House Bill 344

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SPECIALIZED CHARTER SCHOOL FOR THE EDUCATION OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN IN EACH LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS USED IN THIS ACT; TO PRESCRIBE THE CONTENTS THAT MUST BE INCLUDED IN LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS' PETITIONS REQUESTING CHARTER SCHOOL STATUS; TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE SUBMISSION OF PETITIONS AND THE OPERATION OF SPECIALIZED CHARTER SCHOOLS; TO PRESCRIBE CERTAIN PROVISIONS THAT MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE TERMS OF EACH CHARTER; TO PROVIDE THAT INITIAL CHARTERS MUST BE FOR A TERM OF FOUR YEARS AND TO AUTHORIZE RENEWAL OF THE CHARTERS; TO AUTHORIZE SPECIALIZED CHARTER SCHOOLS TO ACCEPT FUNDS FROM PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SOURCES; TO PROVIDE THAT SPECIALIZED CHARTER SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ARE EMPLOYEES OF THE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ANNUALLY REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON THE SPECIALIZED CHARTER SCHOOL PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature that this act provide a means whereby the school board of each local school district and the State Board of Education shall substitute a binding contract, or "charter," that governs a specialized charter school for rules, regulations, policies and procedures of the State Board of Education and the local school district and, except as otherwise provided under Section 5 of this act, the provisions of Title 37 of the Mississippi Code of 1972 which are applicable to schools and school districts and their employees and students.

SECTION 2. For purposes of this act, the following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) "Charter" means an academic or vocational, or both, contract between the State Board of Education, the school board of a local school district and a local school which exempts the school from rules, regulations, policies and procedures of the State Board of Education and the local school district and, except as otherwise provided, the provisions of Title 37 of the Mississippi Code of 1972 which are applicable to schools and school districts and their employees and students.

(b) "Specialized charter school" means a public school in Mississippi which is granted a charter by the State Board of Education to operate exclusively as a school for the education of exceptional children residing in the school district in which the school is located.

(c) "Petition" means a proposal to enter into an academic or vocational, or both, contract between the State Board of Education, the school board of a school district and a local school whereby the local school obtains charter school status.

(d) "Exceptional child" means an exceptional child as defined under Section 37-23-3.

SECTION 3. The school board of each school district shall submit a petition to the State Board of Education requesting charter school status for a local school that will be a specialized school at which specialized tracts are developed for exceptional children in the school district. The petition must:

(a) Be approved by the school board of the school district in which the school is located;

(b) Describe a plan for the specialized charter school which addresses how the school proposes to work toward improving student learning and meeting individualized goals for the school district's exceptional children;

(c) Outline proposed academic or vocational, or both, performance criteria that will be used during the initial period of the charter to measure progress of the charter school in improving student learning and in meeting individualized goals for the school district's exceptional children;

(d) Describe how the faculty, instructional staff and parents of exceptional children to be enrolled in the school have been involved in developing the petition and will be involved in developing and implementing the improvement plan and identifying academic or vocational, or both, performance criteria; and (e) Describe how the concerns of faculty, instructional staff and parents of students enrolled in the school will be solicited and addressed in evaluating the effectiveness of the improvement plan.

SECTION 4. (1) The State Board of Education shall establish rules and regulations for the submission of petitions for charter school status and criteria and procedures for the operation of specialized charter schools. The board shall receive applications from local school districts and grant charter status for one (1) specialized school in each district. In order to be approved, a petition for charter school status, in the opinion of the State Board of Education, must include:

(a) A plan for improving learning opportunities and meeting individualized goals for exceptional children;

(b) A set of academic or vocational, or both, objectives and student achievement objectives for the term of the charter and the means for measuring those objectives on no less than an annual basis;

(c) An agreement to provide a yearly report to parents, the school board of the school district in which the charter school is located, and the State Board of Education which indicates the progress made by the specialized charter school in the previous year in meeting the academic or vocational, or both, objectives;

(d) A proposal to directly and substantially involve the parents of students enrolled in the school as well as the faculty and instructional staff in the process of modifying the petition, if necessary for approval, and carrying out the terms of the charter;

(e) A plan for the provision of transition services, as defined under Section 37-23-133, to reintegrate students into a school in the local school district, another charter school, an appropriate program of vocational education or post-secondary education; and

(f) Clearly defined criteria by which students will be selected for admission to the specialized charter school and by which students in the school will be discharged.

