HB 191: "An Act relating to charter schools; and providing for an effective date."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 191 01 "An Act relating to charter schools; and providing for an effective date." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 14.03.250(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) A charter school may be established as provided under AS 14.03.250 - 05 14.03.290 upon the approval of the local school board and the state Board of 06 Education of an application for a charter school. [THE STATE BOARD OF 07 EDUCATION MAY NOT APPROVE MORE THAN 30 CHARTER SCHOOLS TO 08 OPERATE IN THE STATE AT ANY ONE TIME AND SHALL APPROVE 09 CHARTER SCHOOLS IN A GEOGRAPHICALLY BALANCED MANNER 10 AS FOLLOWS: NOT MORE THAN 10 SCHOOLS IN ANCHORAGE; NOT MORE 11 THAN FIVE SCHOOLS IN FAIRBANKS; NOT MORE THAN THREE SCHOOLS 12 IN THE MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH; NOT MORE THAN THREE 13 SCHOOLS IN THE KENAI PENINSULA BOROUGH; NOT MORE THAN TWO 14 SCHOOLS IN THE CITY AND BOROUGH OF JUNEAU; NOT MORE THAN
01 SEVEN SCHOOLS LOCATED IN OTHER AREAS OF THE STATE, AND THESE 02 SEVEN SCHOOLS SHALL BE ALLOCATED AS NEARLY AS POSSIBLE IN A 03 GEOGRAPHICALLY BALANCED MANNER THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE 04 STATE.] 05 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.255(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) A charter school operates as a school in the local school district except that 07 the charter school (1) is exempt from the local school district's textbook, program, 08 curriculum, and scheduling requirements; (2) is exempt from AS 14.14.130(c); the 09 principal of the charter school shall be selected by the academic policy committee and 10 shall select, appoint, or otherwise supervise employees of the charter school; and (3) 11 operates under the charter school's annual program budget as set out in the contract 12 between the local school board and the charter school under (c) of this section. A 13 local school board may exempt a charter school from other local school district 14 requirements if the exemption is set out in the contract , except that a local board 15 may not exempt a charter school from the provisions of AS 14.03.075 . 16 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.255(c) is amended to read: 17 (c) A charter school shall operate under a contract between the charter school 18 and the local school board. A contract must contain the following provisions: 19 (1) a description of the educational program; 20 (2) specific levels of achievement for the education program; 21 (3) admission policies and procedures; 22 (4) administrative policies; 23 (5) a statement of the charter school's funding allocation from the local 24 school board , including the itemized costs of administrative or other services to be 25 provided [AND COSTS ASSIGNABLE] to the charter school [PROGRAM 26 BUDGET]; 27 (6) the method by which the charter school will account for receipts 28 and expenditures; 29 (7) the location and description of the facility; 30 (8) the name of the teacher, or teachers, who, by agreement between 31 the charter school and the teacher, will teach in the charter school;
01 (9) the teacher-to-student ratio; 02 (10) the number of students served; 03 (11) the term of the contract [, NOT TO EXCEED A TERM OF FIVE 04 YEARS]; 05 (12) a termination clause providing that the contract may be terminated 06 by the local school board for the failure of the charter school to meet educational 07 achievement goals or fiscal management standards, or for other good cause; 08 (13) a statement that the charter school will comply with all state and 09 federal requirements for receipt and use of public money; 10 (14) other requirements or exemptions agreed upon by the charter 11 school and the local school board. 12 * Sec. 4. AS 14.03.260(a) is amended to read: 13 (a) A local school board shall provide an approved charter school with an 14 annual program budget. The budget shall be not less than the amount generated by 15 the students enrolled in the charter school less the cost of administrative or other 16 services provided [COSTS RETAINED] by the local school district [, DETERMINED 17 BY APPLYING THE INDIRECT COST RATE APPROVED BY THE 18 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION]. The "amount generated by the students enrolled 19 in the charter school" is to be determined in the same manner as it would be for a 20 student enrolled in another public school in that school district and must reflect state, 21 local and other funding for that school district. A charter school qualified as tax 22 exempt under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) may conduct fund-raising activities or accept 23 donations of money or materials to supplement the program budget of the charter 24 school . 25 * Sec. 5. AS 14.03.260 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 26 (e) The local school district shall itemize each service provided by the local 27 school district to a charter school, and each itemized service must be given a per 28 student value by the school district. Services provided by a local school district may 29 include services for administration, audio-visual services, curriculum, staff development 30 and training, special needs and intensive services, transportation, procurement, facility 31 rental, and other services that are agreed to between the local school district and the
01 charter school. Except for services for administration or other services required by 02 law, a charter school may elect not to receive services offered by a local school 03 district. 04 * Sec. 6. AS 14.03.275 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 14.03.275. Contracts [; DURATION]. A contract for a charter school 06 may be for a term of no more than 10 [FIVE] years [AND MAY NOT EXTEND 07 BEYOND JULY 1, 2005]. 08 * Sec. 7. AS 14.17.905 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 09 (b) Notwithstanding (a)(3) of this section, an alternative school shall be 10 counted as a separate school if the school is a charter school operated in a facility 11 separate from a facility used for other students. 12 * Sec. 8. Section 9, ch. 77, SLA 1995, is repealed. 13 * Sec. 9. Section 2 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2002. 14 * Sec. 10. Section 7 of this Act takes effect July 1, 1999.