Chartered public schools shall be funded as follows:
I.
(a)There shall be no tuition charge for any pupil attending a charter conversion school located in that pupil's resident district. Funding limitations in this chapter shall not be applicable to charter conversion schools located in a pupil's resident district. For a chartered public school authorized by the school district, the pupil's resident district shall pay to such school an amount equal to not less than 80 percent of that district's average cost per pupil as determined by the department of education using the most recent available data as reported by the district to the department. For pupils resident in this state who attend full-time a chartered public school authorized by a school district other than the pupil's resident sc
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Chartered public schools shall be funded as follows:
I. (a) There shall be no tuition charge for any pupil attending a charter conversion school located in that pupil's resident district. Funding limitations in this chapter shall not be applicable to charter conversion schools located in a pupil's resident district. For a chartered public school authorized by the school district, the pupil's resident district shall pay to such school an amount equal to not less than 80 percent of that district's average cost per pupil as determined by the department of education using the most recent available data as reported by the district to the department. For pupils resident in this state who attend full-time a chartered public school authorized by a school district other than the pupil's resident school district, the state shall pay tuition amounts pursuant to RSA 198:40-a directly to the chartered public school for such pupil in the chartered public school's ADMA. Nothing in this subparagraph shall alter or modify the funding of the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School.
(b)(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (2), for a chartered public school authorized by the state board of education pursuant to RSA 194-B:3-a, the state shall pay tuition amounts pursuant to RSA 198:40-a, II(a)-(c) and (e) plus an additional grant of $4,900 to all chartered public schools for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter, except for the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School, directly to the chartered public school for each pupil who is a resident of this state in the chartered public school's ADMA. Beginning July 1, 2024 and every fiscal year thereafter, the department of education shall adjust the per pupil amount of the additional grant pursuant to RSA 198:40-d. The state shall pay amounts required pursuant to RSA 198:40-a, II(d) directly to the resident district.
(B) For the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School authorized pursuant to RSA 194-B:3-a, the state shall pay tuition amounts pursuant to RSA 198:40-a, II(a)-(c) and (e), plus an additional grant of $2,036 directly to the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School for each eligible full-time enrolled pupil in the chartered public school's ADMA. The state shall pay amounts required pursuant to RSA 198:40-a, II(d) directly to the resident district. The state shall also pay tuition amounts pursuant to RSA 198:40-a, II(a) plus an additional grant of $2,036 directly to the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School for each full-time equivalent pupil. Beginning July 1, 2017 and every July 1 thereafter, the department of education shall adjust the per pupil amount of the additional grant pursuant to RSA 198:40-d.
(2) For an online chartered public school which receives its initial authorization to operate from the state board of education pursuant to RSA 194-B:3-a on or after July 1, 2013, the state shall pay tuition amounts pursuant to RSA 198:40-a directly to the online chartered public school for each pupil who is a resident of this state in the chartered public school's ADMA. In this subparagraph, "online chartered public school" means a chartered public school which provides the majority of its classes and instruction on the Internet.
(c) The department of education shall calculate and distribute chartered public school tuition payments as set forth herein. The first payment shall be 30 percent of the per pupil amount multiplied by the number of eligible pupils enrolled and present on the first day of the current school year. Such payment shall be made no later than 15 days after the department of education receives the approved enrollment report. The December 1 payment shall be 30 percent of the per pupil amount multiplied by the membership on October 1, and the March 1 payment shall be 30 percent of the per pupil amount multiplied by the membership on February 1. To calculate the final payment, the department of education shall multiply the per pupil amount by the average daily membership in attendance for the full school year, and subtract the total amount of the first 3 payments made. The remaining balance shall be the final payment. Eligible chartered public schools shall report membership in accordance with RSA 189:1-d. In this subparagraph, "membership" shall be as defined in RSA 189:1-d, II. Tuition amounts shall be prorated on a per diem basis for pupils attending a school for less than a full school year. The average daily membership in attendance for the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School shall be calculated by converting each credit completed into an average daily membership metric utilizing the basis that 12 half-credits equal 1.0 average daily membership. No full-time enrolled pupil at the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School shall have an average daily membership that exceeds 1.0.
(d) The source of funds for payments under this section shall be moneys from the education trust fund established in RSA 198:39. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant from the education trust fund to satisfy the state's obligation under this section. Such warrant for payment shall be issued regardless of the balance of funds available in the education trust fund. If the balance in the education trust fund, after the issuance of any such warrant, is less than zero, the state comptroller shall transfer sufficient funds from the general fund to eliminate such deficit. The commissioner of the department of administrative services shall inform the fiscal committee and the governor and council of such balance. This reporting shall not in any way prohibit or delay the distribution of payments. The department of education may request additional funds from the fiscal committee of the general court, with the approval of governor and council, for a new chartered public school approved for initial operation by the state board of education pursuant to RSA 194-B:3-a.
