§ 20-A §2407 — Charter applications

1.
Application.
An applicant for approval as a public charter school must submit an application as set out in this section. An applicant may submit an application only to an authorizer that has issued a request for proposals in accordance with section 2406. An applicant may submit a proposal for a particular public charter school to no more than one authorizer at a time. The purposes of the application are to present the proposed public charter school's academic and operational vision and plans, demonstrate the applicant's capacities to execute the proposed vision and plans and provide the authorizer a clear basis for assessing the applicant's plans and capacities.
2.
Conversion of existing noncharter public schools.
A noncharter public school or public school program may apply to its local school board to become a conversion public charter school.
3.
Start-up schools.
An application for a start-up public charter school may be submitted by a nonprofit, nonreligious organization. If the organizers of a start-up public charter school have been affiliated with a previous school or education program, they must form a separate nonprofit organization in this State to be eligible for state and federal grants.
4.
Application review process.
In reviewing and evaluating applications, authorizers shall employ procedures, practices, criteria and standards consistent with nationally recognized principles and standards for authorizing high-quality public charter schools.
5.
Approval; denial.
No later than 90 days after the deadline set by the authorizer for the filing of applications, an authorizer shall render a decision on each application. The authorizer shall make and announce all charter decisions in a meeting open to the public.

Legislative History

PL 2011, c. 414, §5 (NEW). PL 2013, c. 272, §1 (AMD). PL 2015, c. 54, §2 (AMD).