Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
157.196,
157.200,
158.030,
158.050,
158.070,
158.100,
158.281,
159.010,
160.1590,
160.1591,
160.1592,
160.1593,
160.1594,
160.1595,
160.1596,
160.1597,
160.1598,
160.1599,
160.346,
161.141,
387.010(2),
20 U.S.C.
1400 et seq., 1681,
29 U.S.C.
794,
42 U.S.C. 1981-2000h-6
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
160.1591(6) requires the
Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate an administrative regulation to guide
student application, lottery, and enrollment in public charter schools. This
administrative regulation establishes the requirements for charter school
student application, lottery, and enrollment.
Section 1. Definitions.
(1) "Academically behind" means at risk of
academic failure.
(2) "Adult
student" means a student who is eighteen (18) years or older who is still
eligible for enrollment and attendance at a school program pursuant to
KRS
158.030 and
158.100.
(3) "Applicant" is defined by
KRS
160.1590(2).
(4) "At risk" means at risk of academic
failure.
(5) "At risk of academic
failure" means:
(a) Attendance at a school
identified pursuant to
KRS
160.346(2) for targeted
support or intervention;
(b)
Attendance at a school identified pursuant to
KRS
160.346(3) for comprehensive
support and improvement;
(c)
Current achievement two (2) or more grade levels below the student's age
group;
(d) Demonstration of poor
academic skills, such as failure of two (2) or more subjects in two (2) of the
past four (4) school years;
(e)
Consistent absence or tardy and absence twenty-five (25) or more unexcused
"student attendance days", as defined by
KRS
158.070, in the last two (2) school years and
an overall grade average below a C;
(f) Suspension (in-school suspension or home
suspension) two (2) or more times during the past school year and an overall
grade average below a C;
(g) Family
history of dropping out or lack of family support for the student in the
completion of school;
(h) Little or
no participation in school cocurricular or extracurricular programs;
(i) Below grade level in reading or math
skills;
(j) Indication of being
socially isolated; or
(k) An
applicant's definition for this term in the applicant's authorizer approved
charter application, pursuant to
KRS
160.1594(2).
(6) "Authorizer" or "public charter school
authorizer" is defined by
KRS
160.1590(15).
(7) "Charter application" is defined by
KRS
160.1590(3).
(8) "Charter contract" or "contract" is
defined by KRS
160.1590(4).
(9) "Charter school" means a public charter
school as defined by KRS
160.1590(14).
(10) "Charter school board of directors" is
defined by KRS
160.1590(5).
(11) "Cocurricular programs" means school
programs that have activities that are unequivocally instructional in nature,
directly related to the instructional program, and scheduled to minimize
absences from classroom instruction.
(12) "Computerized randomization" means use
of a computer software program for randomization.
(13) "Conversion public charter school" is
defined by KRS
160.1590(6).
(14) "Days" means calendar days calculated
pursuant to KRS
446.030.
(15) "Education service provider" is defined
by KRS
160.1590(8).
(16) "Emancipated youth" means a student
under the age of eighteen (18) who is or has been married or has by court order
or otherwise been freed from the care, custody, and control of the student's
parents.
(17) "Enrollment" means
the process for the charter school to register a student for attendance at the
charter school.
(18) "Enrollment
preference" means the priority of the student application from other students
applications pursuant to
KRS
160.1591(5).
(19) "Extracurricular programs" means
voluntary programs that are offered by a school but are not part of the
required school program.
(20)
"Grade" or "Grade Level" means a single elementary, middle, or high school
grade of school.
(21) "Human
randomization" means randomization without the use of computer
randomization.
(22) "Knowingly"
means that a person knew that in authorizing, ordering, or carrying out an act
or omission that the act or omission constituted a violation of a statute or
administrative regulation.
(23)
"Local school district" is defined by
KRS
160.1590(10).
