005.28.19 Ark. Code R. § 036 Dese Rules Governing Public Charter Schools

• Library: Arkansas Administrative Code
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, December, 2023
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 005.28.19 Ark. Code R. § 036

1.00 REGULATORY AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE

1.01 The State Board of Education enacted these rules pursuant to its authority as set forth in Ark Code Ann. §§ 6-11-105, 6-23-101 et seq., 25-15-201 et seq.

2.00 LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY INTENT

2.01 It is the intent of the Arkansas General Assembly, and of these rules, to provide opportunities for teachers, parents pupils, and community members to establish and maintain public schools that operate independently from the existing structure of local school districts as a method to accomplish the following: 2.01.1 Improve student learning; 2.01.2 Increase learning opportunities for all students, with special emphasis on expanding learning experiences for students who are identified as low-achieving; 2.01.3 Encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods; 2.01.4 Create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site; 2.01.5 Provide parents and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system; and 2.01.6 Hold the schools established under this chapter accountable for meeting measurable student achievement standards.

3.00 DEFINITIONS

3.01 "Academic Eligibility" means qualified for selection or admission based upon academic performance.

3.02 "Adult education charter school" means a charter school for individuals at least nineteen (19) years of age that offers a high school diploma program and an industry certification program simultaneously to students.

3.03 "Affected School District" means each public school district from which an open-enrollment public charter school or adult education public charter school is expected to draw students for the purposes of enrollment; the public school district in which the open-enrollment public charter school or adult education public charter school will be located; and each public school district that is contiguous to the public school district in which the open-enrollment or adult education public charter school will be located.

3.04 "Athletic Eligibility" means qualified for selection or admission based upon athletic performance or upon athletic eligibility requirements set forth by the Arkansas Activities Association.

3.05 "Application" means the proposal by a public-school district or eligible entity for obtaining conversion public charter school status or open-enrollment public charter school status.

3.06 "Authorizer" means an entity that authorizes a charter, which may be either the 3.06.1 Division of Elementary and Secondary Education; or 3.06.2 State Board of Education acting under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-23-703 and Section 10.0 of these rules.

3.07 "Average daily membership" means the total number of days of school attended plus the total number of days absent by students in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) during the first three (3) quarters of each school year divided by the number of school days actually taught in the school district during that period of time rounded up to the nearest hundredth. Open-enrollment public charter school students who are enrolled in a curriculum that fulfills the requirements established by the State Board of Education under the Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools and School Districts may be counted for average daily membership.

3.08 "Charter," or "charter contract" means a performance-based contract for an initial five-year period between the authorizer and an approved applicant for public charter school status that exempts the public charter school from state and local rules, regulations, policies, and procedures specified in the contract and from the provisions of Title 6 of the Arkansas Code specified in the contract. The initial charter or charter contract may be renewed as set forth in these rules. For the purposes of these rules, the initial five-year period of a charter begins to run on the July 1 following approval of the charter unless otherwise specified by the authorizer. The period for any subsequent renewal of an initial charter shall begin to run on the July 1 following approval of the renewal.

3.09 "Charter school office" means the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education's Charter School Office.

3.10 "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.

3.11 "Conversion public charter school" means a public school that has converted to operating under the terms of a charter approved by the local school board and the authorizer.

3.12 "Debt" means any financial obligation incurred by a public charter school which will not be paid in full within 365 days from the date on which the financial obligation is incurred.

3.13 "Division" means the Arkansas Department of Education's Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, unless otherwise specified.

3.14 "Eligible entity" means 3.14.1 A public institution of higher education; 3.14.2 A private nonsectarian institution of higher education; 3.14.3 A governmental entity; or 3.14.4 An organization that 3.14.4.1 Is nonsectarian in its program, admissions policies, employment practices, and operations, and 3.14.4.2 Has applied for tax-exempt status under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The eligible entity must obtain status as a tax-exempt organization under § 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 prior to the first day of its operation with students.

3.15 "Founding member" means any individual who is either: 3.15.1 A member or an employee of the eligible entity applying for the initial charter for an open-enrollment public charter school; or 3.15.2 A member of the initial governing non-advisory board of the open-enrollment public charter school.

3.16 "Letter of Intent" means a written notice submitted to the Charter School Office that a public school district or an eligible entity intends to file a charter school application. The letter of intent shall be submitted by the established deadline on forms provided by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.

3.17 "License" means the authority granted by the authorizer to an already-existing open-enrollment or adult education public charter sponsoring entity for the purpose of establishing another open-enrollment or adult education public charter school(s) provided the applicant for a charter license(s) meets the following minimum conditions: (1) maintains an existing open-enrollment or adult education public charter school charter from the authorizer; and (2) meets the requirements of Section 6.05 or Section 11.03 of these rules.

3.18 "Local school board" means a board of directors exercising the control and management of a public school district. For the purposes of these rules, "local school board" also refers to the board of directors of a school district where a public charter school will be physically located.

3.19 "Net assets" refers to the status of particular items upon the occurrence of the dissolution, nonrenewal, or revocation of the charter, with the purpose being to identify publicly-funded unencumbered assets as property of the state at that point. Specifically, "net assets" refer to any unencumbered asset for which public funds were spent.

3.20 "Open-enrollment public charter school" means a public school that: 3.20.1 Is operating under the terms of a charter granted by the authorizer on the application of an eligible entity; 3.20.2 May draw its students from any public school district in this state; and 3.20.3 Is a local educational agency under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. § 20Definitions7801, as it existed on April 10, 2009. 3.20.4 "Open-enrollment public charter school" also possesses the same meaning as given the term "charter school" in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. § 20Definitions7221i, as it existed on April 10, 2009.

3.20 "Parent" means any parent, legal guardian, or other person having custody or charge of a school-age child.

3.21 "Public school" means a school that is part of a public school district under the control and management of a local school board.

3.22 "Public charter school" means a conversion public charter school or an open-enrollment public charter school.

3.23 "Sectarian" means of or relating to a particular religious sect. Source: Black's Law Dictionary, 8th Ed., 2004.

3.24 "Short-term Line of Credit" means any financial obligation or obligations incurred by a public charter school as the result of an agreement by a lender or potential creditor to advance funds of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) or more in the form of: 3.24.1 A loan (or combination of loans) that is payable in full in less than three hundred sixty-five (365) days from the date on which the financial obligation is incurred; or 3.24.2 A loan (or combination of loans) that does not define a date certain at which the loan is payable in full.

4.00 RULES APPLICABLE TO ALL PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS

4.01 Charter Form for Public Charter Schools - Requirements - Revision 4.01.1 A charter for a public charter school shall:4.01.1.1 Be in the form of a written contract signed by the Commissioner and the chief operating officer of the public charter school; 4.01.1.2 Satisfy the requirements of Title 6 Chapter 23 of the Arkansas Code and of these rules; and 4.01.1.3 Ensure that the...