(a)A public school may only be converted to a charter school by approval of the board of the school district in which it is located and that the charter application received the approval of over 50% of the teachers and over 50% of the parents residing in the attendance area of the school with a child or children under the age of 18 years, who, after 30 days prior written notice to all teachers and parents eligible to vote, attend a public meeting held for the specific purpose of voting on the proposed conversion; provided, however, that such approval shall not be required where a district school board converts a choice school or program with a specific career or academic subject matter focus already approved as of the effective date of this chapter to a charter school with the same focus.
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(a) A public school may only be converted to a charter school by approval of the board of the school district in which it is located and that the charter application received the approval of over 50% of the teachers and over 50% of the parents residing in the attendance area of the school with a child or children under the age of 18 years, who, after 30 days prior written notice to all teachers and parents eligible to vote, attend a public meeting held for the specific purpose of voting on the proposed conversion; provided, however, that such approval shall not be required where a district school board converts a choice school or program with a specific career or academic subject matter focus already approved as of the effective date of this chapter to a charter school with the same focus. The employees of a school converted to a charter school who are not employed by the charter school shall be accorded the rights available to them under the provisions of their collective bargaining agreement and shall, to the extent permissible under their collective bargaining agreement, be given preference in filling positions in the school district.
(b) The employees of a school converted to charter status and who are employed by the charter school shall not be part of any bargaining unit which represented employees of the school while it was still part of the school district. Employees of charter schools shall have the same right to organize and bargain collectively as employees of other public schools. A bargaining unit shall not be deemed inappropriate under Chapter 40 of this title, simply because said unit is comprised of professional and nonprofessional positions within a charter school. A teacher may be a member of a bargaining unit and serve as a director of a charter school provided; however, that any teacher who is a director of a charter school shall recuse oneself from any board meeting, discussion or decision relating to the bargaining unit of which such teacher is a member.
(c) (1) Labor relations between the charter school and its employees shall be governed by Chapter 40 of this title, and a charter school and its employees may agree through the collective bargaining process to abide by other provisions of this title or Code.
(2) For the purposes of this section:
a. “Instructional administrator” means a charter school administrator who supervises and evaluates educators, instructs students by means of designing and implementing curriculum or who instructs, trains, mentors, or coaches teachers.
b. “Noninstructional administrator” means a charter school administrator whose role is to oversee and manage operational aspects of the school that focus on supporting the logistical and functional aspects of the school environment, and ensure that essential services and resources are effectively coordinated and utilized. A noninstructional administrator’s responsibilities may include finance, transportation, nutrition, facilities management, safety and security, human resources, and technology infrastructure.
c. “Qualified alternative certification program” means one which aligns with all requirements as specified in Chapter 12 of this title and its implementing regulations.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, all educators, as the term is defined in Chapter 12 of this title, working in charter schools must be licensed and certified pursuant to Chapter 12.
a. Teachers. —
For any school year in which there is no qualified alternative certification for a specific content area, a charter school may, where it deems it beneficial to the success of its educational program, hire teachers that are not fully certified and licensed so long as such teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree in the content area in which they are teaching and comprise no more than 35% of the teachers at the school.
b. Administrators. —
Instructional administrators working in a charter school must be licensed and certified as administrators. Noninstructional administrators are not required to be licensed and certified as administrators pursuant to Chapter 12.
c. Specialists. —
Specialists working in a charter school must be licensed and certified as specialists pursuant to Chapter 12 of this title.
(4) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the charter school administrator who reports directly to the charter board of directors shall not be required to be licensed or certified. A charter school may, where it deems it beneficial to the success of its educational program, request permission from the authorizer to hire more than 1 administrator who reports directly to the charter board of directors who is not licensed or certified. If the authorizer does not approve the request, the authorizer shall provide the rationale for the denial in writing explaining why granting the request is not in the best interest of the charter school’s educational program. In the case where the charter school administrator who reports directly to the charter board of directors is not licensed or certified, the charter school shall ensure there is at least 1 instructional administrator who is licensed and certified as an administrator to oversee instructional activities.
(d) At their request, teachers employed by any school district in the State, but not teachers employed by another charter school, shall be granted a 1-year leave of absence to teach in a charter school during the charter school’s first year of operation only or such leave as is provided in the collective bargaining agreement of the school district. At the end of that period, they shall be allowed to return to the school district with the same level of seniority as when they left to take the leave of absence, provided that they have not been terminated for cause while at the charter school, that they have given the school district notice of their intent to return on or before the April 15 preceding the school year in which they intend to return, and according to the provisions of their collective bargaining agreement in effect in the school district. This level of seniority shall also be used for determination of their tenure in accordance with Chapter 14 of this title. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing to the contrary, teachers who, prior to June 20, 2002, were granted a leave of absence to teach in a charter school shall be permitted to complete the full period of leave then granted. Effective March 15, 2002, and each succeeding year thereafter, teachers desiring to return to the local school district on a valid leave of absence shall notify such district of that teacher’s own intent in writing no later than March 15 of any year for the succeeding school year.
(e) A charter school may choose to be covered by the state retirement system established by Chapter 55 of Title 29 or choose another retirement system in lieu of the state retirement system. If the charter school chooses a retirement system other than the state retirement system, a memorandum of understanding must be executed as required by § 512(9) of this title.
(f) Effective March 1, 2002, and each succeeding year thereafter, charter school boards that desire to dispense with the services of any teacher on leave from a Delaware public school district shall give notice in writing to such teacher on or before March 1 of any year of its intent to terminate said teacher’s services at the end of such school year.