Current through Rules and Regulations filed through March 20, 2024
(1)
State
Charter School Petitions. The state charter school petition is a
proposal to create a new charter school or to renew the charter of an existing
charter school. The petition serves to describe and summarize the charter
school's mission and proposed operations. The petition shall address all
applicable requirements of the Charter Schools Act of 1998, as amended (O.C.G.A
§§
20-2-2060 through
20-2-2071), requirements
applicable to state charter schools as provided by O.C.G.A §
20-2-2084, State Board of
Education Rules applicable to charter schools, and State Charter Schools
Commission of Georgia (SCSC) Rules. The petition shall also address the charter
school's capacity to adhere to the responsibilities of operating as a Local
Education Agency (LEA) and operating with the funding provided to state charter
schools rather than the funding provided to locally-approved charter
schools.
(2)
Effect of
Charter School Petitions and Charters. A charter school petition is not
a charter or contract and has no binding nature or legal enforceability. The
submission of a state charter petition does not guarantee that the SCSC will
approve the petition or authorize the charter school. If a charter school
petition is approved by the SCSC, the SCSC and charter petitioner will then
execute a charter. The provisions of the charter may depart from provisions in
the charter petition. The charter, rather than the petition, is the
performance-based contract by which the state charter school and SCSC shall be
bound.
(3)
Eligible
Petitioners for State Charter Schools. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. §
20-2-2084, a charter school
petitioning for authorization by the SCSC must either:
(a) Have a state-wide attendance zone;
or
(b) Have a defined
attendance zone and demonstrate that the charter school has special
characteristics, such as a special population, a special curriculum, or some
other feature or features which enhance educational opportunities.
(3)
State Charter School
Petition Application. The SCSC will create and disseminate through its
website a petition application for prospective charter schools to utilize in
submitting a charter petition for authorization by the SCSC. The petition
application shall detail the expected contents, information, assurances, and
forms expected by the SCSC when considering charter school petitions. Petition
applications that do not include all information requested or adhere to all
technical form requirements of the application may not be considered for
approval by the SCSC. The SCSC may impose a deadline by which petition
applications must be submitted for consideration by the SCSC. Petition
applications received after the deadline, if any, will not be considered by the
SCSC.
(4)
Concurrent
Submission.
(a) Georgia law,
specifically O.C.G.A. §
20-2-2084(c), requires charter schools petitioning for authorization from the SCSC to submit
such petitions concurrently to local boards of education as described below.
1. A charter school that has a state-wide
attendance zone that is petitioning for authorization by the SCSC shall submit
its petition to the local board of education in which the school is proposed to
be located concurrently with its submission of its petition to the SCSC. The
submission of the charter petition to the local board of education is for
informational purposes only. The SCSC may consider the charter school petition
for approval without action by the local board of education.
2. A charter school that has a state-wide
attendance zone that only provides virtual instruction that is petitioning for
authorization by the SCSC is not required to submit a charter petition to a
local board of education.
3. A
charter school that has a defined attendance zone shall submit its petition to
the local board of education in which the school is proposed to be located and
to each local school system from which the proposed school plans to enroll
students. The SCSC is prohibited from acting on the charter school's petition
until the local board of education in which the school is proposed to be
located denies the petition or fails to approve or deny the petition within the
time allotted by O.C.G.A. §
20-2-2064.
(b) A charter school that has a defined
attendance zone shall submit its petition to the appropriate local board(s) of
education in accordance with the deadlines established by those local board(s)
of education and the Georgia Department of Education. If required by the
appropriate local board of education or the Georgia Department of Education,
the charter school must also submit a letter of intent to the local board of
education and the Georgia Department of Education in accordance with the
appropriate deadlines. It is not the responsibility of the local school
district to inform prospective charter schools of deadlines.
(c) As a charter school that has a defined
attendance zone must submit its petition concurrently to the local board of
education in which the school is proposed to be located and the SCSC is
prohibited from acting on the petition until the local board of education
denies or fails to approve the petition, the charter school petitioner shall
notify the SCSC of the local board of education's action or inaction regarding
the charter school. This notification shall be in the form and manner as
specified in the State Charter School Petition Application.
