Session of 1998
SENATE BILL No. 511
By Committee on Education
1-27
9
AN ACT authorizing boards of education of
school districts to establish
10 and maintain charter
schools; also repealing K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 72-
11 1903, 72-1904,
72-1905, 72-1906, 72-1907, 72-1908, 72-1909 and 72-
12 1910.
13
14 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of Kansas:
15 Section 1. It is
the intention of this act to provide an alternative
16 means within the public school system for
ensuring accomplishment of
17 the necessary outcomes of education by
authorizing boards of education
18 of local school districts to establish and
maintain charter school programs
19 that operate within a school district
structure, but independently from
20 other school programs of the district.
21 Sec. 2. The board
of education of any school district may authorize
22 the establishment of a nonsectarian,
outcomes-oriented education pro-
23 gram, hereinafter referred to as a local
charter school, as a means of
24 providing new opportunities for:
25 (a) Improved pupil
learning;
26 (b) increased learning
opportunities for pupils in special areas of em-
27 phasis in accord with themes established
for charter schools;
28 (c) creative and
unconventional instructional techniques and struc-
29 tures;
30 (d) new professional
vistas for teachers who operate such schools or
31 who choose to work in them; and
32 (e) freedom from
conventional program constraints and mandates.
33 Sec. 3. (a) The
state board of education shall design and prescribe
34 the format of a petition for establishment
of local charter schools. The
35 petition shall be designed in a manner that
will provide for inclusion of
36 a description of the key elements of the
charter under which the school
37 will be operated.
38 (b) The charter for a
local charter school must contain the following
39 key elements:
40 (1) A description of the
educational program of the school, including
41 the facilities that will be used to house
the program;
42 (2) specification of
program goals and the measurable pupil outcomes
43 consonant with achieving the goals;
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1 (3) explanation of
how pupil performance in achieving the specific
2 outcomes will be measured, evaluated,
and reported;
3 (4) the governance
structure of the school;
4 (5) a description
of qualifications to be met by persons employed by
5 the district for assignment to the
charter school;
6 (6) criteria for
admission of pupils, including a description of the lot-
7 tery method to be used if too many
pupils seek enrollment in the school;
8 (7) manner in
which annual financial and program audits will be con-
9 ducted;
10 (8) pupil suspension and
expulsion policies, to the extent there is
11 deviation from district wide policies;
12 (9) manner of pupil
participation in the Kansas assessment program;
13 (10) terms and
conditions of employment in the charter school;
14 (11) specification of
the manner in which contracts of employment
15 and status of certificated employees of the
district who participate in the
16 operation of the school will be dealt with
upon nonrenewal or revocation
17 of the charter or upon a decision by any
such employees to discontinue
18 participation in the operation of the
school; and
19 (12) the proposed budget
of the local charter school, including any
20 requests for additional appropriations and
justifications for such addi-
21 tional appropriations.
22 (c) In addition, a local
charter school must comply with the following
23 requirements in order to qualify for
establishment:
24 (1) The school must be
focused on outcomes or results and must
25 participate in the quality performance
accreditation process unless a spe-
26 cific request documenting the reasons for
deviation from the process is
27 submitted to and approved by the board of
education and the state board
28 of education;
29 (2) pupils who are
residents of the district may not be charged tuition;
30 and
31 (3) compliance with
applicable health, safety and access laws must be
32 assured.
33 (d) Except as provided
in this act and in its charter, a local charter
34 school shall be exempt from all state laws
relating to school districts and
35 boards of education thereof. The board of
education shall have the au-
36 thority to take any action with regard to a
local charter school unless such
37 action is specifically prohibited by a
state or federal law from which the
38 local charter school has no exemption.
39 (e) After the board of
education approves the petition, the board shall
40 notify the state board of education. After
being notified by a board of
41 education of the approval of a petition,
the state board shall determine
42 whether the local charter school is in
compliance with applicable state
43 and federal laws and rules and regulations.
