A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to enhance the charter school application PROCESS and to Allow a charter school to establish fees for extracurricular activities.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑218.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(d)	As part of the application review process, the State Board of Education and the North Carolina Charter Schools Advisory Board shall evaluate charter school applications for approval or rejection based upon the content and substance of the applications to determine whether boards of directors and charter schools may exhibit a higher likelihood of meeting the requirements set forth in G.S. 115C‑218.5(a). Format issues with an application shall not impact the substantive review of the content of an application. The State Board of Education and the Advisory Board shall provide timely notification to an applicant of any format issues or incomplete information regarding the application and provide the applicant at least five business days to correct those issues in the application. The Advisory Board shall permit an applicant to address the Advisory Board regarding the application for at least 10 minutes immediately prior to any final vote on an application."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑218.5(a)(3) reads as rewritten:
"(3)	Granting the application would achieve one or more of the purposes set out in G.S.115C‑218."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑218.50 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑218.50.  Charter school nonsectarian; fees.
(a)	A charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations. A charter school shall not be affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school or a religious institution.
(b)	A charter school shall not charge tuition or fees except as follows:
(1)	A charter school may charge any fees that are charged by the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is located.
(2)	A charter school, upon approval by the board of directors of the charter school, may establish fees for extracurricular activities, except those fees shall not exceed the fees for the same extracurricular activities charged by a local school administrative unit in which forty percent (40%) or more of the students enrolled in the charter school reside."
SECTION 4.  Section 1 of this act is effective when it becomes law and applies to initial applications for and the renewal of a charter on or after that date. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2015‑2016 school year.