Charter schools: chartering authorities and approvals.

(1) Existing law, the Charter Schools Act of 1992, provides for the establishment and operation of charter schools. Existing law generally requires a petition to establish a charter school to be submitted to the governing board of a school district, and, under specified circumstances, authorizes a petition to be submitted to and approved by a county board of education or the State Board of Education. Existing law provides that a county board of education may approve a petition for the operation of a charter school that operates at one or more sites within the geographic boundaries of the county and that provides instructional services that are not generally provided by a county office of education. Existing law also provides that a petition for the operation of a charter school may be submitted directly to the state board and that the state board has authority to approve a charter for the operation of a state charter school that may operate at multiple sites throughout the state. This bill would repeal those provisions authorizing a county board of education or the state board to approve a petition to establish a charter school and would specify that, on and after January 1, 2018, a petition to establish a charter school may not be approved by a county board of education or the state board and may be submitted only to the school district the boundaries within which the charter school would be located. The bill would provide that charter schools operating under a charter approved by a county board of education or the state board may continue to operate under those charters only until the date on which the charter is required to be renewed. (2) Under existing law, a charter school that is unable to locate within the jurisdiction of the chartering school district may, under specified circumstances, establish a site outside of the boundaries of the school district but within the county in which the school district is located. This bill would delete that provision. (3) Existing law provides that if a petition to establish a charter school is denied by the governing board of a school district, the petitioner may submit the petition to the county board of education, which may grant or deny the petition. This bill would repeal those provisions and would instead provide that a petitioner may appeal the denial of a petition to the county board of education, which may consider the appeal only if the appeal alleges that the governing board of the school district committed a procedural violation in reviewing the petition. The bill would provide that if a county board of education finds, by substantial evidence, that the governing board of the school district committed a procedural violation in reviewing the petition, the county board of education shall remand the petition to the school district for reconsideration. (4) Existing law provides that a charter school may appeal a school district's decision to revoke the charter school's charter to the county board of education and, if the county board of education upholds the decision, to appeal the county board of education's decision to the state board. This bill would delete those provisions and would instead authorize a charter school, upon revocation of its charter by a school district, to appeal the decision to the county board of education to consider only whether the school district committed a procedural violation in making its decision and, if the county board of education finds a procedural violation was committed, to remand the charter school back to the school district to reconsider its decision to revoke the charter. (5) This bill would also make other related changes and conforming and nonsubstantive changes. (6) To the extent the bill would impose additional requirements on local educational agencies and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.