Section 2. The sponsor of a public charter school may contract with a public body, private person, or private organization for the purpose of establishing a charter school pursuant to this Act.

     Section 3. The sponsor of a charter school may be either a school district governing board or the State Board of Education, subject to the following requirements:

that if the school district is determined to be out of compliance for a second consecutive year, the charter school will be required to transfer sponsorship to another entity pursuant to subsection (c);

records to ensure that the provisions of the uniform system of financial records that relate to charter schools are in accordance with commonly accepted accounting principles used by private business. A school's charter may include exceptions to the requirements of this subdivision that are necessary as determined by the school district governing board or the State Board of Education. The Department of Education or the auditor general may conduct financial, program, or compliance audits;

     Section 6. The charter of a charter school may be amended at the request of the governing body of the charter school and on the approval of the sponsor.

     Section 7. Any charter school may contract, sue, and be sued.

     Section 8. An approved plan to establish a charter school is effective for ten years from the first day of operation. At the conclusion of the first nine years of operation, the charter school may apply for renewal. In addition to any other requirements, the application for renewal shall include a detailed business plan for the charter school. The sponsor may deny the request for renewal if, in its judgment, the charter school has failed to complete the obligations of the contract or has failed to comply with this Act. A sponsor shall give written notice of its intent not to renew the charter school's request for renewal to the charter school at least nine months before the expiration of the approved plan to allow the charter school an opportunity to apply to another sponsor to transfer the

operation of the charter school. If the operation of the charter school is transferred to another sponsor, the ten-year period of the current charter shall be maintained. A sponsor shall review a charter at three-year intervals and may revoke a charter at any time if the charter school breaches one or more provisions of its charter. At least ninety days before the effective date of the proposed revocation, the sponsor shall give written notice to the operator of the charter school of its intent to revoke the charter. Notice of the sponsor's intent to revoke the charter shall be delivered personally to the operator of the charter school or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address of the charter school. The notice shall incorporate a statement of reasons for the proposed revocation of the charter. The sponsor shall allow the charter school at least ninety days to correct the problems associated with the reasons for the proposed revocation of the charter. The final determination of whether to revoke the charter shall be made at a public hearing called for such purpose.

     Section 9. After renewal of the charter at the end of the ten-year period described in section 8 of this Act, the charter may be renewed for a successive period of ten years if the charter school and its sponsor deem that the school is in compliance with its own charter and this Act.

     Section 10. No charter school that is sponsored by the State Board of Education may be located on the property of a school district unless the district governing board grants this authority.

     Section 11. No governing board or school district employee who has control over personnel actions may take unlawful reprisal against another employee of the school district because the employee is directly or indirectly involved in an application to establish a charter school. No governing board or school district employee may take unlawful reprisal against an educational program of the school or the school district because an application to establish a charter school proposes the conversion of all or a portion of the educational program to a charter school. As used in this section, the term, unlawful reprisal, means an action that is taken by a governing board or a school district employee as a direct result of a lawful application to establish a charter school and that is adverse to another employee or an education program and:

lack of monies or work; or

     Section 13. No charter school may acquire property by eminent domain.

     Section 14. No sponsor, including members, officers, and employees of the sponsor, is personally liable for any act done or action taken in good faith within the scope of its authority.

     Section 15. No charter school sponsor or this state is liable for the debts or financial obligations of a charter school or person who operates a charter school.

     Section 16. The sponsoring entity of a charter school has oversight and administrative responsibility for the charter schools that is sponsors.

     Section 17. Charter schools may pledge, assign, or encumber their assets to be used as collateral for loans or extensions of credit.

     Section 18. A transfer or a charter to another sponsor, a transfer of a charter school site to another sponsor, or a transfer of a charter school site to a different charter shall be completed before the beginning of the fiscal year that the transfer is scheduled to become effective. An entity that sponsors charter schools may accept a transferring school after the beginning of the fiscal year if the transfer is approved by the secretary of education. The secretary of education has the discretion to consider

each transfer during the fiscal year on a case by case basis. If a charter school is sponsored by a school district that is determined to be out of compliance with state statute, the uniform system of financial records, or any other state or federal law, the charter school may transfer to another sponsoring entity at any time during the fiscal year.

     Section 19. No sponsoring entity may charge any fees to a charter school that it sponsors unless the sponsor has provided services to the charter school and the fees represent the full value of those services provided by the sponsor. On request, the value of the services provided by the sponsor to the charter school shall be demonstrated to the Department of Education.

     Section 20. A charter school shall enroll all eligible pupils who submit a timely application, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building. A charter school shall give enrollment preference to pupils returning to the charter school in the second or any subsequent year of its operation and to siblings of pupils already enrolled in the charter school. A charter school that is sponsored by a school district governing board shall give enrollment preference to eligible pupils who reside within the boundaries of the school district where the charter school is physically located. If capacity is insufficient to enroll all pupils who submit a timely application, the charter school shall select pupils through an equitable selection process.

     Section 21. A charter school may limit admission to pupils within a given age group or grade level. However, no charter school may limit admission based on academic potential or achievement, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, income level, disabling condition, proficiency in the English language, athletic ability, or special cost considerations with regard to the education of special needs students.

     Section 22. A charter school may refuse to admit any pupil who has been expelled from another educational institution or who is in the process of being expelled from another educational institution.

     Section 23. A teacher who is employed by, or teaching at, a charter school and who was previously employed as a teacher at a school district does not lose any right of certification, retirement status, salary status, or any other benefit provided by law, by the rules of the governing board of the school district, or by the rules of the board of directors of the charter school due to teaching at a charter school on the teacher's return to the school district if the teacher requested and was granted a leave of absence prior to employment by the charter school.

     Section 24. A teacher who is employed by, or teaching at, a charter school and who submits an employment application to the school district where the teacher was employed immediately before employment by or at a charter school shall be given employment preference by the school district if all of the following conditions are met:

years after ceasing employment with the school district; and

     Section 26. If a pupil who was previously enrolled in a charter school enrolls in a public school in this state, the public school shall accept credits earned by the pupil in courses or instructional programs at the charter school in a uniform and consistent manner and according to the same criteria that are used to accept academic credits from other public schools.

     Section 27. Although it is the intent of this Act that any charter school organized pursuant to this Act be eligible to apply for and receive federal grant funding, nothing in this Act may be construed to imply the charter school is ineligible for federal, state, or local funding to the same degree and pursuant to the same circumstances as any other public school.

     Section 28. Any enrolled student as defined in §  13-13-10.4 who attends a public charter school created pursuant to this Act shall, for the purposes of distributing state aid to education, be counted in the fall enrollment of the school district in which the public charter school is located.

     Section 29. Any charter school organized pursuant to this Act is subject to all public sector labor relations statutes not otherwise inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. All charter school employees have the same collective bargaining rights as other public school employees.

     Section 30. Any charter school organized pursuant to this Act is subject to the same audit provisions that apply to any other public school.

     Section 31. Any charter school organized pursuant to this Act is subject to the same reporting requirements that apply to any other public school.

     Section 32. The chartering provisions of this Act do not apply to any school that is:

Gavel passed to Senator Dave Knudson, Vice-Chair.

Nancy Bloom