(24) "Lottery" means the transparent, open,
equitable, and impartial process that is competently conducted with
randomization in accordance with the targeted student population and service
community as established in
KRS
160.1593(3) for the charter
school to choose students for enrollment and attendance at the charter school
if the student applications received by the charter school exceed the charter
school's capacity.
(25) "Multiple"
means a person who was born as a result of the same pregnancy as at least one
(1) other sibling.
(26) "Notice"
means written notice.
(27) "Notify"
means provide written notice.
(28)
"Parent" is defined by
KRS
160.1590(11).
(29) "Persistently low-achieving public
schools" or "Persistently low-achieving noncharter public schools" means
noncharter public schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement
pursuant to KRS
160.346.
(30) "Person with custody or charge" means
any adult, pursuant to
KRS
159.010, who falls within the definition for
"interested person or entity" as defined by
KRS
387.010(2) for interested
person or entity and with whom the student resides.
(31) "Primary enrollment preference" means
any enrollment preference other than a secondary enrollment
preference.
(32) "Public charter
school" is defined by
KRS
160.1590(14).
(33) "Randomization" means to leave to chance
alone and eliminate bias and interference.
(34) "Secondary enrollment preference" means
the priority of a resident student application for enrollment in a public
charter school, after acceptance of all the student applications with primary
enrollment preference, if the public charter school's capacity has not been
exceeded for that school year.
(35)
"Student" is defined by
KRS
160.1590(18) and includes
any person who is entitled to enrollment and attendance at a school program as
established in KRS
158.030 and
158.100.
(36) "Student application" means an
application submitted to a charter school for student enrollment in the charter
school.
(37) "Students with special
needs" or "Special needs students" means:
(a)
An "exceptional children and youth student", as defined by
KRS
157.200, who is eligible pursuant to the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
20 U.S.C.
1400 et seq. for an individual education
plan, as established in
KRS
157.196, or an individual education program,
as defined by KRS
158.281; or
(b) A student who is eligible for services
pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended,
29 U.S.C.
794, to prevent substantial limitation of one
(1) or more major life activities.
(38) "Year", "academic year," or "school
year" means school year as established in
KRS
158.050.
Section 2. Student Application.
(1) Any parent, person with custody or
charge, adult student, or emancipated youth student who has the ability to
enroll the student pursuant to Kentucky law may initiate a student application
to a charter school for the student who is eligible for attendance at the
charter school pursuant to
KRS
158.030,
158.100, or
160.1591(5).
(2) Any adult student or emancipated youth
student may initiate the student's own application to a charter
school.
(3)
(a) A student application for enrollment in a
charter school shall list the grade level the parent, person with custody or
charge, adult student, or emancipated youth student understands to be the most
appropriate grade level for the student based on available
information.
(b) Any future
determination by the resident local school district or the charter school that
the student should be placed in a different grade level shall not invalidate
the student's application unless the charter school determines that the parent,
person with custody or charge, adult student, or emancipated youth student
knowingly misrepresented the grade level most appropriate for the student on
the student application.
(4) Consent of the parent, person with
custody or charge, adult student, or emancipated youth student to serve on the
charter school board of directors shall not be a condition for student
application to the charter school.
(5) The charter school shall not limit the
number of applications that it accepts from students based on ethnicity,
national origin, religion, sex, income level, disabling condition, proficiency
in the English language, or academic or athletic ability, in violation of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42
U.S.C. secs. 1981 to
2000h-6, as amended, Title IX of
the Education Amendments of 1972,
20 U.S.C.
1681, as amended,
KRS
160.1591(5), or
KRS
160.1592(19).
(6) The charter school shall utilize a
uniform application process for all student applications, including use of the
Kentucky Charter School Student Application.
Section 3. Lottery.