(2) If, in the opinion of the State Board of Education, the original petition for charter status for a specialized charter school is deficient in one or more respects, the board shall allow a school district to resubmit its petition. The State Department of Education shall provide technical assistance to local school boards in the creation or modification of the petitions.

SECTION 5. The terms of each charter must include the following:

(a) A mechanism for declaring the charter null and void if a majority of the faculty, instructional staff of the specialized charter school, and parents of exceptional children enrolled in the school who are present at a meeting called for the specific purpose of deciding whether or not to declare the charter null and void request the State Board of Education to withdraw the charter;

(b) A mechanism for declaring the charter null and void if, at any time, in the opinion of the State Board of Education, the specialized charter school fails to fulfill the terms of the charter;

(c) Clear academic or vocational, or both, performance and student achievement objectives and the means to measure those objectives on no less than an annual basis;

(d) A mechanism for updating the terms of each charter, agreed to by all parties and subject to the approval of a majority of the faculty, instructional staff and parents of exceptional children enrolled in the specialized charter school who are present at a meeting called for the specific purpose of updating the terms of the charter, based upon the yearly progress reports submitted to the State Board of Education by the charter school;

(e) A provision that the specialized charter school shall not have any authority to request an ad valorem tax levy independent of such authority exercised by the school district in which the charter school is located;

(f) A provision that no child shall be denied admission to the specialized charter school on the basis of race, color, creed or national origin;

(g) A provision to exempt the specialized charter school from the rules, regulations, policies and procedures of the State Board of Education and the local school board and from the provisions of Title 37 of the Mississippi Code of 1972 which are not included in this section, unless the code sections are specifically made applicable to the specialized charter school by the State Board of Education in the charter;

(h) A provision specifying that the specialized charter school is not exempt from the following statutes:

(i) Section 37-9-75, which relates to teacher strikes;

(ii) Section 37-11-20, which prohibits acts of intimidation intended to keep a student from attending school;

(iii) Section 37-11-21, which prohibits abuse of school staff;

(iv) Section 37-11-23, which prohibits the willful disruption of school and school meetings;

(v) Sections 37-11-29 and 37-11-31, which relate to reporting requirements regarding unlawful or violent acts on school property;

(vi) Section 37-151-107, which prohibits false reporting of student counts by school officials;

(vii) Applicable State Department of Health regulations;

(viii) Applicable federal requirements under No Child Left Behind, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other federal special education programs; and

(i) A provision to exempt the specialized charter school from process standards.

SECTION 6. A petition to obtain charter status for a specialized charter school must be forwarded by the local school board to the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education, in its discretion, may request a hearing to receive further information from the local school board and the faculty of the specialized charter school.

SECTION 7. Initial charters issued by the State Board of Education shall be for a term of four (4) years. Thereafter, the State Board of Education may renew charters on a one-year or multiyear basis, not to exceed four (4) years, for specialized charter schools, if the renewal is approved by a vote of a majority of the faculty, instructional staff and parents of exceptional children enrolled in the school who are present at a meeting called for the specific purpose of deciding whether or not to renew the charter.

SECTION 8. (1) A specialized charter school may be funded by: federal grants; grants, gifts, devises or donations from private sources; state funds appropriated for the support of the specialized charter school; and any other funds that may be received by the school district for the education of exceptional children. Specialized charter schools are encouraged to apply for federal funds appropriated specifically for the support of charter schools under the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law No. 104-208 [H.R. 3610] (1996)).

(2) The State Board of Education may give specialized charter schools preference when allocating grant funds other than state funds for alternative school programs, classroom technology, school improvement programs, mentoring programs or other grant programs designed to improve local school performance.

SECTION 9. Employees of a specialized charter school must be considered employees of the school district in which the charter school is located. Charter school employees are entitled to the same rights, privileges and benefits to which all other employees of the school district are entitled.

SECTION 10. Before January 1 of each year, the State Board of Education shall submit a report to the Legislature on the status of the specialized charter schools. This report minimally must include: (a) a review and compilation of comprehensive reports and evaluations issued by local school boards concerning successes or failures of specialized charter schools and formulated recommendations; (b) a comparison of the academic performance of specialized charter school students with the performance of ethnically and economically comparable groups of students in other public schools who are enrolled in academically comparable courses; (c) the current and projected impact of specialized charter schools on the delivery of services to exceptional children; (d) an assessment of the students' academic progress in the charter school as measured, where available, against the academic year immediately preceding the first year of the specialized charter school's operation; and (e) the best operational practices resulting from specialized charter schools.

SECTION 11. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.