CSHB 93(EDC): "An Act relating to charter schools; relating to student transportation; relating to school construction bonds; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 93(EDC) 01 "An Act relating to charter schools; relating to student transportation; relating to school 02 construction bonds; and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 14.03.250 is repealed and reenacted to read: 05 Sec. 14.03.250. Application for charter school. (a) A local school board shall 06 prescribe an application procedure for the establishment of a charter school in that 07 school district. The application procedure must include provisions for an academic 08 policy committee consisting of parents of students attending the school, teachers, and 09 school employees and a proposed form for a contract between a charter school and the 10 local school board, setting out the contract elements required under AS 14.03.255(c). 11 (b) A decision of a local school board approving or denying an application for 12 a charter school must be in writing, must be issued within 60 days after the 13 application, and must include all relevant findings of fact and conclusions of law. 14 (c) If a local school board approves an application for a charter school, the
01 local school board shall forward the application to the state Board of Education and 02 Early Development for review and approval. 03 (d) If a local school board denies an application for a charter school, the 04 applicant may appeal the denial to the commissioner. The appeal to the commissioner 05 shall be filed not later than 60 days after the local school board issues its written 06 decision of denial. The commissioner shall review the local school board's decision to 07 determine whether the findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence and 08 whether the decision is contrary to law. A decision of the commissioner upholding the 09 denial by the local school board is a final decision not subject to appeal to the state 10 Board of Education and Early Development. 11 (e) If the commissioner approves a charter school application, the 12 commissioner shall forward the application to the state Board of Education and Early 13 Development for review and approval. The application shall be forwarded not later 14 than 30 days after the commissioner issues a written decision. The state Board of 15 Education and Early Development shall exercise independent judgment in evaluating 16 the application. 17 (f) Except as provided in (g) of this section, the state board shall operate a 18 charter school that has been approved by the state board on appeal of a denial of the 19 charter school application by the local school board under the laws governing the 20 operation and maintenance of a charter school, as if the state board were a school 21 district. The laws pertaining to a charter school under AS 14.03.255 - 14.03.290 shall 22 apply to the state board as if it were a local school board. 23 (g) A local school board that denied an application for a charter school 24 approved by the state board on appeal may elect to operate the charter school as 25 provided in AS 14.03.255 - 14.03.290. 26 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 27 Sec. 14.03.253. Charter school application appeal to commissioner. In an 28 appeal to the commissioner under AS 14.03.250, the commissioner shall review the 29 record before the local school board. The commissioner may request written 30 supplementation of the record from the applicant or the local school board. The 31 commissioner may
01 (1) remand the appeal to the local school board for further review; 02 (2) approve the charter school application and forward the application 03 to the state Board of Education and Early Development with or without added 04 conditions; or 05 (3) uphold the decision denying the charter school application. 06 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.255(d) is amended to read: 07 (d) A school district shall offer to a charter school the right of first refusal 08 for a lease of space [CHARTER SCHOOL MAY BE OPERATED] in an existing 09 school district facility or in a facility within the school district that is not currently 10 being used as a public school, if the chief school administrator determines the facility 11 meets requirements for health and safety applicable to public buildings or other public 12 schools in the district. The school district may negotiate a lease agreement with the 13 charter school for the true operational costs calculated on a square foot basis for 14 space leased under this subsection. 15 * Sec. 4. AS 14.03.260(a) is amended to read: 16 (a) A local school board shall provide an approved charter school with an 17 annual program budget. The budget shall be not less than the amount generated by the 18 students enrolled in the charter school less administrative costs retained by the local 19 school district, determined by applying the indirect cost rate approved by the 20 department up to 4 percent [DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY 21 DEVELOPMENT]. The "amount generated by students enrolled in the charter school" 22 is to be determined in the same manner as it would be for a student enrolled in another 23 public school in that school district and includes funds generated by special needs 24 under AS 14.17.420(a)(1) and secondary school vocational and technical 25 instruction under AS 14.17.420(a)(3). A school district shall direct state aid under 26 AS 14.11 for the construction or major maintenance of a charter school facility to 27 the charter school that generated the state aid, subject to the same terms and 28 conditions that apply to state aid under AS 14.11 for construction or major 29 maintenance of a school facility that is not a charter school. 30 * Sec. 5. AS 14.09.010 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 31 (e) A school district that provides transportation services under this section
01 shall provide transportation services to students attending a charter school operated by 02 the district under a policy adopted by the district. The policy must 03 (1) be developed with input solicited from individuals involved with 04 the charter school, including staff, students, and parents; and 05 (2) at a minimum, provide transportation services for students enrolled 06 in the charter school on a space available basis along the regular routes that the 07 students attending schools in an attendance area in the district are transported; and 08 (3) be approved by the department. 09 (f) If a school district fails to adopt a policy under (e) of this section, the 10 school district shall allocate the amount received for each student under (a) of this 11 section to each charter school operated by the district based on the number of students 12 enrolled in the charter school. 13 (g) Nothing in (e) of this section requires a school district to establish 14 dedicated transportation routes for the exclusive use of students enrolled in a charter 15 school or authorizes a charter school to opt out of a policy adopted by a school district 16 for the purpose of acquiring transportation funding. 17 * Sec. 6. AS 14.11.100(a) is amended to read: 18 (a) During each fiscal year, the state shall allocate to a municipality that is a 19 school district the following sums: 20 (1) payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year two years 21 earlier for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 22 indebtedness incurred before July 1, 1977, to pay costs of school construction; 23 (2) 90 percent of 24 (A) payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 25 two years earlier for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding 26 bonds, notes, or other indebtedness incurred after June 30, 1977, and before 27 July 1, 1978, to pay costs of school construction; 28 (B) cash payments made after June 30, 1976, and before July 1, 29 1978, by the municipality during the fiscal year two years earlier to pay costs 30 of school construction; 31 (3) 90 percent of