(1) A charter school board of directors shall
create and publish policies and procedures on its Web site for conducting the
lottery that include:
(a) Identification and
designation of duties for charter school board members, any education service
provider, charter school staff, and volunteers prior to the lottery
event;
(b) Segregation of duties to
decrease the likelihood of errors, mitigate the risk of interference, and
increase the public perception that the lottery is a randomized, transparent,
open, equitable, and impartial process that is competently conducted;
(c) Provision for breaks during the
lottery;
(d) Retention of records
from the lottery for at least the length of the charter contract;
(e) Creation of minutes from the lottery;
and
(f) Procedures for receipt,
investigation, and handling of written complaints regarding the lottery with
concurrent provision of all documents to the authorizer, the commissioner of
education, and the Kentucky Board of Education. Procedures shall include:
1. Any remedies the charter school shall
provide upon determination that student selection during the lottery was
affected by an error committed by individuals acting on behalf of the charter
school during the application or lottery processes;
2. Transparency in the charter school's
remedying of an error; and
3.
Actions to prevent reoccurrence of errors in the application and lottery
processes in future years.
(2) A charter school shall conduct the
lottery in compliance with the requirements of
KRS
160.1591,
160.1592, 701 KAR Chapter 8, and
its policies and procedures as established in subsection (1) of this section,
which may include, as allowed by the authorizer:
(a) Selection of numbers assigned to
individual students; and
(b) Human
randomization or computerized randomization.
(3) The charter school shall offer primary
enrollment preferences and secondary enrollment preferences only to students as
established in:
(a)
KRS
160.1591,
160.1592, and this
administrative regulation;
(b) The
charter application; and
(c) The
charter contract.
(4) A
charter school shall not conduct a lottery for enrollment if the number of
student applications does not exceed the capacity of the charter school for
that school year, as stated in the charter school's charter contract.
(5) If the number of student applications
exceeds the capacity of the charter school for the school year, then pursuant
to KRS
160.1591(5)(c), the charter
school shall reserve space for enrollment of returning students and then
conduct the lottery for the other student applications.
(6) If the number of student applications
with enrollment preferences meeting the requirements of subsection (3) of this
section exceeds the capacity of the charter school for the school year, the
charter school shall include in the lottery for enrollment only those students
with enrollment preferences.
(7)
Selection in the lottery of a student who is a multiple shall also result in:
(a) The automatic selection of the student's
multiple sibling or siblings who have submitted a student application to that
charter school for attendance that school year, unless this would exceed the
capacity of the charter school; or
(b) If the automatic selection of the
student's multiple sibling or siblings would exceed the capacity of the charter
school for that school year, the automatic placement of the student's multiple
siblings at the top of the wait list.
(8) At least thirty (30) days prior to
conducting a lottery, the charter school shall publish on its Web site, and
provide to parents, persons with custody or charge, adult students, and
emancipated youth students who have submitted student applications to the
charter school, notice of the lottery and information on the lottery. The Web
site publication and notice shall include:
(a)
The date and location of the lottery and the information meeting to be held
prior to the lottery pursuant to subsection (9) of this section;
(b) Information on the legal requirements and
policies and procedures for holding the lottery;
(c) Information for filing a written
complaint regarding the lottery monitor;
(d) Information for filing a written
complaint regarding an error committed by individuals acting on behalf of the
charter school during the application or lottery processes; and
(e) Identification of the charter school for
the lottery.
(9) At least
twenty (20) days prior to conducting a lottery, the charter school shall hold a
meeting to provide the lottery information in subsection (8) of this section to
parents, persons with custody or charge, adult students, and emancipated youth
students.
(10) The authorizer may
include in the charter contract a requirement for the charter school to conduct
a practice lottery, in the presence of the lottery monitor, to:
(a) Reduce charter school community
shareholder concerns;
(b) Identify
potential issues and perceptions with the selected lottery method;
and
(c) Build the charter school's
capacity to conduct the lottery.
(11) The charter school shall not require the
presence of the parent, person with custody or charge, adult student, or
emancipated youth student at the lottery for inclusion in the lottery or for
eligibility for enrollment.
