HB 1257: Education; incentive grants for local boards of education to approve charter school petitions; revise provisions

The House Committee on Education offers the following substitute to HB 1257:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

To amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, so as to revise provisions for incentive grants for local boards of education to approve charter school petitions; to revise provisions for the Office of Charter School Compliance; to revise provisions relative to charter petitions by existing charter schools; to revise provisions relative to state charter school records; to revise definitions; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, is amended in Article 31, the "Charter Schools Act of 1998," by revising Code Section 20-2-2064.2, relating to promotion of approval of new local charter school petitions and incentive grants, as follows:

"20-2-2064.2.

(a) The State Board of Education state board, in collaboration with the State Charter Schools Commission Office of Charter School Compliance, shall establish a program for the purposes of promoting and supporting the approval of new local charter school petitions by local boards of education and to provide incentive grants to local boards of education that approve new local charter school petitions. The State Charter Schools Commission state board shall promulgate such rules and regulations as it deems necessary to carry out the provisions and intent of this Code section.

(b)(1) Subject to appropriations, for each new local charter school petition approved by a local board of education after June 30, 2025, such local board of education shall receive an incentive grant of $250,000.00 by August 1 September 1 of each of the first three years of such local charter school's operation following such approval, provided that such local charter school remains authorized by such local board of education. In the event that available appropriations are not sufficient to cover the total amount of such the incentive grants provided for in this subsection, the amount of each such grant shall be reduced proportionally, providing incentive grants in equal amounts to each such local board of education.

(2) Incentive grants provided for in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be provided only for the approval of new local charter school petitions and not for the approval or renewal of an existing local charter school.

(3) The total amount of incentive grants provided under this subsection shall not exceed $2.25 million in any fiscal year.

(c) Incentive grants awarded pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section may be used by the receiving local board of education for expenses incurred by the local board of education in its role as a local charter school authorizer, which may include, but shall not be limited to, hiring qualified personnel and providing for oversight, compliance monitoring, and professional development related to local charter school authorization.

(d) The Department of Education shall implement and administer distribute the incentive grant program provided for in grants authorized pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section and the Office of Charter School Compliance shall provide any technical assistance necessary to local school systems in to support of compliance with the requirements of this Code section.

(e) This Code section shall stand automatically repealed on July 1, 2035."

SECTION 2.

Said chapter is further amended in said article by revising paragraph (4) of subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-2065, relating to waiver of provisions of this title, requirements for operating, and control and management, as follows:

"(4) Organized and operated as a nonprofit corporation or company under the laws of this state; provided, however, that this paragraph shall not apply to any charter petitioner that is a local school, local school system, or state or local public entity;"

SECTION 3.

Said chapter is further amended in said article by revising subsection (a) of Code Section 20-2-2069, relating to the Office of Charter School Compliance and Office of District Flexibility, as follows:

"(a) There is established within the State Charter Schools Commission an Office of Charter School Compliance, which shall be staffed with personnel as provided for in subsection (d.1) of Code Section 20-2-2082, who shall report directly to the State Board of Education state board for purposes of this subsection. The responsibilities of such office shall be to:

(1) Prepare charter school guidelines to be approved by the state board;

(2) Distribute charter school petition information to inquiring parties;

(3) Process all charter school petitions and coordinate with the Charter Advisory Committee established pursuant to Code Section 20-2-2063.1 to facilitate its such committee's review and recommendations to the state board;

(4) Administer any state or federal charter school implementation grant program grant programs;

(5) Contract with an independent party to evaluate the performance of charter schools, as such performance relates to fulfilling the terms of their charters;

(6) Compile information necessary to produce the annual report required by Code Section 20-2-2070, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, information regarding the effectiveness of the incentives incentive grants and the adherence of local school systems to the requirements provided for in Code Sections 20-2-2064 and 20-2-2064.2;

(7) Prepare guidelines for local boards of education for the evaluation of charter school petitions. Such guidelines shall be published on the public website of the Department of Education and shall include:

(A) Criteria for evaluating the academic, operational, and financial plans of the charter petitioner;

(B) Best practices for conducting a thorough and objective review of charter petitions;

(C) Procedures for public hearings and community input on charter petitions; and

(D) A standardized evaluation rubric for use by local boards of education during the evaluation of charter petitions; and

(8) Provide technical assistance to local school systems as charter school authorizers, support local school systems as needed to implement best practices in charter school authorization, and regularly engage with local school systems to promote charter school authorization at the local level."

SECTION 4.

Said chapter is further amended in Article 31A, relating to state charter schools, by revising paragraph (4) of Code Section 20-2-2081, relating to definitions, as follows: "(4) 'Governing board' means the governing board of the nonprofit organization or a subsidiary under its exclusive control which is the charter petitioner for a state charter school and which is the same as the governing board of the state charter school which is involved in school-level school level governance of the state charter school."

SECTION 5.

Said chapter is further amended in said article by revising Code Section 20-2-2085, relating to petitions by existing charter schools, as follows:

"20-2-2085.

A petition may be submitted pursuant to this Code section by an existing charter school approved by a local board of education or the State Board of Education, provided that the obligations of its charter with the local board of education or State Board of Education will expire prior to entering into a new charter with the commission. The commission shall not act on a petition submitted pursuant to this Code section unless the local board of education that authorizes the charter school has voted to terminate or nonrenew the charter contract or otherwise fails to renew the charter contract by a date established by the State Board of Education. Upon the existing charter school's request, a local board of education or the State Board of Education in the case of a state chartered special school may agree to rescind or waive the obligations of a current charter to allow a petition to be submitted by an existing charter school pursuant to this Code section. An existing charter school that is established as a state charter school pursuant to this Code section shall be allowed to continue the use of all facilities, equipment, and other assets it used prior to the expiration or rescission of its charter with a local board of education; provided, however, that the local board of education shall be authorized to charge or continue to charge a reasonable fee for use of the facilities."

SECTION 6.

Said chapter is further amended in said article by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-2088.1, relating to ownership and maintenance of state charter school records, as follows:

"(b) In the event that a state charter school ceases operations for any reason, including, but not limited to, the termination, nonrenewal, or abandonment of the state charter school's charter, the nonprofit entity which held the charter contract shall retain ownership, including all incumbent responsibilities of an operational state charter school, of all records for a period of one year 180 days from the later of the date the charter contract expired, the date the charter contract was terminated, or the date the state charter school ceased operations. Incumbent responsibilities include, but are not limited to, transferring student records to public or private schools, schools operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice, and the local school system or schools from which the records are requested. After the one-year 180 day period, the nonprofit entity which held the charter contract shall transfer all records, including student records, to the commission in the format and manner specified by the commission."

SECTION 7.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.