Governor Deval Patrick's Budget Recommendation - House 1 Fiscal Year 2010

Governor's Budget Recommendation FY 2010

Outside Section 44



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Charter School Spending

SECTION 44.   (a) Notwithstanding section 89 of chapter 71 of the General Laws or any other special or general law to the contrary, in fiscal year 2010 the board of elementary and secondary education may authorize charter school applications in a public school district in which the total charter school tuition payment to commonwealth charter schools will, as a result of the establishment of charter schools, exceed 9 per cent of the district's net school spending, only if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) In any fiscal year, no public school district's total charter school tuition payment to the commonwealth charter schools in that district shall exceed 12 per cent of the district's net school spending, but the commonwealth shall incur charter school tuition payments for siblings attending commonwealth charter schools to the extent that their attendance would otherwise cause the school district's charter school tuition payments to exceed 12 per cent of the school district's net school spending.

(2) The board may only accept applications for the establishment of charter schools that will admit students from districts scoring in the lowest 15 per cent in the commonwealth as measured by the combined composite proficiency index scores on the English language arts and mathematics Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams.

(3) The board may only accept applications for the establishment of a charter school in which the student enrollment will be comprised of at least 80 per cent students who meet one or more of the following criteria: low-income students; special education students; limited English proficient students; students who are determined by the department to be at risk of dropping out or who have dropped out of school; and other students, as determined by board regulations, who should be targeted in order to eliminate the achievement gap. The board may only accept applications for the establishment of a charter school in which the student enrollment will be comprised of a special education or limited English proficient student population that is at least 5 per cent greater than the level of the special education or limited English proficient student population, respectively, in the relevant sending districts.

(4) The board may only accept applications for the establishment of a charter school from a provider with a demonstrated record of successfully serving student populations with significant representations of: low-income students; special education students; limited English proficient students; students who are determined by the department to be at risk of dropping out or who have dropped out of school; and other students, as determined by board regulations, who should be targeted in order to eliminate the achievement gap.

(b) The board may at any time place the charter school on a probationary status to allow the implementation of a remedial plan after which, if the plan is unsuccessful, the board may summarily revoke the charter. The board may revoke a school's charter after 3 years if the school has not fulfilled to the board's satisfaction the enrollment criteria stated in paragraph (3) of subsection (a).

(c) The board shall adopt regulations to implement this section.

(d) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of elementary and secondary education shall adopt regulations creating a reporting requirement for a charter school's net asset balance at the end of the fiscal year. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following types of information: the sources of any surplus funds, specifically, whether they are private or public; how any surplus funds were used in the previous fiscal year; and the planned use of any surplus funds in the upcoming fiscal year. The regulations shall authorize the commissioner or department to recommend withholding the release of all or some part of the quarterly tuition payments for any school that has not timely filed the required report.
 
 

Summary:
This section provides special rules for approval of charter school applications by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in fiscal year 2010, and establishes a reporting requirement for a charter school's net asset balance at the end of the fiscal year.



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