(12)
The charter school shall not require the consent of the parent, person with
custody or charge, adult student, or emancipated youth student to serve on the
charter school board of directors for inclusion in the lottery or for
eligibility for enrollment.
(13) If
a charter school determines capacity by grade level, then the charter school
shall hold lotteries only in those grade levels for which student applications
exceeded the charter school's capacity and shall hold separate lotteries, which
may occur on the same date, for each of those grade levels. A student shall be
eligible for the lottery for the grade level listed on the student's
application, unless the charter school and the parent, persons with custody or
charge, adult student, or emancipated youth student agree otherwise.
(14) The lottery and the information meeting
required in subsection (9) of this section shall each be held in accordance
with the Open Meetings Act,
KRS
61.800 et seq., at a time and location
convenient to parents, persons with custody or charge, adult students, and
emancipated youth students who have submitted a student application for
enrollment in the charter school.
(15) The lottery shall be monitored by a
competent, independent, impartial party, the lottery monitor, who shall be
selected by the charter school, to ensure compliance with
KRS
160.1591 and
160.1592.
(a) The charter school shall include the
identity, qualifications, and affiliations of the lottery monitor in the
information provided to the public by the deadline established in subsection
(8) of this section, and in the lottery information meeting held pursuant to
subsection (9) of this section.
(b)
Complaints regarding the competence, independence, or impartiality of the
lottery monitor shall be provided in writing to the commissioner of education,
who shall conduct an investigation and render a decision within seven (7) days
of receipt of the written complaint.
(c) If the lottery monitor is determined by
the commissioner of education to lack competence, independence, or
impartiality, the commissioner of education shall appoint an individual who
does meet these requirements to serve as a monitor for the lottery selection
process.
(16) In the
lottery, the charter school shall select students for enrollment up to the
capacity of the school for that school year, and then the charter school shall
select students for inclusion on the wait list above the school capacity as
established in paragraphs (a) through (g) of this subsection. A charter school
shall:
(a) Continue to select students for
placement on the wait list until the charter school has exhausted the student
applications for that school year;
(b) Ensure that lottery drawing for the wait
list shall be separate from the lottery for selection of students for
enrollment and that each parent, person with custody or charge, adult student,
and emancipated youth student, who submitted a student application to the
charter school and is placed on a wait list, shall be notified in writing of
the student's inclusion on the wait list and the student's position on the wait
list after the conclusion of the wait list lottery process;
(c) Place students on the wait list in the
order the students are drawn during that portion of the lottery
process;
(d) Maintain and
continuously update accurate records of the order of the wait list;
(e) Update the wait list as students are
admitted;
(f) Weekly publish on its
Web site updated information on each student's position on the wait list as
well as the last date for enrollment for that year. The charter school shall
weekly provide each parent, person with custody or charge, or student with
notice of the student's updated position on the wait list as well as the last
date for enrollment for that year; and
(g) Place student applications received after
the lottery on the wait list, in the order received, after the students placed
on the wait list through the lottery process in this section.
Section 4. Student
Enrollment.
(1) A charter school shall include
in its policies and procedures on student enrollment:
(a) The status of an enrollment preference
and eligibility for enrollment and attendance for a student if the student
ceases to reside within the charter school's enrollment boundaries prior to or
during the school year;
(b) The
status of an enrollment preference for a sibling pursuant to
KRS
160.1591(5)(b) if the
student who was enrolled the previous school year withdraws from the charter
school;
(c) The status of an
enrollment preference for a student pursuant to
KRS
160.1591(5)(c) if the
student ceases to reside within close proximity to the school, as governed by
the charter contract.
