ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

This act provides that charter schools shall meet current state academic performance standards as well as other standards agreed upon by the sponsor and the charter school in the performance contract.

If a sponsor notifies a charter school of closure, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall withhold funding to assure all obligations of the charter school are met. (Section 160.400)

This provision is substantially similar to a provision contained in SB 633 (2016).

CHARTER SPONSORSHIP

This act provides that the Missouri Charter Public School Commission shall be exempt from the charter school sponsor application and approval process.

This act also repeals a provision that prohibits new sponsors from commencing charter sponsorship without approval from the State Board of Education. (Section 160.403)

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

This act moves the deadline for charter approval by the State Board of Education from December 1 of the year prior to the proposed opening date to January 31.

The act also requires the charter sponsor to submit a statement of finding that the charter application meets all requirements, and requires the State Board of Education to approve or deny the application within sixty days of receipt. Any denial of a charter application shall be in writing and shall identify the specific failures of the application.

A sponsor may place a charter school on probationary status for no more than twenty-four months.

A charter school may have an expedited renewal process if it has an annual performance report consistent with a classification of accredited for three of the last four years and is fiscally viable.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall calculate an annual performance report for each charter school and shall publish it in the same manner as for public school districts.

The Joint Committee on Education shall create a committee to investigate facility access and affordability of charter schools. (Section 160.405)

HIGH-QUALITY CHARTER SCHOOLS

This act allows high-quality charter schools, as defined in the act, to have expedited opportunities to replicate and expand into unaccredited districts, the St. Louis City school district, and the Kansas City school district. (Section 160.408)

ADMISSION POLICIES

This act requires charter schools to enroll nonresident pupils who transfer from an unaccredited district.

This act also requires that a charter school's admission process shall not discriminate based on parents' ability to pay fees or tuition when enrollment capacity is insufficient to enroll all pupils who submit a timely application.

This act also repeals a provision that requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to commission a study every two years on the efficacy and impact of charter schools. (Section 160.410)

CHARTER SCHOOL FINANCES

This act requires that a charter school may not charge tuition or impose fees except that it may receive tuition payments from districts in the same or an adjoining county for nonresident students who transfer from an unaccredited district.

This act also requires charter schools to satisfy all of its financial obligations within twelve months of a notification of closure. Any remaining state and federal funds shall be returned to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (Section 160.415)

A charter school shall be considered as experiencing financial stress if it has incurred debt due to insufficient fund balances or reserves. (Section 160.417)

This act requires that a district in which the school board sponsors a charter school shall use only the current year's weighted average daily attendance for the purposes of determining state aid. (Section 163.036)

This provision is identical to a provision contained in CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015).

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

This act provides that pupils shall be counted in the definition of "average daily attendance" if they attend an early childhood education program that is under contract with a district or charter school.

This act also provides that charter schools shall receive funds for early childhood education at the same time as the district in which the school is located. (Section 163.018)

This provision is substantially similar to HB 1667 (2016) and to a provision contained in HCS/HB 1943 (2016), HB 764 (2016), SCS/SBs 586 & 651 (2016) and CCS/SCS/HCS/HB 42 (2015).

STUDENT TRANSFERS

This act requires that an unaccredited district shall pay the tuition and provide transportation for a student who attends an accredited school in another district in the same or an adjoining county or in an approved charter school, as defined in the act, in the same or an adjoining county.

The rate of tuition a charter school may charge is the per pupil cost of maintaining the school's grade level grouping, as described in the act. (Section 167.131)

This act requires an unaccredited district to provide transportation for students who transfer to a charter school. (Section 167.241)

This act is similar to HCS/HB 550 (2015) and to provisions contained in SB 633 (2016) and SB 764 (2016), and is substantially similar to provisions contained in CCS/SCS/SB 638 (2016).

JOSHUA NORBERG