HB 101: "An Act relating to charter schools; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 101 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 and Early Development of an application for a charter school. The state 07 Board of Education and Early Development may not approve more than 60 [30] 08 charter schools to operate in the state at any one time [AND SHALL APPROVE 09 CHARTER SCHOOLS IN A GEOGRAPHICALLY BALANCED MANNER AS 10 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 15 SEVEN SCHOOLS LOCATED IN OTHER AREAS OF THE STATE, AND THESE
01 SEVEN SCHOOLS SHALL BE ALLOCATED AS NEARLY AS POSSIBLE IN A 02 GEOGRAPHICALLY BALANCED MANNER THROUGHOUT THE REST OF 03 THE STATE]. 04 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.255(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) A charter school operates as a school in the local school district except that 06 the charter school (1) is exempt from the local school district's textbook, program, 07 curriculum, and scheduling requirements; (2) is exempt from AS 14.14.130(c); the 08 principal of the charter school shall be selected by the academic policy committee and 09 shall select, appoint, or otherwise supervise employees of the charter school; [AND] 10 (3) operates under the charter school's annual program budget as set out in the contract 11 between the local school board and the charter school under (c) of this section; and (4) 12 is subject to secondary school competency testing as provided in AS 14.03.075. 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. 15 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.255(c) is amended to read: 16 (c) A charter school shall operate under a contract between the charter school 17 and the local school board. A contract must contain the following provisions: 18 (1) a description of the educational program; 19 (2) specific levels of achievement for the education program; 20 (3) admission policies and procedures; 21 (4) administrative policies; 22 (5) a statement of the charter school's funding allocation from the local 23 school board and costs assignable to the charter school program budget; 24 (6) the method by which the charter school will account for receipts 25 and expenditures; 26 (7) the location and description of the facility; 27 (8) the name of the teacher, or teachers, who, by agreement between 28 the charter school and the teacher, will teach in the charter school; 29 (9) the teacher-to-student ratio; 30 (10) the number of students served; 31 (11) the term of the contract, not to exceed a term of 10 [FIVE] years;
01 (12) a termination clause providing that the contract may be terminated 02 by the local school board for the failure of the charter school to meet educational 03 achievement goals or fiscal management standards, or for other good cause; 04 (13) a statement that the charter school will comply with all state and 05 federal requirements for receipt and use of public money; 06 (14) other requirements or exemptions agreed upon by the charter 07 school and the local school board. 08 * Sec. 4. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 09 Sec. 14.03.263. Charter school grant program. (a) A charter school may 10 receive a one-time grant from the department equal to the amount of $500 for each 11 pupil enrolled in the charter school on October 1 of the year in which the school 12 applies for the grant. The charter school shall use a grant received under this 13 subsection to provide educational services. In this subsection, "educational services" 14 includes curriculum development, program development, and special education 15 services. 16 (b) A charter school that has a Native language education curriculum as 17 described under AS 14.30.420 or a charter school that has an Alaska Native history 18 education curriculum that includes cultural and political components is eligible to 19 receive an annual grant equal to the amount of $100 for each pupil enrolled in the 20 curriculum on October 1. 21 (c) The department shall establish by regulation procedures for application for 22 and expenditure of grant funds under (a) or (b) of this section. 23 * Sec. 5. AS 14.03.275 is amended to read: 24 Sec. 14.03.275. Contracts; duration. A contract for a charter school may be 25 for a term of no more than 10 [FIVE] years [AND MAY NOT EXTEND BEYOND 26 JULY 1, 2005]. 27 * Sec. 6. AS 14.17.905 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 28 (b) Notwithstanding (a)(3) of this section, an alternative school that is a 29 charter school shall be counted as a separate school if 30 (1) the school is operated in a facility separate from other students; 31 (2) the charter school has an ADM of at least 100 students; and
01 (3) the charter school is not operated as a correspondence school. 02 * Sec. 7. Section 9, ch. 77, SLA 1995, is repealed. 03 * Sec. 8. This Act takes effect July 1, 2001.