§ 22-30.5-105 — Charter schools - contract contents - regulations

Colorado § 22-30.5-105

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 22: Education
• Art.: Charter Schools

Text

(1) (a) An
approved charter application shall serve as the basis for a contract between a
charter school and the chartering local board of education.

(b) A local board of education may approve a charter school application
submitted by a nonprofit entity and enter into a charter contract directly with the
nonprofit entity to operate a charter school. A local board of education shall not
approve a charter school application that is submitted by a for-profit entity or that
identifies a for-profit entity as one of the charter applicants, and the local board of
education shall not enter into a charter contract directly with a for-profit entity to
operate a charter school.

(2) (a) The contract between a charter school and the chartering local board
of education shall reflect all agreements regarding the release of the charter
school from school district policies. Each charter school's contract shall include a
statement specifying the manner in which the charter school shall comply with the
intent of the state statutes, state board rules, and district rules that are waived for
the charter school by application.

(b) Repealed.

(c) A contract between a charter school and the chartering local board of
education approved on or after July 1, 2002, shall specify:

(I) If the contract is not a renewal of an expiring contract, the manner in
which the school district governed by the local board of education will support any
start-up facility needs of the charter school;

(II) The manner in which the school district governed by the local board of
education will support any long-term facility needs of the charter school;

(III) The actions that the charter school must take in order to:

(A) Have its capital construction needs included as part of the next ballot
question for approval of bonded indebtedness to be submitted by the local board of
education of its chartering school district to the voters of the district; or

(B) Have the local board of education submit a ballot question for approval
of a special mill levy to finance the capital construction needs of the charter school
to the voters of the district pursuant to section 22-30.5-405;

(IV) The financial information, including but not limited to an annual
governmental audit, the charter school must report to the chartering school district,
the deadline for reporting such information to the chartering school district in order
to enable the chartering school district to comply with the requirements specified
in this title and in rules promulgated by the state board pertaining to reporting
financial information to the department of education, and the circumstances under
which the chartering school district may withhold a portion of the charter school's
monthly payment as provided in section 22-30.5-112 (8) for failure to comply with
financial reporting requirements specified in the contract; and

(V) Whether, and the circumstances under which, the local board of
education delegates to the charter school the authority to impose a transportation
fee on students who are enrolled in the charter school and, if so, the procedures for
imposition of the fee.

(3) A contract between a charter school and the chartering local board of
education shall reflect all requests for release of the charter school from state
statutes and state board rules that are not automatic waivers and a list of the
automatic waivers that the charter school is invoking. Within ten days after the
contract is approved by the chartering local board of education, the chartering local
board of education shall deliver to the state board any request for waiver of state
statutes and state board rules that are not automatic waivers. The chartering local
board of education shall request the release by submitting a complete copy of the
signed charter contract. Within forty-five days after a request for release is
received by the state board, the state board shall either grant or deny the request.
If the state board grants the request, it may orally notify the chartering local board
of education and the charter school of its decision. If the state board denies the
request, it shall notify the chartering local board of education and the charter
school in writing that the request is denied and specify the reasons for denial. If the
chartering local board of education and the charter school do not receive notice of
the state board's decision within forty-five days after submittal of the request for
release, the request shall be deemed granted. If the state board denies a request
for release that includes multiple state statutes or state board rules, the denial
shall specify the state statutes and state board rules for which the release is
denied, and the denial shall apply only to those state statutes and state board rules
so specified.

(4) A material revision of the terms of a charter contract may be made only
with the approval of the chartering local board of education and the governing body
of the charter school.

(5) A term included in a charter contract that would require a charter school
to waive or otherwise forgo receipt of any amount of additional mill levy revenue
due to the charter school as provided in section 22-32-108.5 or any amount of
operational or capital construction money provided to the charter school pursuant
to the provisions of this article 30.5 or pursuant to any other provision of law is
hereby declared null and void as against public policy and is unenforceable. In no
event shall this subsection (5) be construed to prohibit a charter school from
contracting with its chartering local board of education for the purchase of
services, including but not limited to the purchase of educational services.

(6) A charter school that provides a half-day kindergarten educational
program before the 2019-20 school year and chooses to expand the kindergarten
educational program to a full day shall notify the chartering local board of
education of the expansion of the kindergarten educational program and of the
school year in which the anticipated program expansion takes effect. The charter
school and the authorizing local board of education shall amend the charter
contract as necessary to allow for the program expansion. If the local board objects
to the program expansion, the local board shall provide to the charter school a
written explanation of the grounds for its objection. If the charter school and the
authorizing local board of education cannot agree on an amendment to the charter
contract for the program expansion, the charter school may file a notice with the
state board as provided in section 22-30.5-108 to appeal the decision of the local
board concerning a unilateral imposition of conditions on the charter school. The
state board shall decide the appeal in accordance with the provisions of section 22-30.5-108. Negotiations to amend the charter contract to allow the expansion of the
kindergarten educational program shall not include negotiations regarding terms of
the charter contract that are not directly impacted by the program expansion and
shall not include reauthorization of the charter school.

Legislative History

Source: L. 93: Entire article added, p. 1054, � 1, effective June 3. L. 97: (1) amended, p. 400, � 2, effective August 6. L. 98: (3) amended, p. 1209, � 1, effective August 5. L. 2001: (2) amended, p. 337, � 3, effective April 16. L. 2002: (2)(c) and (5) added, pp. 1766, 1753, �� 33, 30, effective June 7. L. 2004: Entire section amended, p. 1573, � 4, effective June 3. L. 2005: (2)(c)(III)(B) and (2)(c)(IV) amended and (2)(c)(V) added, p. 1507, � 2, effective June 9. L. 2007: (2)(b) repealed, p. 745, � 28, effective May 9. L. 2009: (5) amended, (SB 09-256), ch. 294, p. 1555, � 12, effective May 21. L. 2012: (1) amended, (SB 12-067), ch. 131, p. 451, � 3, effective August 8. L. 2014: (2)(a) and (3) amended, (HB 14-1292), ch. 243, p. 904, � 5, effective May 21. L. 2017: (5) amended, (HB 17-1375), ch. 287, p. 1591, � 2, effective June 2. L. 2019: (6) added, (HB 19-1262), ch. 245, p. 2399, � 8, effective May 21.