Report Title:

Charter schools

 

Description:

Establishes a state board for the approval and management of charter schools.

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1630

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO A STATE BOARD FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§302A- State Board for Charter Schools. There is established within the department of education for administrative purposes the state board for charter schools consisting of nine members appointed by the governor as provided in section 26-34, and shall be known as the "state board" for purposes of this chapter. One member shall be the state superintendent of education. Two of the members shall be appointed from a list of nominees submitted by the speaker of the house of representatives. Two of the members shall be appointed from a list of nominees submitted by the minority leader of the house of representatives. Two of the members shall be appointed from a list of nominees submitted by the president of the senate. Two of the members shall be appointed from a list of nominees submitted by the minority leader of the senate."

SECTION 2. Section 302A-1182, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§302A-1182 New century charter schools; establishment. (a) Up to a total of twenty-five schools may be established as new century charter schools. These new century charter schools may be established by:

(1) The creation of a new school pursuant to section 302A-1183;

(2) An existing public school pursuant to subsection (b); or

(3) The creation of a new school, comprising programs or sections of existing public school populations and using existing public school facilities pursuant to section 302A-1183.

(b) Any public school or schools may form a new century charter school by establishing a local school board as its governing body composed of, at a minimum, one representative from each of the following participant groups:

(1) Principals;

(2) Instructional staff members selected by the school instructional staff;

(3) Support staff selected by the support staff of the school;

(4) Parents of students attending the school selected by the parents of the school;

(5) Student body representatives selected by the students of the school; and

(6) The community at-large.

(c) The local school board shall formulate and develop a detailed implementation plan, which shall include but not be limited to the following:

(1) A description of the administrative and educational framework, and which provides for the basic protection of employees and their reasonable academic freedoms;

(2) A plan for identifying, recruiting, and selecting students to make certain that student participation is not exclusive, elitist, or segregationalist;

(3) A plan for a comprehensive assessment and accountability system that meets or exceeds the established state educational content and performance standards as well as any other specific student outcomes to be achieved, and making this plan accountable to the general public;

(4) The curriculum, instructional framework, and assessment mechanisms to be used to achieve student outcomes;

(5) A plan to hold the school, its faculty, and staff (collectively and individually) accountable in at least an equivalent manner as are other public schools throughout the State;

(6) A governance structure of the school;

(7) A facilities management plan that is consistent with the state facilities plan; provided that if the facilities management plan includes use of existing school facilities, the new century charter school shall receive authorization from the administrator responsible for the facilities; provided further that the final determination of use shall be under the discretion of the board; and

(8) A system of financial accountability that includes annual financial and program audits.

The detailed implementation plan shall be approved by sixty per cent of the school's existing administrative, support, and teaching personnel, and parents; provided that the school personnel may request their bargaining unit representative to certify and conduct the elections for their respective bargaining units. Once approved, the detailed implementation plan shall be submitted to the state board for review.

(d) The state board shall have sixty days to review the completed implementation plan for the proposed new century charter school to assure its compliance with subsection (c) and section 302A-1184. Unless the board finds that the plan conflicts with subsection (c) or section 302A-1184, the [governor, the superintendent, and] the state board shall issue a charter designating the proposed new century charter school as a new century charter school within thirty days, and the proposed implementation plan shall be converted to a written performance contract between the school and the state board. If, within thirty days after the submission of the plan, the state board finds a conflict with subsection (c) or section 302A-1184, it shall notify the local school board of the finding in writing to enable the local school board to appropriately amend the plan to resolve the conflict.

(e) The new century charter schools shall not charge tuition. The State shall afford the local school board of any new century charter school and the state board the same protections as the State affords to the board."

SECTION 3. Section 302A-1183, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§302A-1183 New century charter schools; request for establishment and designation. (a) As an alternative to section 302A-1182(b), any community, group of teachers, or any program within an existing school may submit a letter of intent to the state board for the establishment of a new century charter school.

