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 <del>State Board of Education</del> <ins>state board,</ins> in collaboration with the <del>State Charter
Schools Commission</del> <ins>Office of Charter School Compliance,</ins> 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 <del>State Charter Schools Commission
</del> <ins>state board</ins> 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 <del>August 1</del> <ins>September 1</ins> of each of the <ins>first</ins> three
years <ins>of such local charter school's operation</ins> 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 <del>such</del> <ins>the
</ins> 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.
<ins>(3) The total amount of incentive grants provided under this subsection shall not exceed
$2.25 million in any fiscal year.
</ins> (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 <del>implement and administer</del> <ins>distribute</ins> the incentive
<del>grant program provided for in</del> <ins>grants authorized pursuant to</ins> subsection (b) of this Code
section and the Office of Charter School Compliance shall provide <ins>any</ins> technical assistance
necessary to local school systems <del>in</del> <ins>to</ins> support <del>of</del> 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 <ins>or company</ins> 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 <del>State Board
of Education</del> <ins>state board</ins> 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 <del>its</del> <ins>such
committee's</ins> review and recommendations to the state board;
(4) Administer <del>any state or federal</del> charter school <del>implementation grant program</del> <ins>grant
programs;
</ins> (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 <del>incentives</del> <ins>incentive grants</ins> 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 <del>public</del> 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 <ins>or a
subsidiary under its exclusive control</ins> 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 <del>school-level</del> <ins>school level</ins> 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. <ins>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.</ins> 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 <ins>of education</ins> 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 <del>one year</del> <ins>180 days</ins> 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 <del>one-year</del> <ins>180 day</ins> 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.