SB82: SB82 "Local Charter School Authorization and Support Act of 2025"; enact

25 LC 49 2367S Senate Bill 82 By: Senators Dixon of the 45th, Gooch of the 51st, Anavitarte of the 31st, Payne of the 54th, Brass of the 6th and others AS PASSED A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 31 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the1 "Charter School Act of 1998," so as to enact the "Local Charter School Authorization and2 Support Act of 2025"; to provide for the State Board of Education in collaboration with the3 State Charter Schools Commission to establish a program for the purposes of promoting and4 supporting the approval of new local charter school petitions b y local boards of education5 and to provide incentive grants to local boards of education that approve new local charter6 school petitions; to provide for the award and use of such incentive grants; to provide for the7 Department of Education to implement and administer such incentive programs and for the8 Office of Charter School Compliance to provide technical assistance to local school systems;9 to require local boards of education to provide certain written statements to the State Board10 of Education and the Office of Charter School Compliance upon d enying a local charter11 school petition whereupon the corresponding state charter school petition is approved by the12 State Charter Schools Commission, subject to an exception; to provide for accountability for13 local boards of education that deny two or more local charter school petitions whereupon the14 corresponding state charter school petition is approved by the State Charter Schools15 Commission during a certain period; to provide for local boards of education to reconsider16 the denial of local charter school petitions; to require the Of fice of Charter School17 Compliance to prepare guidelines for local boards of education for the evaluation of charter18 S. B. 82 - 1 - 25 LC 49 2367S school petitions; to revise reporting; to provide for legislative findings and intent; to provide19 for automatic repealers; to provide for related matters; to pro vide for an effective date; to20 repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.21 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:22 SECTION 1.23 (a) The General Assembly finds that charter schools, including locally authorized charter24 schools, provide innovative and effective educational opportunities for students in Georgia.25 (b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to:26 (1) Encourage local school systems to serve as local authorizers of charter schools;27 (2) Provide financial incentives to local school systems that authorize and oversee charter28 schools; and29 (3) Ensure accountability for local school systems that consistently deny charter petitions30 that are subsequently approved by the State Charter Schools Commission.31 SECTION 2.32 This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Local Charter School Authorization and33 Support Act of 2025."34 SECTION 3.35 Article 31 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the "Charter36 School Act of 1998," is amended by revising Code Section 20-2-2064, relating to approval37 or denial of petition relative to the "Charter Schools Act of 1998," as follows:38 "20-2-2064.39 (a) A charter petitioner seeking to create a conversion charter school must shall submit a40 petition to the local board of the local school system in which the proposed charter school41 S. B. 82 - 2 - 25 LC 49 2367S will be located. The local board must shall by a majority vote approve or deny a petition42 no later than 90 days after its submission unless the petitione r requests an extension;43 provided, however, that a denial of a petition by a local board shall not preclude the44 submission to the local board of a revised petition that addresses deficiencies cited in the45 denial; and provided, further, that the local board shall not a ct upon a petition for a46 conversion charter school, including, but not limited to, a con version charter for a high47 school cluster, until such petition:48 (1)(A) Has been freely agreed to, by secret ballot, by a major ity of the faculty and49 instructional staff members of the petitioning local school at a public meeting called50 with two weeks' advance notice for the purpose of deciding whet her to submit the51 petition to the local board for its approval; and52 (B) Has been freely agreed to, by secret ballot, by a majority of the parents or53 guardians of students enrolled in the petitioning local school present at a public meeting54 called with two weeks' advance notice for the purpose of deciding whether to submit55 the petition to the local board for its approval; or56 (2) If for a high school cluster, has been approved by a majority of the school councils57 in the high school cluster and has been freely agreed to, by se cret ballot, by at least 6058 percent of the combined vote of the faculty and instructional staff members of the high59 school cluster and the parents or guardians of students who reside in the attendance zone60 of such high school cluster present at a public meeting called with two weeks' advance61 notice for the purpose of deciding whether to submit the petition to the local board for its62 approval. Each school council within the high school cluster s hall appoint two63 representatives to a committee that shall conduct the vote.64 (3) The provisions of this This subsection shall not apply to a system charter school65 petitioning to be a conversion charter school.66 (b) A charter petitioner seeking to create a start-up charter school must shall submit a67 petition to the local board of the local school system in which the proposed charter school68 S. B. 82 - 3 - 25 LC 49 2367S will be located. The local board must shall by a majority vote approve or deny a petition69 no later than 90 days after its submission unless the petitione r requests an extension. A70 denial of a petition by a local board shall not preclude the submission to the local board of71 a revised