Bill Text: NY A07593 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides that charter school applicants shall first apply to the local board of education of the school district or the community district education council for approval or renewal of a charter.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to education [A07593 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A07593-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7593 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 25, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. KELLES -- 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. Subdivisions 3 and 4 of section 2851 of the education law, 2 subdivision 3 as amended and paragraph (e) of subdivision 4 as added by 3 chapter 101 of the laws of 2010 and subdivision 4 as added by chapter 4 4 of the laws of 1998, are amended to read as follows: 5 3. An applicant shall submit the application to a charter entity for 6 approval; provided, however, that such applicant shall first apply to 7 the local board of education of the school district or the community 8 district education council for approval. For purposes of this article, a 9 charter entity shall be: 10 (a) The board of education of a school district eligible for an appor- 11 tionment of aid under subdivision four of section thirty-six hundred two 12 of this chapter, provided that a board of education shall not approve an 13 application for a school to be operated outside the school district's 14 geographic boundaries and further provided that in a city having a popu- 15 lation of one million or more, the chancellor of any such city school 16 district shall be the charter entity established by this paragraph; 17 (b) The board of trustees of the state university of New York; or 18 (c) The board of regents. 19 The board of regents shall be the only entity authorized to issue a 20 charter pursuant to this article. Notwithstanding any provision of this 21 subdivision to the contrary, an application for the conversion of an 22 existing public school to a charter school shall be submitted to, and 23 may only be approved by, the charter entity set forth in paragraph (a) 24 of this subdivision. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the 25 contrary, any such application for conversion shall be consistent with EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11634-01-3A. 7593 2 1 this section [but shall not be subject to the process pursuant to subdi-2vision nine-a of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of this arti-3cle], and the charter entity shall require that the parents or guardians 4 of a majority of the students then enrolled in the existing public 5 school vote in favor of converting the school to a charter school. 6 4. Charters may be renewed, upon application, for a term of up to five 7 years in accordance with the provisions of this article for the issuance 8 of such charters pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of 9 this article; provided, however, that a charter school application for 10 renewal shall first apply to the local board of education of the school 11 district or the community district education council for approval. A 12 renewal application 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 (e) The means by which the charter school will meet or exceed enroll- 26 ment and retention targets as prescribed by the board of regents or the 27 board of trustees of the state university of New York, as applicable, of 28 students with disabilities, English language learners, and students who 29 are eligible applicants for the free and reduced price lunch program 30 which shall be considered by the charter entity prior to approving such 31 charter school's application for renewal. When developing such targets, 32 the board of regents and the board of trustees of the state university 33 of New York shall ensure (1) that such enrollment targets are comparable 34 to the enrollment figures of such categories of students attending the 35 public schools within the school district, or in a city school district 36 in a city having a population of one million or more inhabitants, the 37 community school district, in which the charter school is located; and 38 (2) that such retention targets are comparable to the rate of retention 39 of such categories of students attending the public schools within the 40 school district, or in a city school district in a city having a popu- 41 lation of one million or more inhabitants, the community school 42 district, in which the proposed charter school would be located. 43 Such renewal application shall be submitted to the charter entity no 44 later than six months prior to the expiration of the charter; provided, 45 however, that the charter entity may waive such deadline for good cause 46 shown. 47 The application for renewal of a charter school shall be submitted to 48 the local school board or the community district education council where 49 the charter school is located for approval no later than two months 50 prior to submission to the charter entity. The local school board or the 51 community district education council where the charter school is located 52 shall have forty-five calendar days to act from when an applicant 53 submits the application for renewal of a charter school. Within seven 54 days of approving such application, the local school board or the commu- 55 nity district education council shall forward such renewal application 56 to the appropriate charter entity along with a form to be developed byA. 7593 3 1 the commissioner which states that the school board or the community 2 district education council has acted to approve the charter renewal 3 application. Within seven days of denying an application for renewal of 4 a charter school, the local school board or the community district 5 education council shall forward a notice of denial of such application 6 to the board of regents, the board of trustees of the state university 7 of New York, and the New York city department of education. Such notice 8 shall be in writing and include factual findings, specific to the appli- 9 cation and state the reasons for such denial. Notwithstanding any 10 provision of law to the contrary, the denial of an application shall be 11 considered final and shall not be eligible for reconsideration by any 12 other charter entity. A charter entity shall not act on a charter 13 renewal application unless the local school board or the community 14 district education council where the charter school is located has 15 approved such charter renewal application. 