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AN ACT

RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS; AMENDING SECTION

22-8B-6 NMSA 1978 (BEING LAWS 1999, CHAPTER 281, SECTION 6, AS

AMENDED) TO CLARIFY ENROLLMENT LIMITS; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 22-8B-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1999,

Chapter 281, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-8B-6. CHARTER SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS--APPLICATION

PROCESS--AUTHORIZATION--BOARD OF FINANCE DESIGNATION

REQUIRED.--

A. A local school board has the authority to

approve the establishment of a charter school within the

school district in which it is located.

B. At least one hundred eighty days prior to

initial application, the organizers of a proposed charter

school shall provide written notification to the commission

and the school district in which the charter school is

proposed to be located of intent to establish a charter

school. Failure to notify may result in an application not

being accepted.

C. A charter school applicant shall apply to

either a local school board or the commission for a charter.

If an application is submitted to a chartering authority, it

must process the application. Applications for initial

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charters shall be submitted by July 1 to be eligible for

consideration for the following fiscal year; provided that the

July 1 deadline may be waived upon agreement of the applicant

and the chartering authority.

D. An application shall include the total number

of grades the charter school proposes to provide, either

immediately or phased. A charter school may decrease the

number of grades it eventually offers, but it shall not

increase the number of grades or the total number of students

proposed to be served in each grade.

E. An application shall include a detailed

description of the charter school's projected capital outlay

needs, including projected requests for capital outlay

assistance.

F. An application for a start-up school may be

made by one or more teachers, parents or community members or

by a public post-secondary educational institution or

nonprofit organization. Municipalities, counties, private

post-secondary educational institutions and for-profit

business entities are not eligible to apply for or receive a

charter.

G. An initial application for a charter school

shall not be made after June 30, 2007 if the proposed charter

school's proposed enrollment for all grades or the proposed

charter school's proposed enrollment for all grades in

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combination with any other charter school's enrollment for all

grades would equal or exceed ten percent of the total MEM of

the school district in which the charter school will be

geographically located and that school district has a total

enrollment of not more than one thousand three hundred

students.

H. A state-chartered charter school shall not be

approved for operation unless its governing body has qualified

to be a board of finance.

I. The chartering authority shall receive and

review all applications for charter schools submitted to it.

The chartering authority shall not charge application fees.

J. The chartering authority shall hold at least

one public meeting in the school district in which the charter

school is proposed to be located to obtain information and

community input to assist it in its decision whether to grant

a charter school application. Community input may include

written or oral comments in favor of or in opposition to the

application from the applicant, the local community and, for

state-chartered charter schools, the local school board and

school district in whose geographical boundaries the charter

school is proposed to be located. The chartering authority

shall rule on the application for a charter school in a public

meeting within sixty days after receiving the application. If

not ruled upon within sixty days, the charter application

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shall be automatically reviewed by the secretary in accordance

with the provisions of Section 22-8B-7 NMSA 1978. The charter

school applicant and the chartering authority may, however,

jointly waive the deadlines set forth in this section.

K. A chartering authority may approve, approve

with conditions or deny an application. A chartering

authority may deny an application if:

(1) the application is incomplete or

inadequate;

(2) the application does not propose to

offer an educational program consistent with the requirements

and purposes of the Charter Schools Act;

(3) the proposed head administrator or other

administrative or fiscal staff was involved with another

charter school whose charter was denied or revoked for fiscal

mismanagement or the proposed head administrator or other

administrative or fiscal staff was discharged from a public

school for fiscal mismanagement;

(4) for a proposed state-chartered charter

school, it does not request to have the governing body of the

charter school designated as a board of finance or the

governing body does not qualify as a board of finance; or

(5) the application is otherwise contrary to

the best interests of the charter school's projected students,

the local community or the school district in whose geographic

boundaries the charter school applies to operate.

L. If the chartering authority denies a charter

school application or approves the application with

conditions, it shall state its reasons for the denial or

conditions in writing within fourteen days of the meeting. If

the chartering authority grants a charter, the approved

charter shall be provided to the applicant together with any

imposed conditions.

M. A charter school that has received a notice

from the chartering authority denying approval of the charter

shall have a right to a hearing by the secretary as provided

in Section 22-8B-7 NMSA 1978."

Section 2. TEMPORARY PROVISION--TRANSITION.--

Notwithstanding the effective date of the Charter Schools Act

of July 1, 2007, no school district shall approve an

application for a new charter school in a district with a

total student membership of one thousand three hundred

students or less until the effective date of the Charter

Schools Act.

Section 3. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public

peace, health and safety that this act take effect

immediately.

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