(5)
State Charter School
Petition Review Process. The SCSC staff shall review each state charter
school petition that is submitted to ensure that all state charter schools
authorized by the SCSC are consistent with state education goals. The SCSC may
establish multiple petition review cycles and limit a cycle to a specific type
of petitioner, including, but not limited to, petitioners seeking to replicate
or expand an existing charter school. The SCSC review process includes a review
for legal compliance, a substantive petition review, and an interview with
charter school's representatives. A local board of education may also express
opposition or support for the charter petition during the state charter school
petition review process.
(a)
Legal
Compliance Review.
1. The SCSC staff
shall review each petition application submitted to the SCSC for its adherence
to all state and federal laws applicable to the petition and charter school.
This shall include laws related to the submission of the petition and laws
related to the operation of school if opened.
2. If the legal compliance review of the
state charter school petition reveals that the charter school petitioner failed
to adhere to the legal requirements in submitting the petition or that the
charter school would be substantially noncompliant with any law in its
operation, the SCSC staff shall notify the petitioner of the legal deficiencies
in writing. The state charter school petitioner may remedy the identified legal
deficiencies and submit a revised state charter school petition to the SCSC for
review in a subsequent petition cycle.
3. If the legal compliance review did not
reveal any legal deficiencies, SCSC staff shall conduct a substantive petition
review.
(b)
Substantive Petition Review.
(1) The SCSC staff shall conduct a
substantive petition review of each petition application submitted to the SCSC
that did not reveal any legal deficiencies in its legal compliance review. In
conducting substantive petition reviews, the SCSC staff may contract with
third-parties or utilize volunteers as it deems appropriate.
(2) The substantive petition review shall be
an in-depth evaluation of the charter school's mission, educational program,
and proposed innovation as well as an examination of the charter school's
business operations. The SCSC staff shall evaluate the charter petition to
ensure that it is consistent with state education goals, including enhancing
public educational opportunities to meet the growing and diverse needs of
students and to provide the highest academic quality to increase student
achievement and positive outcomes. Additionally, the SCSC staff shall also
examine the charter school's proposed budget, funding sources, business
partnerships, facilities, and any other operational aspects of the school
during the substantive petition review to ensure that the school, if
authorized, could operate in a fiscally responsible manner that would foster a
positive school environment.
(3)
The SCSC staff may request additional information or documents from the charter
school petitioner to assist the staff in the substantive review. The SCSC staff
may impose deadlines for the charter school petitioner to submit additional
information or documents if requested. The SCSC staff may request additional
information or documents from the charter school petitioner as often as
necessary for the SCSC staff to complete the substantive petition
review.
(4) If the substantive
petition review reveals significant deficiencies, including, but not limited
to, that the operation of the charter school would not be consistent with state
educational goals or that it is readily apparent from the charter petition that
the charter school operations would not be fiscally sound, the SCSC staff shall
notify the petitioner of the deficiencies in writing. The state charter school
petitioner may remedy the identified significant deficiencies and submit a
revised state charter school petition to the SCSC for review in a subsequent
petition cycle.
(5) If the
substantive petition review did not reveal any significant deficiencies, SCSC
staff shall schedule an interview with the charter school's
representatives.
(c)
Interviews.
(1) The SCSC
staff shall conduct interviews with the governing board of each charter school
for which the legal compliance and substantive petition reviews did not reveal
legal or significant deficiencies.
(2) The focus of the interview shall relate
to the governing board and school leadership's capacity to operate a charter
school that is consistent with state education goals, and to do so in a
fiscally responsible manner that fosters a positive school
environment.
(3) The SCSC staff
shall schedule interviews in a manner that accounts for scheduling conflict;
however, the final decision as to interview time and location is in the
discretion of SCSC staff.
(4) The
officers of the governing board and school leader shall attend the interview.
Other representatives of the charter school that may attend the interview
include, but are not limited to, all members of the governing board, school
leadership positions, and key personnel of identified school
partners.
(5) The SCSC shall
assemble an interview panel that may include SCSC staff, SCSC Commissioners,
education experts, and any other individuals whose knowledge and expertise
would assist the SCSC in its decision to authorize the charter
school.
(6) All representatives of
the charter school and interview panel shall attend the interview in-person;
however, SCSC staff may allow representatives of the charter school or members
of the interview panel to attend through communication devices in extraordinary
circumstances.
