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S1049..........................................................by SCHROEDER CHARTER SCHOOLS - Amends existing law relating to charter schools to provide that charter schools shall be organized as general business corporations. 01/21 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing 01/24 Rpt prt - to Educ
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-eighth Legislature First Regular Session - 2005IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1049 BY SCHROEDER 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOLS; AMENDING SECTION 33-5204, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE 3 THAT CHARTER SCHOOLS SHALL BE ORGANIZED AS GENERAL BUSINESS CORPORATIONS; 4 AND AMENDING SECTION 33-5205, IDAHO CODE, TO ELIMINATE A REFERENCE TO NON- 5 PROFIT CORPORATIONS. 6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 7 SECTION 1. That Section 33-5204, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 8 amended to read as follows: 9 33-5204.NONPROFITGENERAL BUSINESS CORPORATION -- LIABILITY -- INSUR- 10 ANCE. (1) A public charter school shall be organized and managed under the 11 Idahononprofitgeneral business corporation act. The board of directors of a 12 public charter school shall be deemed public agents authorized by a public 13 school district or the state board of education to control the public charter 14 school, but shall function independently of any school board of trustees in 15 any school district in which the public charter school is located, except as 16 provided in the charter. For the purposes of section 59-1302(15), Idaho Code, 17 a public charter school created pursuant to this chapter shall be deemed a 18 governmental entity. Pursuant to the provisions of section 63-3622O, Idaho 19 Code, sales to or purchases by a public charter school are exempt from payment 20 of the sales and use tax. A public charter school and the board of directors 21 of a public charter school are subject to the provisions of: 22 (a) Sections 18-1351 through 18-1362, Idaho Code, on bribery and corrupt 23 influence; 24 (b) Chapter 2, title 59, Idaho Code, on prohibitions against contracts 25 with officers; 26 (c) Chapter 7, title 59, Idaho Code, on ethics in government; 27 (d) Chapter 23, title 67, Idaho Code, on open public meetings; and 28 (e) Chapter 3, title 9, Idaho Code, on disclosure of public records 29 in the same manner that a traditional public school and the board of school 30 trustees of a school district are subject to those provisions. 31 (2) A public charter school may sue or be sued, purchase, receive, hold 32 and convey real and personal property for school purposes, and borrow money 33 for such purposes, to the same extent and on the same conditions as a tradi- 34 tional public school district, and its employees, directors and officers shall 35 enjoy the same immunities as employees, directors and officers of traditional 36 public school districts and other public schools, including those provided by 37 chapter 9, title 6, Idaho Code. The authorized chartering entity that grants a 38 public school charter shall have no liability for the acts, omissions, debts 39 or other obligations of a public charter school, except as may be provided in 40 the charter. A local public school district shall have no liability for the 41 acts, omissions, debts or other obligations of a public charter school located 42 in its district that has been approved by an authorized chartering entity 43 other than the board of trustees of the local school district. 2 1 (3) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the board of directors of a 2 public charter school, operating as anonprofitcorporation, from borrowing 3 money to finance the purchase or lease of school building facilities, equip- 4 ment and furnishings of those school building facilities. Subject to the terms 5 of a contractual agreement between the board and a lender, nothing herein 6 shall prevent the board from using the facility, its equipment and furnish- 7 ings, as collateral for the loan. 8 (4) Public charter schools shall secure insurance for liability and prop- 9 erty loss. 10 (5) It shall be unlawful for: 11 (a) Any director to have pecuniary interest directly or indirectly in any 12 contract or other transaction pertaining to the maintenance or conduct of 13 the authorized chartering entity and charter, or to accept any reward or 14 compensation for services rendered as a director except as may be other- 15 wise provided in this subsection (5). The board of directors of a public 16 charter school may accept and award contracts involving the public charter 17 school to businesses in which the director or a person related to him by 18 blood or marriage within the second degree has a direct or indirect inter- 19 est, provided that the procedures set forth in section 18-1361 or 20 18-1361A, Idaho Code, are followed. The receiving, soliciting or accep- 21 tance of moneys of a public charter school for deposit in any bank or 22 trust company, or the lending of moneys by any bank or trust company to 23 any public charter school, shall not be deemed to be a contract pertaining 24 to the maintenance or conduct of a public charter school and authorized 25 chartering entity within the meaning of this section; nor shall the pay- 26 ment by any public charter school board of directors of compensation to 27 any bank or trust company for services rendered in the transaction of any 28 banking business with such public charter school board of directors be 29 deemed the payment of any reward or compensation to any officer or direc- 30 tor of any such bank or trust company within the meaning of this section. 