(d) The
status of an enrollment preference for a student pursuant to
KRS
160.1591(5)(d) if the
resident ceases to be a member of the board of directors or ceases to be a
full-time employee of the charter school prior to or during the school
year;
(e) The status of an
enrollment preference for a student pursuant to
KRS
160.1591(5)(e) if the
student ceases to be eligible for free or reduced price meals prior to or
during the school year; and
(f) The
status of an enrollment preference for a student pursuant to
KRS
160.1591(5)(e) if the
student's former school ceases to be a persistently low-achieving public school
or a persistently low-achieving noncharter public school prior to the school
year the student shall attend the charter school.
(2) A charter school shall accept student
applications for enrollment and attendance from all local school district
resident students who are eligible for enrollment based on
KRS
158.030,
158.100,
160.1591(5).
(a) Only a student who resides within the
boundaries established by the charter school's resident and non-resident
enrollment policy by the student's first day of student attendance shall be
eligible for enrollment and attendance at the charter school that school
year.
(b) A student who attended
the public charter school the previous year shall be automatically re-enrolled
for attendance each school year unless:
1.
The student has been awarded a high school diploma after meeting or exceeding
the minimum requirements for high school graduation established by the Kentucky
Board of Education pursuant to
704 KAR 3:305;
2. The charter school has expelled the
student pursuant to KRS 158.150;
3. A court has ordered placement of the
student in another school or a local school district outside the charter
school's enrollment boundaries;
4.
The student has voluntarily withdrawn from enrollment in the charter school;
or
5. The student no longer resides
within the charter school's enrollment boundaries.
(3) In addition to the
requirements of KRS
160.1592(14), a charter
school shall not discourage, restrict, or prohibit enrollment of a student,
including based on:
(a) Whether the
emancipated youth student, adult student, parent, or person with custody or
charge gives consent for the charter school unilaterally to unenroll or
withdraw the student from the charter school without providing the due process
protections established in
KRS
158.150;
(b) The student's disability, academic
performance, athletic ability, or the ability of the parent or person with
custody or charge to volunteer at the charter school;
(c) The student's ability to meet academic
minimum requirements;
(d) The
student's English competence;
(e)
The student's status as a student with special needs or special needs
student;
(f) The student's status
as a student at risk of academic failure, at risk, academically
behind;
(g) The student's status as
a homeless child or youth, under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act,
42 U.S.C.
11301 et seq.; or
(h) The student's eligibility for free or
reduced price meals, under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act,
42 U.S.C.
1751 et seq.
(4) In addition to the requirements of
KRS
160.1592(14), a charter
school shall not:
(a) Require or request:
1. An interview prior to
enrollment;
2. Letters of
recommendation;
3.
Essays;
4. Resumes or information
regarding a student's school or community activities;
5. Grades;
6. Test scores;
7. Attendance records;
8. Special needs student status or special
needs student disability information, at risk student information, free or
reduced price lunch student eligibility information, or other education record
information, except to the extent allowed by the authorizer in the charter
contract for the purpose of confirming and providing an enrollment preference
to the student pursuant to
KRS
160.1590 to
160.1599,
161.141, and 701 KAR Chapter
8;
9. Disciplinary history except
pursuant to KRS
158.155;
10. Proof of a Social Security card or
number, U.S. birth certificates, visa, or citizenship;
11. Information on the legal residence or
presence in the United States of the student, parent, or person with custody or
charge; or
12. Information
regarding the cause of any student's residency with a person other than the
parent;
(b) Require a
family member or person with custody or charge of the student to volunteer at
the charter school or provide payment to the school, except:
1. As allowed in
KRS
160.1592(14) for fees
required on the same basis and to the same extent as other public schools;
and
2. The charter school may
encourage involvement by parents, persons with custody or charge, adult
students, and emancipated youth students in the charter school if involvement
is not required and there are no adverse consequences for the family or student
who cannot be involved; or
(c) Require or request a parent, person with
custody or charge, adult student, or emancipated youth student to consent to
the charter school's withdrawal or unenrollment of the student from the charter
school without providing the due process protections established in
KRS
158.150.
