Provides for submission of applications of charter schools to be made to the board of education of the local school district and to the chancellor, where appropriate.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10211
IN ASSEMBLY
March 11, 2010
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KOON -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to approval of applica-
tions of charter schools
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 2851 of the education law is
2 amended by adding a new paragraph (y) to read as follows:
3 (y) The public school district where the charter school is to be
4 located.
5 § 2. Subdivisions 3 and 4 of section 2851 of the education law, as
6 added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, paragraph (a) of subdivision 3
7 as amended by section 6 of part B of chapter 57 of the laws of 2008, are
8 amended to read as follows:
9 3. An applicant shall submit the application to [a] the board of
10 education of the school district and in a city having a population of
11 one million or more to the chancellor, where the charter school will be
12 located and the charter entity for approval. For purposes of this arti-
13 cle, a charter entity shall be:
14 (a) The board of education of a school district eligible for an appor-
15 tionment of aid under subdivision four of section thirty-six hundred two
16 of this chapter, provided that a board of education shall not approve an
17 application for a school to be operated outside the school district's
18 geographic boundaries and further provided that in a city having a popu-
19 lation of one million or more, the chancellor of any such city school
20 district shall be the charter entity established by this paragraph;
21 (b) The board of trustees of the state university of New York; or
22 (c) The board of regents.
23 The board of regents shall be the only entity authorized to issue a
24 charter pursuant to this article. Notwithstanding any provision of this
25 subdivision to the contrary, an application for the conversion of an
26 existing public school to a charter school shall be submitted to, and
27 may only be approved by, the charter entity set forth in paragraph (a)
28 of this subdivision. Any such application for conversion shall be
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07267-01-9
A. 10211 2
1 consistent with this section, and the charter entity shall require that
2 the parents or guardians of a majority of the students then enrolled in
3 the existing public school vote in favor of converting the school to a
4 charter school.
5 4. Charters which are issued prior to April first, two thousand eight,
6 may be renewed, upon application, for a term of up to five years by the
7 charter entity which originally approved the charter. Charters issued
8 after April first, two thousand eight may be renewed upon application
9 for a term of up to five years in accordance with the provisions of this
10 article for the issuance of such charters pursuant to section twenty-
11 eight hundred fifty-two of this article; provided, however, that [a] all
12 renewal [application] applications shall include:
13 (a) A report of the progress of the charter school in achieving the
14 educational objectives set forth in the charter.
15 (b) A detailed financial statement that discloses the cost of adminis-
16 tration, instruction and other spending categories for the charter
17 school that will allow a comparison of such costs to other schools, both
18 public and private. Such statement shall be in a form prescribed by the
19 board of regents.
20 (c) Copies of each of the annual reports of the charter school
21 required by subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-seven
22 of this article, including the charter school report cards and the
23 certified financial statements.
24 (d) Indications of parent and student satisfaction.
25 Such renewal application shall be submitted to the charter entity no
26 later than six months prior to the expiration of the charter; provided,
27 however, that the charter entity may waive such deadline for good cause
28 shown.
29 § 3. Subdivisions 1, 3 and 7 of section 2852 of the education law,
30 subdivisions 1 and 7 as amended by section 2 of part D2 of chapter 57 of
31 the laws of 2007 and subdivision 3 as added by chapter 4 of the laws of
32 1998, are amended to read as follows:
33 1. A charter entity shall not act on an application unless the school
34 board of the school district where the charter school is to be located
35 has voted and approved the charter application. In a city of more than
36 one million inhabitants, the chancellor shall act as the approval
37 authority for any charter applications to be located within such city
38 before a charter entity shall act on the application. Each school
39 district that receives an application for approval of a charter school
40 shall act on each request received prior to July first of a calendar
41 year on or before October first of that calendar year. Within seven days
42 of approving a charter application, the school board, or chancellor
43 where appropriate, shall forward the application to the appropriate
44 charter entity along with a form to be developed by the commissioner
45 which states that the school board, or the chancellor where appropriate,
46 has acted to approve the charter application. The denial of an applica-
47 tion for a charter school by a school board or chancellor where appro-
48 priate shall be in writing and shall state the reasons for the denial.
49 Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, such denial is
50 final and shall not be reviewable in any court or by any administrative
51 body. A charter entity that receives an application [for approval] of a
52 charter school which has been approved by a school board or chancellor
53 shall act on each [request] charter school application received from a
54 school board or chancellor prior to July first of a calendar year on or
55 before January first of the succeeding calendar year, and a proposed
56 charter between the applicant and the charter entity resulting from such
A. 10211 3
1 application and school board or chancellor approval shall be executed on
2 or before February first of such succeeding year. Nothing in this
3 subdivision shall be construed to prevent a charter entity from receiv-
4 ing or acting upon an application at any time provided that such appli-
5 cation must have the approval of the school board, or chancellor where
6 appropriate, where the charter school is to be located.
7 3. A charter entity is not required to approve a charter and may
8 require an applicant to modify or supplement an application as a condi-
9 tion of approval. Any modification or supplement shall first be
10 approved by the school board, or chancellor where appropriate, before a
11 charter entity may act on the charter school application. An existing
12 private school shall not be eligible to convert to a charter school. In
13 determining whether an application involves the conversion of an exist-
14 ing private school, the charter entity and the board of regents shall
15 consider such factors as: (a) whether the charter school would have the
16 same or substantially the same board of trustees and/or officers as an
17 existing private school; (b) whether a substantial proportion of employ-
18 ees of the charter school would be drawn from such existing private
19 school; (c) whether a substantial portion of the assets and property of
20 such existing private school would be transferred to the charter school;
21 (d) whether the charter school would be located at the same site as such
22 existing private school; (e) upon renewal only, whether such private
23 school closed within one year of establishment of the charter school;
24 and (f) upon renewal only, whether a substantial portion of the charter
25 school's students were drawn from such existing private school.
26 7. (a) A revision of a charter shall be made only upon the approval of
27 the school board of the school district where the charter school is to
28 be located, or the chancellor where appropriate, charter entity and the
29 board of regents in accordance with the provisions of subdivisions
30 five-a and five-b of this section.
31 (b) When a revision of a charter involves the relocation of a charter
32 school to a different school district, the proposed new school district
33 shall be given at least forty-five days notice of the proposed relo-
34 cation. In addition, the applicant shall provide an analysis of the
35 community support for such relocation and of the projected programmatic
36 and fiscal impact of the charter school on the proposed new school
37 district of location and other public and nonpublic schools in the area.
38 § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 2853 of the education law, as added by
39 chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:
40 2. The board of regents, the school board of the school district where
41 the charter school is to be located, and charter entity shall oversee
42 each school approved by such entity, and may visit, examine into and
43 inspect any charter school, including the records of such school, under
44 its oversight. Oversight by a charter entity and the board of regents
45 shall be sufficient to ensure that the charter school is in compliance
46 with all applicable laws, regulations and charter provisions.
47 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
