Charter schools: school closures: remaining assets: Charter School Facility Grant Program.

The Charter Schools Act of 1992 authorizes the establishment and operation of charter schools. Existing law prescribes procedures for the closure of a charter school, as provided. Existing law authorizes the denial of charter petitions that do not include specified information on the procedures to be used if the charter school closes, including procedures to ensure a final audit of the charter school to determine the disposition of all assets and liabilities of the charter school, including plans for disposing of any net assets and for the maintenance and transfer of pupil records. Existing law establishes the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) , which is maintained by the State Department of Education and consists of pupil data regarding demographics, program participation, enrollment, and statewide assessments. This bill would require, upon a charter school notifying its chartering authority of the closing of the charter school, the school district in which the charter school was geographically located to become the designated entity for the disposal of any remaining net assets, as defined, if there exists no designated entity for the disposal of any remaining net assets of the charter school, as provided. The bill would authorize school districts, on or after January 1, 2023, and chartering authorities that held net assets of a closed charter school before January 1, 2023, to spend or dispose of remaining net assets of a closed charter school in its discretion. The bill would apply these net asset disposal rules to the net assets of charter schools maintained by limited liability corporations managed by the governing body of the charter school. The bill would also require charter schools to update all pupil information in CALPADS and report the number of displaced pupils to the department before closing. To the extent that this bill imposes new duties on charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the California School Finance Authority to administer the Charter School Facility Grant Program, and provides that the grant program is intended to provide assistance with facilities rent and lease costs for pupils in charter schools. This bill would additionally require the California School Finance Authority to notify the applicable chartering authority and the school district in which the charter school was geographically located of a charter school's application for grant funding. The bill would, as applied to charter school facilities owned by related parties that are no longer occupied by the charter school, require owners of facilities that sell or lease the facility for any purpose other than of public, nonsectarian education within 10 years after receiving grant program funds to reimburse the Charter School Facility Grant Program Fund for all grant program funds received in the preceding 10 years except for grant program funds received before January 1, 2023, as provided. The bill would require the Charter School Finance Authority to deposit reimbursed grant program funds into funding round funds, as provided. The bill would authorize the California School Finance Authority to charge an application fee for grant applications submitted by a charter school to be used for charter school facilities owned by related parties, as provided. 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.