(5) A charter school shall enroll a student
in compliance with KRS 158.032 and
KRS
159.010.
(6) By the first day of a student's
attendance, a charter school shall verify the residence of the student within
the local school district and use methods similar to those employed by a local
school district to verify residence.
(7) A conversion public charter school shall
accept for enrollment student applications with secondary enrollment preference
after accepting student applications with primary enrollment preference, if the
conversion public charter school's capacity has not been exceeded for that
school year. After complying with the primary enrollment preference requirement
in KRS
160.1591(5)(a), a conversion
public charter school may utilize the enrollment preferences in
KRS
160.1591(5)(b) through (e)
in enrolling additional local school district resident students pursuant to
KRS
160.1591(5)(a).
(8) A charter school shall conduct enrollment
as follows:
(a) A charter school shall
establish and publish on its Web site an open enrollment period during which
the charter school shall accept applications for enrollment of new
students;
(b) A charter school
shall establish and publish on its Web site a specific deadline for
notification to parents, persons with custody or charge, adult students, or
emancipated youth students of the charter school's acceptance of the student's
application for enrollment;
(c) A
charter school shall notify parents, persons with custody or charge, adult
students, and emancipated youth students with accepted applications of their
opportunity to enroll in the charter school and the deadlines and required
documentation for enrollment;
(d) A
charter school shall establish and publish on its Web site a specific deadline
during the open enrollment period for parents, persons with custody or charge,
adult students, or emancipated youth students with accepted applications to
notify the school of their enrollment decision and to initiate enrollment of
the student in the charter school. Failure of the parent, person with custody
or charge, adult student, or emancipated youth student to accept the enrollment
offer and enroll the student by the deadline established by the charter school
during the open enrollment period may result in the forfeiture of an enrollment
preference and result in enrollment of the student that school year only if
capacity of the school has not been exceeded for that school year. Prior to
forfeiture of the student's enrollment offer, and until the charter school is
successful in contacting the parent, person with custody or charge, adult
student, or emancipated youth student, a charter school shall attempt to enroll
the student by again contacting the parent, person with custody or charge,
adult student, or emancipated youth student through at least two (2) of the
following methods:
1. Phone;
2. Email;
3. Mailed correspondence; or
4. Home visit; and
(e) A charter school shall allow a parent,
person with custody or charge, adult student, or an emancipated youth student
to enroll the student for attendance at the charter school in the grade level
the parent, person with custody or charge, adult student, or emancipated youth
student understands to be the most appropriate grade level based on available
information. Any future determination by the resident local school district or
the charter school that the student should be placed in a different grade level
shall not invalidate the student's enrollment.
(9) A charter school shall only require the
following documentation or information for student enrollment:
(a) Proof of the student's identity and age,
as required pursuant to
KRS
158.032;
(b) Immunization records, as required by
KRS
158.035;
(c) Proof of residency in the local school
district, as required by the resident local school district;
(d) Home language survey, as required by
703 KAR 5:070, as a first
screening process to identify students who are English learners; and
(e) Proof of the student's current grade
level.
(10) A charter
school may request additional information with the consent of the authorizer
only to process the student applications, conduct the lottery, or enroll the
charter school students, but the refusal or failure to provide additional
information shall not be a cause for denial of enrollment or for withdrawal of
a student.
(11) A charter school
shall accept student applications from students who reside within the charter
school's enrollment boundaries and enroll additional students who reside within
the charter school's enrollment boundaries for that school year after the end
of the open enrollment period if the charter school has capacity to educate
additional students at that grade level for that school
year.
Section 5.
Incorporation by Reference.
(1) "Kentucky
Charter School Student Application", February 2018, is incorporated by
reference.
(2) This material may be
inspected, copied, or obtained, subject to applicable copyright law, at the
Department of Education, Office of Legal Services, 5th floor, 300 Building, 300
Sower Boulevard, Frankfort, Kentucky, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30
p.m.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS
160.1591