New Jersey-2012-A1877-Introduced

An Act concerning the establishment and expansion of charter schools and amending P.L.1995, c.426.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 4 of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-4) is amended to read as follows:

4. a. A charter school may be established by teaching staff members, parents with children attending the schools of the district, or a combination of teaching staff members and parents. A charter school may also be established by an institution of higher education or a private entity located within the State in conjunction with teaching staff members and parents of children attending the schools of the district. If the charter school is established by a private entity, representatives of the private entity shall not constitute a majority of the trustees of the school, and the charter shall specify the extent to which the private entity shall be involved in the operation of the school. The name of the charter school shall not include the name or identification of the private entity, and the private entity shall not realize a net profit from its operation of a charter school. A private or parochial school shall not be eligible for charter school status.

b. A currently existing public school is eligible to become a charter school if the following criteria are met:

(1) At least 51% of the teaching staff in the school shall have signed a petition in support of the school becoming a charter school; and

(2) At least 51% of the parents or guardians of pupils attending that public school shall have signed a petition in support of the school becoming a charter school.

c. (1) An application to establish a charter school shall be submitted to the commissioner and the local board of education or State district superintendent, in the case of a [State-operated school district] school district under full State intervention, in the school year preceding the school year in which the charter school will be established. Notice of the filing of the application shall be sent immediately by the commissioner to the members of the State Legislature, school superintendents, and mayors and governing bodies of all legislative districts, school districts, or municipalities in which there are students who will be eligible for enrollment in the charter school. The board of education or State district superintendent shall review the application and forward a recommendation to the commissioner within 60 days of receipt of
the application. [The] Except as otherwise provided pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection, the commissioner shall have final authority to grant or reject a charter application.

(2) The commissioner shall not approve an application for the establishment of a charter school unless the designation of a school district as the charter school district of residence or inclusion of the district in the charter school region of residence has been approved by the voters of the district at the annual school election in the case of a charter school to be established in a Type II district, or the board of school estimate in the case of a charter school to be established in a Type I district or a Type II district with a board of school estimate. In the event that a subset of school districts included in the region of residence of a proposed charter school does not approve of the inclusion, the charter school applicant may submit a revised application to the commissioner that does not include the school districts in which the inclusion was not approved.

d. The local board of education or a charter school applicant may appeal the decision of the commissioner to the [State Board of Education. The State board shall render a decision within 30 days of the date of the receipt of the appeal. If the State board does not render a decision within 30 days, the decision of the commissioner shall be deemed final] Appellate Division of the Superior Court.

e. A charter school established during the 48 months following the effective date of this act, other than a currently existing public school which becomes a charter school pursuant to the provisions of subsection b. of section 4 of this act, shall not have an enrollment in excess of 500 students or greater than 25% of the student body of the school district in which the charter school is established, whichever is less.

Any two charter schools within the same public school district that are not operating the same grade levels may petition the commissioner to amend their charters and consolidate into one school. The commissioner may approve an amendment to consolidate, provided that the basis for consolidation is to accommodate the transfer of students who would otherwise be subject to the random selection process pursuant to section 8 of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-8).

A charter school may petition the commissioner to amend its charter to expand the number of grade levels that it operates. Notice of the filing of the petition to amend the charter shall be sent immediately by the commissioner to the board of education of the charter school district of residence or to the board of education of each district included in the charter school region of residence. The commissioner shall not approve a petition for the expansion of a charter school unless the expansion has been approved by the voters of the district at the annual school election in the case of a charter school in a Type II district, or the board of school estimate in the case of a charter school in a Type I district or a Type II school district with a board of school estimate. In the case of a charter school with a region of residence, the expansion shall be deemed approved if each district included in the charter school region of residence approves the expansion.

f. Upon receipt of a notice of the filing of a charter school application or a petition to expand the number of grade levels that the charter school operates, a local board of education of a Type II district shall submit to the voters at the next annual school election a question regarding the approval of its designation as the charter school district of residence, its inclusion in the charter school region of residence, or the expansion of the number of grade levels that the charter school operates, as applicable.

g. As used in this section, "region of residence" means the contiguous school districts in which a charter school operates pursuant to its charter or proposes to operate in the application submitted to the commissioner.

(cf: P.L.2002, c.123, s.1)

2. Section 8 of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-8) is amended to read as follows:

8. a. Preference for enrollment in a charter school shall be given to students who reside in the charter school district [in which the charter school is located] of residence. If there are more applications to enroll in the charter school than there are spaces available, the charter school shall select students to attend using a random selection process. A charter school shall not charge tuition to students who reside in the charter school district of residence.

b. A charter school shall allow any student who was enrolled in the school in the immediately preceding school year to enroll in the charter school in the appropriate grade unless the appropriate grade is not offered at the charter school.

c. A charter school may give enrollment priority to a sibling of a student enrolled in the charter school.

d. If available space permits, a charter school may enroll non-resident students. The terms and condition of the enrollment shall be outlined in the school's charter and approved by the commissioner.

e. The admission policy of the charter school shall, to the maximum extent practicable, seek the enrollment of a cross section of the community's school age population including racial and academic factors.

(cf: P.L.1995, c.426, s.8)

3. Section 13 of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-13) is amended to read as follows:

13. The students who reside in the charter school district [in which the charter school is located] of residence shall be provided transportation to the charter school on the same terms and conditions as transportation is provided to students attending the schools of the district. Non-resident students shall receive transportation services pursuant to regulations established by the State board.

(cf: P.L.1995, c.426, s.13)

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill provides that the Commissioner of Education may not approve an application for the establishment of a charter school unless the designation of a district as the charter school district of residence or inclusion in the region of residence has been approved by the voters of the district or the board of school estimate, as appropriate. The bill amends current law to permit a local board of education or charter school applicant to appeal the decision of the commissioner to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court. Current law requires the appeal to be filed with the State Board of Education.

The bill also provides that the commissioner may not approve the expansion of the number of grade levels offered by a charter school district unless the expansion has been approved by the voters of the school district or board of school estimate, as appropriate. The expansion shall be deemed approved only if it is approved by each district in the charter school region of residence.

A "region of residence" is defined as the contiguous school districts in which a charter school operates pursuant to its charter or proposes to operate in the application submitted to the commissioner.