charter is terminated or not renewed, students who attended the school may enroll in the resident district, or may submit an application to a nonresident district according to RCW 28A.225.220 through 28A.225.230. Applications and notices required by RCW 28A.225.220 through 28A.225.230 shall be processed and provided in a prompt manner.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. TRANSPORTATION. (1) Transportation of students to the charter schools shall be the responsibility of the students and parents of the charter school.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. EDUCATIONAL EMPLOYEES' LEAVES OF ABSENCE‑-RETIREMENT‑-BARGAINING. (1) If a school district employee makes a written request for an extended leave of absence to work at a charter school, the school district shall grant the leave. The school district shall grant a leave for any number of years requested by the employee, and shall extend the leave at the employee's request. The school district may require that the request for a leave or extension of leave be made up to ninety days before the employee would otherwise have to report for duty.

(2) During a leave, the employee may continue to aggregate benefits and credits in the employee's retirement system account by paying both the employer and employee contributions based upon the annual salary of the employee for the last full pay period before the leave began. The department of retirement systems may impose reasonable requirements to administer this section efficiently.

(3) Employees of the board of trustees of the charter school may, if otherwise eligible, organize under chapter 41.59 RCW and comply with its provisions. The board of trustees of the school is a public employer, for the purposes of chapter 41.59 RCW, upon formation of one or more bargaining units at the school. Bargaining units at the school shall be separate from any other units.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. INFORMATION. The state board of education shall distribute information to the public and school district personnel on how to form and operate a charter school.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 11 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 28A RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. CAPTIONS NOT LAW. Section captions as used in this act constitute no part of the law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. The sum of ......... dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund to the state board of education for the purposes of this act.