GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 458

Short Title:  Charter School Amendments/AB.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representative Barbee.

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Referred to:  Education.

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March 10, 1997

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER SCHOOL ACT OF 1996 TO ELIMINATE THE REQUIREMENT THAT CHARTER SCHOOLS BE OPERATED BY PRIVATE NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS AND TO MAKE SUCH OPERATION OPTIONAL.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 115C-238.29B reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-238.29B.  Eligible applicants; contents of applications; submission of applications for approval.
(a)	Any person, group of persons, or nonprofit corporation seeking to establish a charter school within a local school administrative unit may apply to establish a charter school. If the applicant seeks to convert a public school to a charter school, the application shall include a statement signed by a majority of the teachers and instructional support personnel currently employed at the school indicating that they favor the conversion and evidence that a significant number of parents of children enrolled in the school favor conversion.
(b)	The application shall contain at least the following information:
(1)	A description of a program that implements one or more of the purposes in G.S. 115C-238.29A.
(2)	A description of student achievement goals for the school's educational program and the method of demonstrating that students have attained the skills and knowledge specified for those student achievement goals.
(3)	The governance structure of the school including the process to be followed by the school to ensure parental involvement.
(4)	Admission policies and procedures.
(5)	A proposed budget for the school and evidence that the plan for the school is economically sound.
(6)	Requirements and procedures for program and financial audits.
(7)	A description of how the school will comply with G.S. 115C-238.29F.
(8)	Types and amounts of insurance coverage, including bonding insurance for the principal officers of the school, to be obtained by the charter school.
(9)	The term of the contract.
(10)	The qualifications required for individuals employed by the school.
(11)	The procedures by which students can be excluded from the charter school and returned to a public school. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any local board may refuse to admit any student who is suspended or expelled from a charter school due to actions that would lead to suspension or expulsion from a public school under G.S. 115C-391 until the period of suspension or expulsion has expired.
(12)	The number of students to be served, which number shall be at least 65, and the minimum number of teachers to be employed at the school, which number shall be at least three. However, the charter school may serve fewer than 65 students or employ fewer than three teachers if the application contains a compelling reason, such as the school would serve a geographically remote and small student population.
(13)	Information regarding the facilities to be used by the school and the manner in which administrative services of the school are to be provided.
(14)	A description of whether the school will be operated by a private nonprofit corporation independently of the local board of education or whether it will be operated by a board of directors, the membership of which shall be approved by the local board of education. In the event the charter school elects to operate independently of the local board of education, the application must specify which employee benefits will be offered to its employees and how the benefits will be funded.
(c)	An applicant shall submit the application to a chartering entity for preliminary approval. A chartering entity may be:
(1)	The local board of education of the local school administrative unit in which the charter school will be located;
(2)	The board of trustees of a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina, so long as the constituent institution is involved in the planning, operation, or evaluation of the charter school; or
(3)	The State Board of Education.
Regardless of which chartering entity receives the application for preliminary approval, the State Board of Education shall have final approval of the charter school."
Section 2.  G.S. 115C-238.29E(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	A charter school shall be operated either (i) by a private nonprofit corporation that shall have received federal tax-exempt status no later than 24 months following final approval of the application, or (ii) by a board of directors, the membership of which shall be approved by the local board of education."
Section 3.  G.S. 115C-238.29F reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-238.29F.  General requirements.
(a)	Health and Safety Standards. – A charter school shall meet the same health and safety requirements required of a local school administrative unit.
(b)	School Nonsectarian. – A charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations and shall not charge tuition. A charter school shall not be affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school or a religious institution.
(c)	Civil Liability and Insurance. – 
(1)	The board of directors of a charter school may sue and be sued. The board of directors shall obtain at least the amount of and types of insurance required by the contract.
(2)	No civil liability shall attach to any chartering entity, to the State Board of Education, or to any of their members or employees, individually or collectively, for any acts or omissions of the charter school. In the event a charter school is operated by a board of directors approved by the local board of education, the immunity established by this subsection shall be deemed to have been waived to the extent of indemnification by insurance, indemnification under Articles 31A and 31B of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, and to the extent sovereign immunity is waived under the Tort Claims Act, as set forth in Article 31 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(d)	Instructional Program. – 
(1)	The school shall provide instruction each year for at least 180 days.
(2)	The school shall design its programs to at least meet the student performance standards adopted by the State Board of Education and the student performance standards contained in the contract with the local board of education.
(3)	A charter school shall conduct the student assessments required for charter schools by the State Board of Education.
(4)	The school shall comply with policies adopted by the State Board of Education for charter schools relating to the education of children with special needs.
(5)	The school is subject to and shall comply with Article 27 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes; except that a charter school may also exclude a student from the charter school and return that student to another school in the local school administrative unit in accordance with the terms of its contract.
