FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 23
91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR SINGLETON.
Pre-filed December 1, 2000, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
0108S.01I
AN ACT
To repeal section 160.400, RSMo 2000, relating to charter schools, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the same subject.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 160.400, RSMo 2000, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 160.400, to read as follows:
160.400. 1. A charter school is an independent, publicly supported school.
2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 10 of this section, charter schools may be operated only in a metropolitan school district or in an urban school district containing most or all of a city with a population greater than three hundred fifty thousand inhabitants and may be sponsored by any of the following:
(1) The school board of the district;
(2) A public four-year college or university with its primary campus in the school district or in a county adjacent to the county in which the district is located, with an approved teacher education program that meets regional or national standards of accreditation; or
(3) A community college located in the district.
3. A maximum of five percent of the school buildings currently in use for instructional purposes in a district may be converted to charter schools. This limitation does not apply to vacant buildings or buildings not used for instructional purposes.
4. No sponsor shall receive from an applicant for a charter school any fee of any type for the consideration of a charter, nor may a sponsor condition its consideration of a charter on the promise of future payment of any kind.
5. The charter school shall be a Missouri nonprofit corporation incorporated pursuant to chapter 355, RSMo. The charter provided for herein shall constitute a contract between the sponsor and the charter school.
6. As a nonprofit corporation incorporated pursuant to chapter 355, RSMo, the charter school shall select the method for election of officers pursuant to section 355.326, RSMo, based on the class of corporation selected. Meetings of the governing board of the charter school shall be subject to the provisions of sections 610.010 to 610.030, RSMo, the open meetings law.
7. A sponsor of a charter school, its agents and employees are not liable for any acts or omissions of a charter school that it sponsors, including acts or omissions relating to the charter submitted by the charter school, the operation of the charter school and the performance of the charter school.
8. A charter school may affiliate with a four-year college or university, including a private college or university, or a community college as otherwise specified in subsection 2 of this section when its charter is granted by a sponsor other than such college, university or community college. Affiliation status recognizes a relationship between the charter school and the college or university for purposes of teacher training and staff development, curriculum and assessment development, use of physical facilities owned by or rented on behalf of the college or university, and other similar purposes. The primary campus of the college or university must be located within the county in which the school district lies wherein the charter school is located or in a county adjacent to the county in which the district is located. A university, college or community college may not charge or accept a fee for affiliation status.
9. No university, college or community college shall grant a charter to a nonprofit corporation if an employee of the university, college or community college is a member of the corporation's board of directors.
10. (1) Charter schools may be operated in any school district in which a majority of district voters voting thereon approve a proposal to allow charter schools pursuant to this subsection.
(2) The proposal to allow charter schools may be placed before the voters by a resolution or order approved by the district school board, or, if no such resolution is adopted, by a petition signed by registered voters of the district numbering no fewer than ten percent of the number of votes cast in the district in the most recent gubernatorial election.
(3) The proposal shall allow charter schools to be sponsored by the district school board and may authorize any of the following entities to sponsor charter schools:
(a) A public four-year college or university with its primary campus in any county in which all or a part of the school district is located or in a county adjacent to a county in which the district is located, with an approved teacher education program that meets regional or national standards of accreditation; or
(b) A community college located in any county in which all or a part of the school district is located.