If the local charter school is
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1 found to be in compliance with such
laws and rules and regulations, the
2 state board shall approve
establishment of the charter school. If the local
3 charter school is not in compliance
with such laws and rules and regula-
4 tions, establishment of the school
shall not be approved until the state
5 board's objections have been
satisfied. The state board shall notify the
6 board of the approval thereof within
60 days of being noticed by the board
7 of education.
8
Sec. 4. Whenever a local charter school has been approved
for es-
9 tablishment by the board of education
of a school district and the state
10 board of education, no other approval shall
be required. The local charter
11 school may continue to operate as a local
charter school as long as the
12 school remains accredited. The board of
education may revoke the char-
13 ter of the local charter school at any
time, and shall revoke the charter of
14 a school if the school:
15 (a) Materially violates
provisions contained in the charter;
16 (b) fails to meet or
pursue the educational objectives contained in the
17 charter;
18 (c) fails to comply with
fiscal accountability procedures as specified
19 in the charter; or
20 (d) violates provisions
of law.
21 Sec. 5. (a) All
employees who are participating in the operation of a
22 local charter school and who qualify for
membership in the Kansas public
23 employees retirement system shall be
members of the system.
24 (b) All employees of a
school district who are participating in the
25 operations of a local charter school and
who qualify for health insurance
26 and other fringe benefit programs provided
for other school district em-
27 ployees shall be eligible to participate in
such programs.
28 (c) No teacher currently
teaching in the school district shall be re-
29 quired to accept an assignment to teach in
the local charter school. No
30 board shall be required to assign any
teacher to a local charter school in
31 the district.
32 (d) Any teacher who has
attained the right to procedural protections
33 under the Kansas due process procedures
act, K.S.A. 72-5436, et seq.,
34 and amendments thereto, shall not forfeit
such rights by seeking em-
35 ployment in or accepting assignments to a
local charter school in the
36 district.
37 (e) The provisions of
K.S.A. 72-5436, et seq., and amendments
38 thereto, shall not apply to any employee of
a local charter school, except
39 as provided in subsection (d).
40 (f) To the extent all
terms and conditions of employment are not set
41 forth in the charter, the governing
authority of the charter school, with
42 the approval of the board of education,
shall determine all other terms
43 and conditions of employment for employees
in the local charter school.
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1 Teachers in local charter schools
shall not be part of the bargaining unit
2 in the district for purposes of
professional negotiations pursuant to K.S.A.
3 72-5414, et seq., and
amendments thereto.
4 Sec. 6. (a)
The state board of education shall provide, upon request,
5 any board of education with technical
advice and assistance regarding the
6 establishment and operation of a
charter school or the preparation of a
7 petition requesting authorization of
a board of education for the estab-
8 lishment and operation of such a
school.
9 (b) At the
conclusion of each school year in which a local charter
10 school is operated in a school district,
the board of education of the school
11 district shall evaluate the impact the
local charter school has had on the
12 educational system of the district and
shall submit the evaluation to the
13 state board of education. The state board
shall review, assess and compile
14 the evaluations of local charter schools
submitted by boards of education
15 and shall submit the compilation of
evaluations and other relevant ma-
16 terial with respect to the operation of
each local charter school to the
17 governor and legislature.
18 Sec. 7. Nothing in
this act shall be construed or applied in any man-
19 ner so as to abrogate, impair or abridge
the terms of any charter executed
20 prior to the effective date of this act,
nor shall anything in this act be
21 construed or applied in any manner so as to
change or affect the operation
22 and management of any charter school
approved and operating prior to
23 the effective date of this act. All such
charters and charter schools shall
24 be controlled by the provisions of law in
effect at the time of execution
25 and approval, which laws are repealed by
this act.
26 Sec. 8. K.S.A. 1997
Supp. 72-1903, 72-1904, 72-1905, 72-1906, 72-
27 1907, 72-1908, 72-1909 and 72-1910 are
hereby repealed.
28 Sec. 9. This act
shall take effect and be in force from and after its
29 publication in the statute book.
30