petition to the local board that addresses deficiencies cited in the denial.72 (c) A system charter school's school council or governing coun cil, as applicable, may73 petition to become a conversion charter school. The petition shall be submitted to the local74 board of the charter system in which the school is located. The local board must shall by75 a majority vote approve or deny a petition no later than 90 days after its submission unless76 the petitioner requests an extension; provided, however, that a denial of a petition by a local77 board shall not preclude the submission to the local board of a revised petition to the local78 board that addresses deficiencies cited in the denial.79 (d)(1) A local board shall approve a petition that complies with the rules, regulations,80 policies, and procedures promulgated in accordance with Code Se ction 20-2-2063 and81 the provisions of this title and is in the public interest.82 (2) If a local board denies a petition, it must shall within 60 20 business days provide a83 written statement of denial to the charter petitioner, the stat e board, and the Office of84 Charter School Compliance specifically state stating the reasons for the denial, list and85 listing all deficiencies with respect to Code Section 20-2-2063, detailing existing access86 to school choice options for students in the local school syste m, and assessing the87 academic performance of existing local schools in the area the charter school proposed88 to serve. Within three days of such written statement being re ceived by the Office of89 Charter School Compliance, such written statement shall be publ ished on the public90 website of the Office of Charter School Compliance and provide a written statement of91 the denial to the charter petitioner and the state board.92 (3) If a local board denies a local charter school petition wi th a single-school system93 attendance zone and the corresponding state charter school peti tion with single-school94 S. B. 82 - 4 - 25 LC 49 2367S system attendance zones is subsequently approved by the State C harter Schools95 Commission as provided in Code Section 20-2-2084:96 (A) The Office of Charter School Compliance shall notify the l ocal board of such97 approval; and98 (B) The state board and the Office of Charter School Complianc e may, upon review99 of the local school system's written statement of denial provid ed for in paragraph (2)100 of this subsection and the State Charter Schools Commission's rationale for approving101 the charter petition, provide guidance to or recommend authorizer training for the local102 school system, as appropriate.103 (4)(A) Except as provided for in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, if the local board104 of a local school system with enrollment of 10,000 to 60,000 st udents based on such105 local school system's full-time equivalent program count calculated as provided for in106 subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-160, denies two or more loc al charter school107 petitions with single-school system attendance zones, and the c orresponding state108 charter school petitions with single-school system attendance zones are subsequently109 approved by the State Charter Schools Commission as provided in Code110 Section 20-2-2084 during the same term of such local school system's charter system111 contract or strategic waivers school system contract, such local school system shall not112 be eligible or authorized to renew its charter system status gr anted under Code113 Section 20-2-2063.2 or any strategic waivers granted under Article 4 of this chapter for114 up to three years following the termination or expiration of its current charter system115 contract or strategic waivers school systems contract, or until the state board determines116 the local school system has demonstrated its commitment to incr easing student117 performance and encouraging innovation through high quality loc al charter petition118 authorizations.119 (B) Except as provided for in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph, if the local board of120 a local school system with enr ollment of more than 60,000 stude nts, based on such121 S. B. 82 - 5 - 25 LC 49 2367S local school system's full-time equivalent program count calculated as provided for in122 subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-160, denies three or more l ocal charter school123 petitions with single-school system attendance zones, and the c orresponding state124 charter school petitions with single-school system attendance zones are subsequently125 approved by the State Charter Schools Commission as provided in Code126 Section 20-2-2084 during the same term of such local school system's charter system127 contract or strategic waivers school system contract, such local school system shall not128 be eligible or authorized to renew its charter system status gr anted under Code129 Section 20-2-2063.2 or any strategic waivers granted under Article 4 of this chapter for130 up to three years following the termination or expiration of its current charter system131 contract or strategic waivers school systems contract, or until the state board determines132 the local school system has demonstrated its commitment to incr easing student133 performance and encouraging innovation through high quality loc al charter petition134 authorizations.135 (C) The provisions of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph shall not apply to136 a local school system with a charter system contract or strategic waivers school system137 contract that, according to the terms of such contract in place on January 1, 2025, will138 expire on or before July 1, 2025, until the term of such local school system's new or139 renewed charter system contract or strategic waivers school system contract begins.140 (5) This paragraph and paragraphs 3 and 4 of this subsection sh all stand automatically141 repealed on July 1, 2035.142 (e) The state board or the Charter Advisory Committee, if dire cted by the state board to143 do so, may mediate