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SPONSOR: |
Gonzales, R. |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
375/aHEC/aHJC/aSEC |
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Amend |
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FY04 |
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FY04 |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
State Department
of Education (SDE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of SEC Amendments
The
Senate Education Committee amendment removes the term arbitration from
the title of the Act.
Synopsis of HJC Amendment
The
House Judiciary Committee amended House Bill 375/a.The amendments strike all
underscored material on pages 5 and 6 which addressed the issues of law suits and costs associated with attorney
fees and on page 22, line 8 after “person” inserts “or entity”
Synopsis of HEC Amendment
The House
Education Committee amended the amendments are technical in nature and do not
change the original intent of the bill.
The
amendment strikes “Changing Priorities for Enrollment in Charter Schools”
on page 1, lines 11 and 12 and on page
5, line 22, removes the brackets and the line through “that approves a charter
school.”
Synopsis
of Original Bill
House Bill 375 amends and clarifies sections of
the 1999 Charter School Act.
Significant
Issues
House Bill 375 amends sections from 22-8B-2 through 22-8B-21. The bill reflects the recommendations of the Charter School Work Group, appointed by the Legislative Education Study Committee (LESC) during the 2002 interim.
The LESC notes that the Charter School Work Group, which included charter school operators and district superintendents, reached consensus on all of these amendments.
In addition, the bill includes amendments that changes the process of applying for an initial charter or the renewal of an existing charter; it changes the application deadline for a charter school planning; strengthens parental involvement in the application for a conversion charter school; requires a local school board receiving an application for a charter school to hold at least two public meetings; allows the initial charter to be approved for a term of six years; allows a local school board to identify a designee to act on its behalf in certain dealings with a charter school; adds planning to the permitted use of the Charter School Stimulus Fund; extends from 12 to 24 months the time period in which a charter school must reimburse the Charter School Stimulus Fund; and, requires the governing body of a charter school to submit an application for renewal by July 1, of the fiscal year in which the charter expires and requires the local board to act on the application by September1of the same fiscal year.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
According to SDE, enactment of this bill would not cause any additional administrative impact.
CONFLICT
May relate to SB288,
conflicts with SB224 and relates to SBE Regulation 6.80.4
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The SDE raises suggested corrections to Sections
22-8B-16D, 22-8B-17A through 22-8B-17C. The department also recommends
amendments primarily to the mediation and arbitration sections of the bill,
starting with Section 22-8B-16C.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
LESC identifies the
most substantive amendment in this bill as the addition of new sections governing
appeals and the resolution of disputes.
RS/yr/njw