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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR HEC

DATE TYPED 3/18/05

HB 1101/HECS/HFl#1

SHORT TITLE Public Peace, Health, Safety and Welfare

SB

ANALYST Chabot

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Related to HB 510, HB 668, HB 910 and HB 923

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Floor amendment #1 to House Education Committee substitute for House Bill 1101 de-

letes individual class load and teaching load from the provisions which a charter school is auto-

matically exempt.

Synopsis of Original Bill

The House Education Committee substitute for House Bill 1101 enacts a new section of the Pub-

lic School Code entitled the “Charter School District Act of 2005.”

Section 2: Definition: defines a charter school district as an existing school district that operates

under a charter approved by PED that is nonreligious, does not charge tuition and does not have

additional admission requirements.

Section 3: Charter School District Application Requirements—Process: requires the local

school board to hold at least two public hearings on an application for to become a charter school

district including notifications to principals of schools in the district for notification to families

House Bill 1101/HECS/HFl#1 -- Page 2

that are enrolled in schools. The local school board shall vote to approve the final application

before it is submitted to PED. In addition, at least 65 percent of the employees must sign a peti-

tion in support of being a charter school district. PED rules will define the process and require-

ment for processing the application and as a minimum a public hearing will be held. Not more

than nine charter school districts will be approved—three small, three medium, and three large.

PED shall disapprove an application if it determines it is not in the “best interest of the students,

the school district or the community.”

Section 4: Charter Contract: the contract period shall be for five years and may be revised at

any time by PED or the school district. The charter shall include seven provisions spelled out on

pages 4 and 5 of the bill. A key provision is the charter school district shall be accountable for

ensuring compliance with its charter and applicable state and federal laws.

Section 5: Charter School District Responsibilities—Exemptions for Public School Code: ex-

empts charter school districts from individual class load, teaching load, length of school day,

staffing patterns, subject areas and instructional materials. The department may waive other re-

quirements.

Section 6: Renewal of Charter: the charter is for five years and the local school board shall hold

a public hearing to adopt a resolution to submit an application for renewal. The application shall

address a minimum of six areas as outlined on page 7 of the bill.

Section 7: Evaluation—Grounds for Nonrenewal, Probation or Revocation of Charter: the ap-

plication will revoked or the school district placed upon probationary status if the district is not

in compliance with the charter or state and/or federal laws.

Section 8: Report to the Legislative Education Study Committee and the Governor: requires an

annual report in December on the progress of each charter school district in achieving the goals

of the charter.

Section 9: Repeal: repeals Sections 22-8C-1 through 22-8C-7 and 22-8D-1 through 22-8D-7

NMSA 1978.

Significant Issues

According to PED there are no charter school districts. Rio Rancho Public School’s charter

school status expired on June 30, 2004 and Jemez Valley Public Schools voluntarily ended its

charter district status after three years of operation.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

PED states the bill appears to have no impact on a charter school district’s state equalization

guarantee allocation. However, the bill would require PED increase programmatic duties and

oversight responsibilities.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The bill requires PED to promulgate rules for the application process, renewal process and de-

termination of size definitions.

House Bill 1101/HECS/HFl#1 -- Page 3

ALTERNATIVES

PED suggests the issue be considered for a memorial so the issue can be thoroughly studied by

LESC during the interim.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL.

According to PED, the Charter School District Act sunsets in June 2005 and charter school dis-

tricts will not be an option for local school districts.

GAC/yr