HB 297-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2005 SESSION
04/09
HOUSE BILL 297-FN
AN ACT relative to charter schools.
SPONSORS: Rep. L. Christiansen, Hills 27
This bill:
I. Allows a school board to vote to designate any one or more of its schools as open enrollment schools.
II. Removes the limit on the number of charter schools which may be granted during the 10-year pilot program.
III. Revises the procedures to be used by the state board of education in responding to charter school applications with missing, unclear, or incomplete information.
IV. Inserts a conflict of interest provision relating to members of a charter school board of trustees.
V. Requires that funding for state-authorized charter schools be paid by the state directly to the charter school.
VI. Requires that a school district grant a leave of absence to any teacher who wishes to teach in a charter school.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05-0272
04/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT relative to charter schools.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Establishment. Amend RSA 194-B:2, I to read as follows:
I. [Any] The school board of any school district [legislative body] may vote to designate one or more of its schools as an open enrollment school.
2 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Application. Amend RSA 194-B:3, III(a) to read as follows:
III.(a) Applications for approval of a charter school shall not be submitted to the school board until the provisions of RSA 194-B:4, I(d)(1) have been adopted by the school district [legislative body].
3 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Approval by the State Board of Education. Amend RSA 194-B:3-a, I-II to read as follows:
I. There is established a 10-year pilot program which authorizes the state board of education to grant charter status under this section. Beginning July 1, 2003, the state board of education shall [be authorized to grant no more than 20] grant state charter school applications during the 10-year pilot program.
II. The proposed charter school application shall be presented for approval directly to the state board of education by the applicant for the prospective charter school. The content of such application shall conform to the requirements set forth in RSA 194-B:3, II(a)-(bb) and (dd). The department of education shall notify an applicant of any missing, unclear, or incomplete information within [10] 30 days of the initial filing. The applicant shall file any missing, unclear, or incomplete information before the department reviews the application.
4 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Authority and Duties of the Board of Trustees. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 194-B:5, III to read as follows:
III. Notwithstanding RSA 194-B:1, III, an established charter school shall be a corporation[, which shall be registered with the secretary of state after receiving approval under this chapter but before its first day of actual operation,] with authority necessary or desirable to carry out its charter program including, but not limited to, the following:
5 New Paragraph; Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Authority and Duties of the Board of Trustees. Amend RSA 194-B:5 by inserting after paragraph VI the following new paragraph:
VII. A member of the board of trustees of a charter school shall not serve as a member of the board of directors or as an employee or agent of any for-profit entity with whom the charter school enters into a contract for goods or services of any kind. Any contract entered into in violation of the provisions of this paragraph renders such contract voidable at the option of the commissioner of the department of education. A member of the charter school board of trustees who enters a contract in violation of this paragraph shall be personally liable to the charter school for any damage caused by such violation.
6 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Secular or Nonsecular Determination. RSA 194-B:7 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
194-B:7 Charter Schools; Secular or Nonsecular Determination.
I. A charter school established under this chapter shall be nonsectarian in all its policies, practices, and operations. No proposed charter school that is affiliated with a religious institution or nonpublic or nonsectarian school shall be established under this chapter.
II. For purposes of determining whether a proposed charter school is a prohibited religious school, the following 3-part test set forth by the United States Supreme Court shall be used.
(a) The school shall have a secular purpose.
(b) The school’s “primary effect” shall neither advance nor prohibit religion.
(c) The school shall not foster “excessive entanglement” between the school and religion.
7 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Funding. Amend RSA 194-B:11, I to read as follows:
I. There shall be no tuition charge for any pupil attending an open enrollment or charter conversion school located in that pupil’s resident district. Funding limitations in this chapter shall not be applicable to charter conversion or open enrollment schools located in a pupil’s resident district. For any other charter or open enrollment school authorized by the school district, the pupil’s resident district shall pay to such school an amount equal to not less than 80 percent of that district’s average cost per pupil as determined by the department of education using the most recent available data as reported by the district to the department. For any charter school authorized by the state board of education, the [pupil’s resident district] state shall directly pay [tuition beginning July 1, 2004 and every fiscal year thereafter, in an amount per pupil equal to the amount determined in RSA 198:40, I] the amount of state funding applicable in a fiscal year to the charter school. Tuition amounts shall be prorated on a per diem basis for pupils attending a school for less than a full school year. To the extent permitted by law, tuition payments shall coincide with the distribution of adequacy grants under RSA 198:42 or on such other terms as are mutually acceptable.
8 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Funding. Amend RSA 194-B:11, V(b) to read as follows:
(b) A charter or open enrollment school may accept pupils at tuition rates [at] more or less than the amounts established by this chapter.
9 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Funding. Amend RSA 194-B:11, VII to read as follows:
VII. No school building aid under RSA 198:15-a through 15-h shall be awarded to a charter school for the purpose of acquiring land or buildings, or for constructing, reconstructing, or improving the charter school, unless the building is owned by the school district, under lease to the charter school, and such lease does not include an option to purchase the building. A charter conversion school shall be eligible for school building aid. The state may offer a facility stipend per child in addition to any amount of state aid provided to a charter school.
10 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Funding. Amend RSA 194-B:11, IX(b) to read as follows:
(b) Upon receipt of such reimbursement anticipation notes, the charter school may elect to borrow funds for the purpose of meeting general operating and maintenance expenses for charter school operations. Responsibility for transfer of funds to a charter school shall be with the state or school district, as may be appropriate.
11 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Employees. Amend RSA 194-B:14, II(e) to read as follows:
(e) A teacher in a charter school shall have withdrawn from or taken leave from any bargaining unit with which that teacher may have been previously affiliated.
12 Charter and Open Enrollment Schools; Employees. Amend RSA 194-B:14, III to read as follows:
III. A public charter school may choose to participate in the state teacher retirement or public employee system, and service in a public charter school shall be deemed creditable service under RSA 100-A:4.
13 New Section; School Boards, Teachers; Petition for Leave to Teach in a Charter School. Amend RSA 189 by inserting after section 14-g the following new section:
189:14-h Petition for Leave to Teach in a Charter School. A teacher may request a leave of absence for up to 5 years to teach in any charter school in the state. Such request shall be made in writing, at least 90 days prior to the scheduled first day of school, and shall be submitted to the school board in the school district in which he or she is employed. Upon receipt of such a request, the school board shall grant the request for a one year period. A teacher may request an extension of leave, in accordance with the procedure outlined in this section. A request for an extension of a leave of absence may be granted at the discretion of the school board, provided the total amount of leave granted to any teacher shall not exceed 5 years. Except as otherwise provided in this section, leaves of absence shall be governed by the policies and procedures established by the school district.
14 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
05-0272
1/6/05
HB 297-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to charter schools.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Education indicates this bill may increase state general fund expenditures by $70,000 in FY 2006 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact to state, county and local revenue or county and local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department indicates the provision of this bill that allows the Department to grant more than 20 state charter school applications might result in the Department hiring a consultant at $70,000 per year. The consultant is currently paid with federal funds, funds the Department indicates might be depleted due to the change in this bill.