(7) Members of the
interview panel shall provide feedback and recommendation to the SCSC staff
regarding approval or denial by the SCSC of the charter school's petition upon
conclusion of the interview.
(d)
Position of the Local Board of
Education. A local board of education may express its support or
opposition of a state charter school petition to the SCSC, including the
reasons it chose to deny the charter petition and the specific deficiencies in
the charter petition that resulted in its denial. The local board of education
may express its position in its written notification of denial to the charter
school petitioner or through a separate written communication to the SCSC. All
written communications of the local board of education expressing its support
or opposition of a state charter school petition shall be included with the
state charter school petition application for consideration by the SCSC and its
staff.
(6)
Information Considered. Post-petition review actions and official
action by the SCSC may be based on all available information regarding a
charter school petition, including, but not limited to, the petition, the
interview with the petitioner, input from the local board of education,
publically available information, any supplemental information received from
the petitioner in response to an SCSC staff request, or relevant information
submitted by other interested parties that may affect the school's viability
and operation.
(7)
Post-Petition Review Actions. The SCSC staff may take the actions
identified below at the conclusion of the petition review process.
(a)
Recommendation for Approval or
Renewal. The SCSC staff may determine that the information presented
by the charter school in its petition and interview merits a recommendation to
the SCSC to approve or renew the charter school petition.
(b)
Request for Information or
Action. The SCSC staff may determine that additional information,
documentation, or action by the petitioner is needed to clarify certain
non-substantive aspects of the charter school's petition or operations before
the SCSC considers the charter petition. The determination as to whether an
aspect of the charter school's petition or operation is non-substantive and can
be clarified through additional information or action is in the sole discretion
of SCSC staff.
1. In instances in which the
SCSC requests additional information from or action by a petitioner, the SCSC
staff shall notify the charter school in writing of that additional information
or action is needed, the specific information or action that is requested, and
a deadline by which the charter school must submit the requested information or
documentation that the action is complete. The SCSC staff may request
clarifications as often as necessary to make a recommendation to the SCSC.
(i) SCSC staff may determine that information
provided by a petitioner in response to a request for information or action is
sufficient to allow SCSC staff to formulate a recommendation of approval or
denial to the SCSC in accordance with the current petition review cycle
timeline.
(ii) SCSC staff may
determine that information provided by a petitioner in response to a request
for information or action is not sufficient to allow SCSC staff to formulate a
recommendation to the SCSC and further clarification(s) is required by the
petitioner. In such instances, SCSC staff may delay the issuance of a
recommendation until the petitioner completes all actions requested by the SCSC
or SCSC staff or petitioner fails to complete actions in accordance with the
timeline provided by SCSC staff. To ensure that a charter school has sufficient
time to begin operation after receiving authorization, the SCSC, in its sole
discretion, may require the charter school to open in a school year later than
is outlined in its petition.
2. SCSC staff shall evaluate all information
and documentation provided in response to requests for clarification and make a
recommendation to the SCSC. The SCSC staff may make a recommendation to the
SCSC to deny or nonrenew the charter petition of the charter school if the
charter school does not submit a timely response to a request for
clarification. The decision by SCSC staff to request additional information or
action or to delay SCSC action on a charter school does not preclude SCSC staff
from later recommending that the charter school be denied.
(c)
Recommendation for Denial or
Nonrenewal. The SCSC staff may determine that the information
presented by the charter school in its petition and interview merits a
recommendation to the SCSC to deny or nonrenew the charter school
petition.
(8)
Official Action.
(a) The SCSC may
approve, deny, renew, or nonrenew state charter school petitions.
(b) The SCSC may, in its discretion,
preliminarily approve a state charter school petition before the petitioner has
secured space, equipment, or personnel, if the state charter school petitioner
indicates that such preliminary approval is necessary for it to raise working
capital.
(c) The SCSC may condition
approval of the charter school's petition on the charter school petitioner's
acceptance of a charter term or opening date different than those proposed in
the state charter school petition application or on specific provisions, goals,
or measures in the charter.
(d) The
initial term of a charter contract approved by the SCSC shall be five
years.
(e) All official actions of
the SCSC when considering charter school petitions shall be by majority
vote.
O.C.G.A. §§
20-2-2083; 2084;
2091.