01 (A) payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 02 two years earlier for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding 03 bonds, notes, or other indebtedness incurred after June 30, 1978, and before 04 January 1, 1982, to pay costs of school construction projects approved under 05 AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 06 (B) cash payments made after June 30, 1978, and before July 1, 07 1982, by the municipality during the fiscal year two years earlier to pay costs 08 of school construction projects approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 09 (4) subject to (h) and (i) of this section, up to 90 percent of 10 (A) payments made by the municipality during the current 11 fiscal year for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, 12 notes, or other indebtedness incurred after December 31, 1981, and authorized 13 by the qualified voters of the municipality before July 1, 1983, to pay costs of 14 school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects that 15 exceed $25,000 and are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 16 (B) cash payments made after June 30, 1982, and before July 1, 17 1983, by the municipality during the fiscal year two years earlier to pay costs 18 of school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects 19 that exceed $25,000 and are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); and 20 (C) payments made by the municipality during the current 21 fiscal year for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, 22 notes, or other indebtedness to pay costs of school construction, additions to 23 schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed $25,000 and are 24 submitted to the department for approval under AS 14.07.020(a)(11) before 25 July 1, 1983, and approved by the qualified voters of the municipality before 26 October 15, 1983, not to exceed a total project cost of (i) $6,600,000 if the 27 annual growth rate of average daily membership of the municipality is more 28 than seven percent but less than 12 percent, or (ii) $20,000,000 if the annual 29 growth rate of average daily membership of the municipality is 12 percent or 30 more; payments made by a municipality under this subparagraph on total 31 project costs that exceed the amounts set out in (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph
01 are subject to (5)(A) of this subsection; 02 (5) subject to (h) - (j) of this section, 80 percent of 03 (A) payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 04 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or 05 other indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality 06 (i) after June 30, 1983, but before March 31, 1990, to 07 pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major 08 rehabilitation projects that exceed $25,000 and are approved under 09 AS 14.07.020(a)(11); or 10 (ii) before July 1, 1989, and reauthorized before 11 November 1, 1989, to pay costs of school construction, additions to 12 schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed $25,000 and are 13 approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); and 14 (B) cash payments made after June 30, 1983, by the 15 municipality during the fiscal year two years earlier to pay costs of school 16 construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed 17 $25,000 and are approved by the department before July 1, 1990, under 18 AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 19 (6) subject to (h) - (j) and (m) of this section, 70 percent of payments 20 made by the municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement of principal and 21 interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other indebtedness authorized by the qualified 22 voters of the municipality on or after April 30, 1993, but before July 1, 1996, to pay 23 costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects 24 that exceed $200,000 and are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 25 (7) subject to (h) - (j) and (m) of this section, 70 percent of payments 26 made by the municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement of principal and 27 interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other indebtedness authorized by the qualified 28 voters of the municipality after March 31, 1990, but before April 30, 1993, to pay 29 costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects; 30 (8) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (n) of this section and after 31 projects funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the
01 commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 02 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 03 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after July 1, 04 1995, but before July 1, 1998, to pay costs of school construction, additions to 05 schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed $200,000 and are approved 06 under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 07 (9) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (n) of this section and after 08 projects funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the 09 commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 10 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 11 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after July 1, 12 1998, but before July 1, 2006, to pay costs of school construction, additions to 13 schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed $200,000 and are approved 14 under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 15 (10) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (o) of this section, and after 16 projects funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the 17 commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 18 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 19 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 20 1998, to pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major 21 rehabilitation projects that exceed $200,000, are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), 22 and are not reimbursed under (n) of this section; 23 (11) subject to (h), (i), and (j)(2) - (5) of this section, and after projects 24 funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the 25 commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year 26 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 27 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 28 1999, but before January 1, 2005, to pay costs of school construction, additions to 29 schools, and major rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities that exceed 30 $200,000, are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (n) 31 or (o) of this section;