31 (b) The board of directors of any public charter school to enter into or 32 execute any contract with the spouse of any member of such board, the 33 terms of which said contract require, or will require, the payment or 34 delivery of any public charter school funds, moneys or property to such 35 spouse, except as provided in section 18-1361 or 18-1361A, Idaho Code. 36 (6) When any relative of any director or relative of the spouse of a 37 director related by affinity or consanguinity within the second degree is to 38 be considered for employment in a public charter school, such director shall 39 abstain from voting in the election of such relative, and shall be absent from 40 the meeting while such employment is being considered and determined. 41 SECTION 2. That Section 33-5205, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 42 amended to read as follows: 43 33-5205. PETITION TO ESTABLISH PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL. (1) Any group of 44 persons may petition to establish a new public charter school, or to convert 45 an existing traditional public school to a public charter school. 46 (a) A petition to establish a new public charter school, including a pub- 47 lic virtual charter school, shall be signed by not fewer than thirty (30) 48 qualified electors of the service area designated in the petition, and 49 shall first be submitted to the local board of trustees in which the pub- 50 lic charter school will be located. The board of trustees may either: (i) 51 consider the petition and approve the charter; or (ii) consider the peti- 52 tion and reject the charter; or (iii) refer the petition to the public 53 charter school commission. If the petitioners and the local board of 3 1 trustees have not reached mutual agreement on the provisions of the 2 charter, after a reasonable and good faith effort, within thirty (30) days 3 from the date of the submission of the charter petition, the petitioners 4 may withdraw their petition from the local board of trustees and may sub- 5 mit their charter petition to the public charter school commission. 6 (b) A petition to convert an existing traditional public school shall be 7 submitted to the board of trustees of the district in which the school is 8 located for review and approval. The petition shall be signed by not fewer 9 than sixty percent (60%) of the teachers currently employed by the school 10 district at the school to be converted, and by one (1) or more parents or 11 guardians of not fewer than sixty percent (60%) of the students currently 12 attending the school to be converted. Each petition submitted to convert 13 an existing school or to establish a new charter school shall contain a 14 copy of the articles of incorporation and the bylaws of thenonprofitcor- 15 poration, which shall be deemed incorporated into the petition. 16 (2) Not later than thirty (30) days after receiving a petition signed in 17 accordance with the specifications in subsection (1) of this section, the 18 authorized chartering entity shall hold a meeting open to the public for the 19 purpose of discussing the provisions of the charter, at which time the autho- 20 rized chartering entity shall consider the merits of the petition and the 21 level of employee and parental support for the petition. In the case of a 22 petition submitted to the public charter school commission, the public hearing 23 shall also include any oral or written comments that an authorized representa- 24 tive of the school district in which the proposed public charter school would 25 be physically located may provide regarding the merits of the petition and any 26 potential impacts on the school district. Following review of the petition and 27 the public hearing, the authorized chartering entity shall either grant or 28 deny the charter within sixty (60) days of receipt of the petition, provided 29 however, that the date may be extended by an additional sixty (60) days if the 30 petition fails to contain the requisite signatures or fails to contain all of 31 the information required in this section, or if both parties agree to the 32 extension. 33 (3) An authorized chartering entity may grant a charter under the provi- 34 sions of this chapter only if it determines that the petition contains the 35 requisite signatures, the information required by subsection (4) of this sec- 36 tion, and additional statements describing all of the following: 37 (a) The proposed educational program of the public charter school, 38 designed among other things, to identify what it means to be an "educated 39 person" in the twenty-first century, and how learning best occurs. The 40 goals identified in the program shall include how all educational thor- 41 oughness standards as defined in section 33-1612, Idaho Code, shall be 42 fulfilled. 43 (b) The measurable student educational standards identified for use by 44 the public charter school. "Student educational standards" for the purpose 45 of this chapter means the extent to which all students of the public 46 charter school demonstrate they have attained the skills and knowledge 47 specified as goals in the school's educational program. 48 (c) The method by which student progress in meeting those student educa- 49 tional standards is to be measured. 