(b) The authors of the letter of intent shall then develop a detailed implementation plan, pursuant to section 302A-1182(c); provided that the plan shall also include the appointment of an interim school board, address issues of personnel management, and align any funding for the design and construction costs of building or renovating the new century charter school with the state facilities plan. The superintendent shall provide support and guidance to the community in formulating a detailed implementation plan which is compliant with sections 302A-1182(c) and 302A-1184. Once completed, the detailed implementation plan shall be submitted to the state board for review.

(c) The state board shall have sixty days to review the completed implementation plan for the proposed new century charter school to ensure its compliance with sections 302A-1182(c) and 302A-1184. Unless the state board finds that the plan conflicts with section 302A-1182(c) or 302A-1184, the [governor, the superintendent, and the] state board shall issue a charter designating the proposed new century charter school as a new century charter school within sixty days, and the proposed implementation plan shall be converted into a written performance contract between the school and the state board. The interim local school board shall establish the local school board pursuant to section 302A-1182(b) no later than ninety days after [the governor, the superintendent, and] the state board [have] has designated the school a new century charter school by charter. If, within sixty days after the submission of the plan, the state board finds a conflict with section 302A-1182(c) or 302A-1184, it shall notify the authors of the letter of intent of the finding in writing to enable the authors of the letter of intent to appropriately amend the plan to resolve the conflict."

SECTION 4. Section 302A-1186, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§302A-1186 New century charter schools; self-evaluation. (a) Every new century charter school shall conduct self-evaluations annually. The self-evaluation process shall include but not be limited to:

(1) The identification and adoption of benchmarks to measure and evaluate administrative and instructional programs as provided in this section;

(2) The identification of any administrative and legal barriers to meeting the benchmarks, as adopted, and recommendations for improvements and modifications to address the barriers;

(3) The impact of any changes made upon the students of the new century charter school; and

(4) A profile of the charter school's enrollment and community it serves.

Every new century charter school shall submit a report of its self-evaluation to the state board within sixty days after the completion of the school year; provided that the department shall have thirty days to respond to any recommendation regarding improvements and modifications that would directly impact the department.

(b) The state board shall initiate an independent evaluation of each new century charter school four years after its establishment and every four years thereafter to assure compliance with statewide student content and performance standards and fiscal accountability; provided that each new century charter school established prior to July 1, 1998, shall be evaluated four years after July 1, 1998, and every four years thereafter. Upon a determination by the state board that student achievement within a new century charter school does not meet the student performance standards, or that the new century charter school is not fiscally responsible, a new century charter school shall be placed on probationary status and shall have two years to bring student performance into compliance with statewide standards and improve the school's fiscal accountability. If a new century charter school fails to meet its probationary requirements, or fails to comply with any of the requirements of this section, the state board, upon a two-thirds majority vote, may then deny the continuation of the new century charter school."

SECTION 5. Section 302A-1187, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[§302A-1187] New century charter schools; administrative supervision. Whenever any new century charter school is established under section 302A-1182 or 302A-1183, the following provisions shall apply except as otherwise specifically provided by this chapter:

(1) Following consultation with the new century charter school, the state board shall represent the new century charter school in communications with the governor and with the legislature;

(2) The financial requirements for state funds of the new century charter school shall be submitted through the state board and included in the budget for the department;

(3) The approval of all policies and rules adopted by the new century charter school shall be preceded by an open public meeting and shall not be subject to chapter 91;

(4) The employment, appointment, promotion, transfer, demotion, discharge, and job descriptions of all officers and employees of or under the jurisdiction of the new century charter school shall be determined by the new century charter school and applicable personnel laws and collective bargaining agreements;

(5) Except as set forth in this section, the board or the superintendent of education, individually, shall not have the power to supervise or control the new century charter school in the exercise of its functions, duties, and powers; and

(6) Local school boards may enter into an annual business contract for centralized services to be provided by the department prior to the beginning of each school year."

SECTION 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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