§ 256F.3 — Application

Iowa § 256F.3

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title VII: EDUCATION, HISTORY, AND CULTURE
• Ch. 256F: CHARTER SCHOOLS AND INNOVATION ZONE SCHOOLS

Text

1. The department shall monitor the effectiveness of charter schools and innovation zone
schools and shall implement the applicable provisions of this chapter.
2. a. To receive approval to establish a charter school in accordance with this chapter,
the principal, teachers, or parents or guardians of students at an existing public school
shall submit an application to the school board to convert an existing attendance center to
a charter school. An attendance center shall not enter into a charter school contract with a
school district under this chapter unless the attendance center is located within the school
district. The application shall demonstrate the support of at least fifty percent of the teachers
employed at the school on the date of the submission of the application and fifty percent
of the parents or guardians voting whose children are enrolled at the school, provided that
a majority of the parents or guardians eligible to vote participate in the ballot process,
according to procedures established by rules of the state board.
b. To receive approval to establish an innovation zone school in accordance with this
chapter, an innovation zone consortium shall submit an application to the state board which
demonstrates the support of at least fifty percent of the teachers employed at each proposed
innovationzoneschoolonthedateofthesubmissionoftheapplicationandfiftypercentofthe
parents or guardians voting whose children are enrolled at each proposed innovation zone
school, provided that a majority of the parents or guardians eligible to vote participate in the
ballot process, according to procedures established by rules of the state board.
c. A parent or guardian voting in accordance with this subsection must be a resident of
this state.
3. A school board shall receive and review all applications for converting an existing
building or creating a new building for a charter school. Applications received on or before
October 1 of a calendar year shall be considered for charter schools to be established at the
beginning of the school district’s next school year or at a time agreed to by the applicant
and the school board. However, a school board may receive and consider applications after
October 1 at its discretion.
4. A school board shall by a majority vote approve or deny an application relating to
a charter school no later than sixty calendar days after the application is received. An
application approved by a school board and subsequently approved by the state board
pursuant to subsection 6 shall constitute, at a minimum, an agreement between the school
board and the charter school for the operation of the charter school. A school board that
denies an application for a conversion to a charter school shall provide notice of denial to
the applicant in writing within thirty days after board action. The notice shall specify the
exact reasons for denial and provide documentation supporting those reasons.
5. An applicant may appeal school board denial of the applicant’s charter school
application to the state board in accordance with the procedures set forth in chapter 290.
The state board shall affirm, modify, or reverse the school board’s decision on the basis of the
information provided in the application indicating the ability and willingness of the proposed
charter school to meet the requirements of section 256F.1, subsection 3, and section 256F.4.
6. Upon approval of an application for the proposed establishment of a charter school, the
school board shall submit an application for approval to establish the charter school to the
state board in accordance with section 256F.5.
7. An application submitted to the state board pursuant to subsection 2, paragraph “b”,
or subsection 6 shall set forth the manner in which the charter school or innovation zone
school will provide special instruction, in accordance with section 280.4, to students who
are English learners. The application shall set forth the manner in which the charter school
or innovation zone school will comply with federal and state laws and regulations relating
to the federal National School Lunch Act and the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42
U.S.C. §1751–1785, and chapter 283A. The state board shall approve only those applications
that meet the requirements specified in section 256F.1, subsection 3, and sections 256F.4 and
3 CHARTER SCHOOLS AND INNOVATION ZONE SCHOOLS, §256F.4
256F.5. The state board may deny an application if the state board deems that approval of the
application is not in the best interest of the affected students.
8. The state board shall approve not more than ten innovation zone consortium
applications.
9. The state board shall not approve a new charter school under this chapter on or after
July 1, 2021.
10. The state board shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 17A for the
implementation of this chapter. If federal rules or regulations relating to the distribution or
utilization of federal funds allocated to the department pursuant to this section are adopted
that are inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, the state board shall adopt rules
to comply with the requirements of the federal rules or regulations. The state board shall
identify inconsistencies between federal and state rules and regulations as provided in this
subsection and shall submit recommendations for legislative action to the chairpersons and
ranking members of the senate and house standing committees on education at the next
meeting of the general assembly.