50 (d) A provision by which students of the public charter school will be 51 tested with the same standardized tests as other Idaho public school stu- 52 dents. 53 (e) A provision which ensures that the public charter school shall be 54 state accredited as provided by rule of the state board of education. 55 (f) The governance structure of the public charter school including, but 4 1 not limited to, the person or entity who shall be legally accountable for 2 the operation of the public charter school, and the process to be followed 3 by the public charter school to ensure parental involvement. 4 (g) The qualifications to be met by individuals employed by the public 5 charter school. Instructional staff shall be certified teachers, or may 6 apply for a waiver or any of the limited certification options as provided 7 by rule of the state board of education. 8 (h) The procedures that the public charter school will follow to ensure 9 the health and safety of students and staff. 10 (i) Admission procedures, including provision for overenrollment. Such 11 admission procedures shall provide that the initial admission procedures 12 for a new public charter school, including provision for overenrollment, 13 will be determined by lottery or other random method, except as otherwise 14 provided herein. If initial capacity is insufficient to enroll all pupils 15 who submit a timely application, then the admission procedures may provide 16 that preference shall be given in the following order: first, to children 17 of founders, provided that this admission preference shall be limited to 18 not more than ten percent (10%) of the capacity of the public charter 19 school; second, to siblings of pupils already selected by the lottery or 20 other random method; and third, an equitable selection process such as by 21 lottery or other random method. If capacity is insufficient to enroll all 22 pupils for subsequent school terms, who submit a timely application, then 23 the admission procedures may provide that preference shall be given in the 24 following order: first, to pupils returning to the public charter school 25 in the second or any subsequent year of its operation; second, to children 26 of founders, provided that this admission preference shall be limited to 27 not more than ten percent (10%) of the capacity of the public charter 28 school; third, to siblings of pupils already enrolled in the public 29 charter school; and fourth, an equitable selection process such as by lot- 30 tery or other random method. There shall be no carryover from year to year 31 of the list maintained to fill vacancies. A new lottery shall be conducted 32 each year to fill vacancies which become available. 33 (j) The manner in which an annual audit of the financial and programmatic 34 operations of the public charter school is to be conducted. 35 (k) The disciplinary procedures that the public charter school will uti- 36 lize, including the procedure by which students may be suspended, expelled 37 and reenrolled. 38 (l) A provision which ensures that all staff members of the public 39 charter school will be covered by the public employee retirement system, 40 federal social security, unemployment insurance and worker's compensation 41 insurance. 42 (m) The public school attendance alternative for students residing within 43 the school district who choose not to attend the public charter school. 44 (n) A description of the transfer rights of any employee choosing to work 45 in a public charter school and the rights of such employees to return to 46 any noncharter school in the school district after employment at a public 47 charter school. 48 (o) A provision which ensures that the staff of the public charter school 49 shall be considered a separate unit for purposes of collective bargaining. 50 (p) The procedures to be followed by the public charter school and the 51 authorized chartering entity to resolve disputes relating to provisions of 52 the charter. 53 (q) The manner by which special education services will be provided to 54 students with disabilities who are eligible pursuant to the federal indi- 55 viduals with disabilities education act. 5 1 (r) The manner by which eligible students from the public charter school 2 shall be allowed to participate in dual enrollment in noncharter schools 3 within the same district as the public charter school, as provided for in 4 section 33-203(7), Idaho Code. 5 (s) The process by which the citizens in the area of attendance shall be 6 made aware of the enrollment opportunities of the public charter school. 7 (4) The petitioner shall provide information regarding the proposed oper- 8 ation and potential effects of the public charter school including, but not 9 limited to, the facilities to be utilized by the public charter school, the 10 manner in which administrative services of the public charter school are to be 11 provided and the potential civil liability effects upon the public charter 12 school and upon the authorized chartering entity.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE RS 14642 Amends Section 33-5204, Idaho Code, to provide that charter schools shall be organized as general business corporations; and amends Section 33-5205, Idaho Code, to eliminate a reference to non-profit corporations. FISCAL NOTE None Contact Name: Senator Gary Schroeder Phone: 208-332-1324 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1049