between the local board and a charter petiti oner whose petition was144 denied to assist in resolving issues which led to denial of the petition by the local board."145 SECTION 4.146 Said article is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:147 S. B. 82 - 6 - 25 LC 49 2367S "20-2-2064.2.148 (a) The State Board of Education in collaboration with the Sta te Charter Schools149 Commission shall establish a program for the purposes of promot ing and supporting the150 approval of new local charter school petitions by local boards of education and to provide151 incentive grants to local boards of education that approve new local charter school152 petitions. The State Charter Schools Commission shall promulga te such rules and153 regulations as it deems necessary to carry out the provisions and intent of this Code section.154 (b)(1) Subject to appropriations, for each new local charter school petition approved by155 a local board of education after June 30, 2025, such local board of education shall receive156 an incentive grant of $250,000.00 by August 1 of each of the three years following such157 approval, provided that such local charter school remains authorized by such local board158 of education. In the event that available appropriations are n ot sufficient to cover the159 total amount of such incentive grants provided for in this subsection, the amount of each160 such grant shall be reduced proportionally, providing incentive grants in equal amounts161 to each such local board of education.162 (2) Incentive grants provided for in paragraph (1) of this sub section shall be provided163 only for the approval of new local charter school petitions and not for the approval or164 renewal of an existing local charter school.165 (c) Incentive grants awarded pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section may be used166 by the receiving local board of edu cation for expenses incurred by the local board of167 education in its role as a local charter school authorizer, which may include, but shall not168 be limited to, hiring qualified personnel and providing for ove rsight, compliance169 monitoring, and professional development related to local charter school authorization.170 (d) The Department of Education shall implement and administer the incentive grant171 program provided for in subsection (b) of this Code section and the Office of Charter172 School Compliance shall provide technical assistance necessary to local school systems in173 support of compliance with the requirements of this Code section.174 S. B. 82 - 7 - 25 LC 49 2367S (e) This Code section shall stand automatically repealed on July 1, 2035."175 SECTION 5.176 Said article is further amended in Code Section 20-2-2069, relating to the Office of Charter177 School Compliance and the Office of District Flexibility, by re vising subsection (a) as178 follows:179 "(a) There is established within the State Charter Schools Commission an Office of Charter180 School Compliance, which shall be staffed with personnel as pro vided for in181 subsection (d.1) of Code Section 20-2-2082, who shall report directly to the State Board182 of Education for purposes of this subsection. The responsibilities of such office shall be183 to:184 (1) Prepare charter school guidelines to be approved by the state board;185 (2) Distribute charter school petition information to inquiring parties;186 (3) Process all charter school petitions and coordinate with t he Charter Advisory187 Committee established pursuant to Code Section 20-2-2063.1 to facilitate its review and188 recommendations to the state board;189 (4) Administer any state or federal charter school implementation grant program;190 (5) Contract with an independent party to evaluate the performance of charter schools,191 as such performance relates to fulfilling the terms of their charters;192 (6) Compile information necessary to produce the annual report required by Code193 Section 20-2-2070, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, information regarding194 the effectiveness of the incentives and the adherence of local school systems to the195 requirements provided for in Code Sections 20-2-2064 and 20-2-2064.2; and196 (7) Prepare guidelines for local boards of education for the evaluation of charter school197 petitions. Such guidelines shall be published on the public website of the Department of198 Education and shall include:199 S. B. 82 - 8 - 25 LC 49 2367S (A) Criteria for evaluating the academic, operational, and financial plans of the charter200 petitioner;201 (B) Best practices for conducting a thorough and objective review of charter petitions;202 (C) Procedures for public hearings and community input on charter petitions; and203 (D) A standardized evaluation rubric for use by local boards of education during the204 evaluation of charter petitions; and205 (8) Provide technical assistance to Assist local school systems as charter school206 authorizers as challenges arise, support local school systems as needed to implement best207 practices in charter school authorization, and regularly engage with local school systems208 to promote charter school authorization at the local level."209 SECTION 6.210 Said article is further amended by revising Code Section 20-2-2070, relating to annual report211 to General Assembly, as follows:212 "20-2-2070.213 No The state board shall report to the General Assembly no later than December 31 of each214 year, the state board shall submit a report on the status of the charter school program to the215 Speaker of the House of Representatives; the President of the Senate; the chairpersons of216 the House Committee on Education, the Senate Education and Yout h Committee, the217 House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Appropriations Committee; and the218 Office of Planning and Budget."219 SECTION 7.220 This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law221 without such approval.222 S. B. 82 - 9 - 25 LC 49 2367S SECTION 8.223 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.224 S. B. 82 - 10 -