16 § 2. Subdivisions 1, 3 and 7 of section 2852 of the education law, 17 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 101 of the laws of 2010, subdivision 18 3 as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998 and subdivision 7 as amended 19 by section 2 of part D-2 of chapter 57 of the laws of 2007, are amended 20 to read as follows: 21 1. A charter entity shall not act on an application unless the local 22 school board of the school district where the charter school is to be 23 located or the community district education council has voted and 24 approved the charter application. Each school district or the community 25 district education council that receives an application for approval of 26 a charter school shall act on each request received prior to March first 27 of a calendar year. Within seven days of approving a charter applica- 28 tion, the local school board or the community district education council 29 shall forward the application to the appropriate charter entity along 30 with a form to be developed by the commissioner which states that the 31 local school board or the community district education council has acted 32 to approve the charter application. The denial of an application for a 33 charter school by a local school board or the community district educa- 34 tion council shall be in writing and include written factual findings, 35 specific to the application and state the reasons for such denial. 36 Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, such denial is 37 final and shall not be reviewable in any court or by any administrative 38 body or charter entity. A charter entity that receives an application 39 for approval of a charter school which has been approved by a local 40 school board or the community district education council shall act on 41 each [request] charter school application received from a school board 42 or the community district education council prior to July first of a 43 calendar year on or before January first of the succeeding calendar 44 year, and a proposed charter between the applicant and the charter enti- 45 ty resulting from such application and the local school board or the 46 community district education council shall be executed on or before 47 February first of such succeeding year. Nothing in this subdivision 48 shall be construed to prevent a charter entity from receiving or acting 49 upon an application at any time[. This subdivision shall not apply to50applications that are submitted pursuant to subdivision nine-a of this51section]; provided, however, that such application shall have the 52 approval of the local school board where the charter school is to be 53 located or the community district education council. 54 3. A charter entity is not required to approve a charter and may 55 require an applicant to modify or supplement an application as a condi- 56 tion of approval. Any modification or supplement shall first be approvedA. 7593 4 1 by the local school board or the community district education council 2 before the charter entity may act on the charter school application. An 3 existing private school shall not be eligible to convert to a charter 4 school. In determining whether an application involves the conversion of 5 an existing private school, the charter entity and the board of regents 6 shall consider such factors as: (a) whether the charter school would 7 have the same or substantially the same board of trustees and/or offi- 8 cers as an existing private school; (b) whether a substantial proportion 9 of employees of the charter school would be drawn from such existing 10 private school; (c) whether a substantial portion of the assets and 11 property of such existing private school would be transferred to the 12 charter school; (d) whether the charter school would be located at the 13 same site as such existing private school; (e) upon renewal only, wheth- 14 er such private school closed within one year of establishment of the 15 charter school; and (f) upon renewal only, whether a substantial portion 16 of the charter school's students were drawn from such existing private 17 school. 18 7. (a) A revision of a charter shall be made only upon the approval of 19 the local school board of the school district where the charter school 20 is to be located or the community district education council, charter 21 entity and the board of regents in accordance with the provisions of 22 subdivisions five-a and five-b of this section. 23 (b) When a revision of a charter involves the relocation of a charter 24 school to a different school district, the proposed new school district 25 shall be given at least forty-five days notice of the proposed relo- 26 cation. In addition, the applicant shall provide an analysis of the 27 community support for such relocation and of the projected programmatic 28 and fiscal impact of the charter school on the proposed new school 29 district of location and other public and nonpublic schools in the area. 30 The approval of the local board of education of the school district 31 where the charter school is relocating or the community district educa- 32 tion council shall be required pursuant to the provisions of subdivision 33 one of this section. 34 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