(e)	Employees. – 
(1)	An employee of a charter school is not an employee of the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is located. The charter school's board of directors shall employ and contract with necessary teachers to perform the particular service for which they are employed in the school; at least seventy-five percent (75%) of these teachers in grades kindergarten through five, at least fifty percent (50%) of these teachers in grades six through eight, and at least fifty percent (50%) of these teachers in grades nine through 12 shall hold teacher certificates. The board also may employ necessary employees who are not required to hold teacher certificates to perform duties other than teaching and may contract for other services. The board may discharge teachers and noncertificated employees. In the event a charter school is operated by a board of directors approved by the local board of education, all employment  decisions, including  hiring and firing of employees of the charter school, shall be approved by the local board of education upon the recommendation of the board of directors.
(2)	No local board of education shall require any employee of the local school administrative unit to be employed in a charter school.
(3)	If a teacher employed by a local school administrative unit makes a written request for an extended leave of absence to teach at a charter school, the local school administrative unit shall grant the leave. The local school administrative unit shall grant a leave for any number of years requested by the teacher, shall extend the leave for any number of years requested by the teacher, and shall extend the leave at the teacher's request. The local school administrative unit may require that the request for a leave or extension of leave be made up to 90 days before the teacher would otherwise have to report for duty. A teacher who has career status under G.S. 115C-325 prior to receiving an extended leave of absence to teach at a charter school may return to a public school in the local school administrative unit with career status at the end of the leave of absence or upon the end of employment at the charter school if an appropriate position is available. If an appropriate position is unavailable, the teacher's name shall be placed on a list of available teachers and that teacher shall have priority on all positions for which that teacher is qualified in accordance with G.S. 115C-325(e)(2).
(4)	In the event a charter school is operated by a private nonprofit corporation, its employees shall not be deemed to be employees of the local school administrative unit and shall not be entitled to any State-funded employee benefits, including membership in the North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System or the Teachers' and State Employees' Comprehensive Major Medical Plan. In the event a charter school is operated by a board of directors approved by the local board of education, the employees of the charter school will be deemed employees of the local school administrative unit for purposes of providing certain State-funded employee benefits, including membership in the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System and the Teachers' and State Employees' Comprehensive Major Medical Plan. In no event shall anything contained in this Part require the North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System to accept employees of a private employer as members or participants of the System.
(f)	Accountability. – 
(1)	The school is subject to the financial audits, the audit procedures, and the audit requirements adopted by the State Board of Education for charter schools.
(2)	The school shall comply with the reporting requirements established by the State Board of Education in the Uniform Education Reporting System.
(3)	The school shall report at least annually to the chartering entity and the State Board of Education the information required by the chartering entity or the State Board.
(g)	Admission Requirements. – 
(1)	Any child who is qualified under the laws of this State for admission to a public school is qualified for admission to a charter school.
(2)	No local board of education shall require any student enrolled in the local school administrative unit to attend a charter school.
(3)	Admission to a charter school shall not be determined according to the school attendance area in which a student resides, except that any local school administrative unit in which a public school converts to a charter school shall give admission preference to students who reside within the former attendance area of that school.
(4)	Admission to a charter school shall not be determined according to the local school administrative unit in which a student resides, except that the provisions of G.S. 115C-366(d) shall apply to a student who wishes to attend a charter school in a county other than the county in which the student resides.
(5)	A charter school shall not discriminate against any student on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability. Except as otherwise provided by law or the mission of the school as set out in the contract, the school shall not limit admission to students on the basis of intellectual ability, measures of achievement or aptitude, athletic ability, disability, race, creed, gender, national origin, religion, or ancestry. Within one year after the charter school begins operation, the population of the school shall reasonably reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the general population residing within the local school administrative unit in which the school is located or the racial and ethnic composition of the special population that the school seeks to serve residing within the local school administrative unit in which the school is located. The school shall be subject to any court-ordered desegregation plan in effect for the local school administrative unit.
(6)	The school shall enroll an eligible student who submits a timely application, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building. In this case, students shall be accepted by lot.
(7)	Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a charter school may refuse admission to any student who has been expelled or suspended from a public school under G.S. 115C-391 until the period of suspension or expulsion has expired.
(h)	Transportation. – The charter school shall provide transportation for students enrolled at the school who reside in the local school administrative unit in which the school is located. The charter school may provide transportation for students enrolled at the school who reside in different local school administrative units.
(i)	Assets. – Upon dissolution of the charter school or upon the nonrenewal of the charter, all assets of the charter school shall be deemed the property of the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is located."
Section 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.