01 (12) subject to (h), (i), and (j)(2), (3), and (5) of this section, 60 percent 02 of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement of 03 principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other indebtedness authorized by 04 the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 1999, but before January 1, 05 2005, to pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major 06 rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities that exceed $200,000, are 07 reviewed under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (n) or (o) of this 08 section; 09 (13) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (p) of this section, and after 10 projects funded by the tax exempt bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been 11 approved by the commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by a municipality during 12 the fiscal year for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding tax exempt 13 bonds, notes, or other indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the 14 municipality on or after June 30, 1999, but before October 31, 2006, to pay costs of 15 school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects and 16 education-related facilities that exceed $200,000, are approved under 17 AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (n) or (o) of this section; 18 (14) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2), (3), and (5), and (p) of this section, 60 19 percent of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement 20 of principal and interest on outstanding tax exempt bonds, notes, or other indebtedness 21 authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 1999, but 22 before October 31, 2006, to pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and 23 major rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities that exceed $200,000, are 24 reviewed under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (n) or (o) of this 25 section; 26 (15) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (q) of this section, and after 27 projects funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the 28 commissioner, 90 percent of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year 29 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 30 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 31 1999, but before October 31, 2006, to pay costs of school construction, additions to
01 schools, and major rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities that exceed 02 $200,000, are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), meet the 10 percent participating 03 share requirement for a municipal school district under the former participating share 04 amounts required under AS 14.11.008(b), and are not reimbursed under (n) or (o) of 05 this section; 06 (16) subject to (h), (i), and (j)(2) - (5) of this section, and after projects 07 funded by the tax exempt bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by 08 the commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal 09 year for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding tax exempt bonds, 10 notes, or other indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on 11 or after October 1, 2006, to pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and 12 major rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities that exceed $200,000, are 13 approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (o) of this section; 14 (17) subject to (h), (i), and (j)(2), (3), and (5) of this section, 60 percent 15 of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement of 16 principal and interest on outstanding tax exempt bonds, notes, or other indebtedness 17 authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after October 1, 2006, to 18 pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects 19 and education-related facilities that exceed $200,000, are reviewed under 20 AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (o) of this section; 21 (18) subject to (h), (i), and (j)(2), (3), and (5) of this section, 70 22 percent of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year in which a 23 charter school is operated, for the retirement of principal and interest on 24 outstanding tax exempt bonds, notes, or other indebtedness authorized by the 25 qualified voters of the municipality on or after July 1, 2014, but before 26 December 31, 2017, to pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and 27 major rehabilitation projects for the purpose of operating the charter school 28 approved under AS 14.03.250; projects reimbursed under this paragraph must 29 exceed $200,000 and must be reviewed under AS 14.07.020(a)(11). 30 * Sec. 7. AS 14.17.450(d) is amended to read: 31 (d) If a charter school has a student count of more than 74 [120] but less than
01 150 for the current year and is in the first three years [YEAR] of operation or had a 02 student count of at least 75 [150 OR MORE] in the previous year of operation, 03 (1) the adjusted student count for the school shall be calculated by 04 multiplying the student count by [95 PERCENT OF] the student rate for a school that 05 has a student count of 150; and 06 (2) not later than February 15, the charter school shall submit for 07 approval of the governing board of the district a plan for the following school year that 08 includes a statement about whether the school will continue to operate if the student 09 count remains the same that year and, if so, a projection of the funding anticipated 10 from the state and other sources, a proposed budget, and a description of anticipated 11 changes to the school staff, program, and curriculum; if the school intends to close if 12 the student count remains the same the following year, the plan must describe transfer 13 plans for students, staff, facilities, and materials. 14 * Sec. 8. Section 3, ch. 91, SLA 2010, is repealed. 15 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 16 read: 17 APPLICABILITY. Sections 1 and 2 of this Act apply to charter school applications 18 submitted for approval or renewal on and after the effective date of this Act. 19 * Sec. 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2014.