(e) [Repealed.]
(f) The first 3 payments made pursuant to subparagraph (c) to the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School shall be made based on the estimated end of year full-time student and full-time equivalent student average daily membership in attendance calculation. The department may make a May 1 payment distribution to the Virtual Learning Academy using the most current data to ensure the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School receives an estimated 90 percent of adequacy distribution before the end of the fiscal year. The department of education may adjust down the December 1 or March 1 payment on the estimated average end of year enrollment during the school year for any charter school with a 20 percent or greater enrollment decline after the first day of school.
II. A school district lacking a meaningful basis to determine average expenditure per pupil may use statewide average figures as determined by the department of education for the purposes of this chapter.
III. (a) In accordance with current department of education standards, the funding and educational decision-making process for children with disabilities attending a chartered public school shall be the responsibility of the resident district and shall retain all current options available to the parent and to the school district.
(b) When a child is enrolled by a parent in a chartered public school, the local education agency of the child's resident district shall convene a meeting of the individualized education program (IEP) team and shall invite a representative of the chartered public school to that meeting. At the meeting, the IEP team shall determine how to ensure the provision of a free and appropriate public education in accordance with the child's IEP. For all subsequent meetings of the IEP team, the child's resident district shall provide prior notice to the representative of the chartered public school. The child's special education and related services shall be provided using any or all of the methods listed below starting with the least restrictive environment:
(1) The resident district may send staff to the chartered public school; or
(2) The resident district may contract with a service provider to provide the services at the chartered public school; or
(3) The resident district may provide the services at the resident district school; or
(4) The resident district may provide the services at the service provider's location; or
(5) The resident district may contract with a chartered public school to provide the services; and
(6) If the child requires transportation to and/or from the chartered public school before, after, or during the school day in order to receive special education and related services as provided in the IEP, the child's resident district shall provide transportation for the child.
(c) Consistent with section 5210(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and section 300.209 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, when a parent enrolls a child with a disability in a chartered public school, the child and the child's parents shall retain all rights under federal and state special education law, including the child's right to be provided with a free and appropriate public education, which includes all of the special education and related services included in the child's IEP. The child's resident district shall have the responsibility, including financial responsibility, to ensure the provision of the special education and related services in the child's IEP, and the chartered public school shall cooperate with the child's resident district in the provision of the child's special education and related services.
IV. Federal or other funding available in any year to a sending district shall, to the extent and in a manner acceptable to the funding source, be directed to a chartered public school in a receiving district on an eligible per pupil basis. This funding shall include, but not be limited to, funding under federal Chapters I and II of Title II, and Drug-Free Schools, in whatever form the funding is available in any year. This paragraph shall not apply to funding available to school districts under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
IV-a. The commissioner of the department of education shall apply for all federal funding available to chartered public schools under the No Child Left Behind Act, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or other federal source of funds. The commissioner shall expend any such funds received in a manner acceptable to the funding source.
V. (a) A sending district may provide funds, services, equipment, materials or personnel to a chartered public school, in addition to the amounts specified in this section in accordance with the policies of the sending school district.
(b) A chartered public school may accept pupils at tuition rates at less than the amounts established by this chapter.
(c) A chartered public school, other than a charter conversion school, shall accept an otherwise eligible out-of-district pupil regardless of that pupil's sending district's tuition amount.
VI. A chartered public school may receive financial aid, private gifts, grants, or revenue as if it were a school district. A chartered public school shall not be compelled to accept funding from any source.
VII. [Repealed.]
VIII. [Repealed.]
IX. [Repealed.]
X. There shall be an appropriation in the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2003 for the establishment of chartered public schools under this section. Chartered public schools which are eligible for grants under this program shall match funds provided by the state through private contributions in order to receive funding that exceeds the state's average per pupil cost for the grade level weight of the pupil. State funds shall be provided in addition to any other sums provided by the state. Grants under this section shall be administered and determined by the state board of education which shall have the authority to develop a grant application, written procedures and criteria used to determine eligibility for grants, and procedures for the administration of grants by recipients, including reporting requirements. The total grants provided under this program shall not exceed the amount of money appropriated in the budget, or transferred, or provided by gift or grant to the state for this purpose.
XI. Any money appropriated in the budget for matching chartered public school grants that remains unused after the department of education issues matching grants to eligible recipients under paragraph X shall be used to provide a one-year transitional grant to public school districts that have lost pupils as a result of the establishment of a chartered public school, and have paid tuition to the chartered public school in cash pursuant to subparagraph IX(a). For the first year in which a public school pupil leaves the public school and enrolls in a chartered public school, the school district that loses the pupil shall be eligible for a chartered public school transitional grant beginning July 1, 2004 and every fiscal year thereafter, in an amount per pupil equal to the amount determined in RSA 198:41. Such transitional grants shall be administered by the state board of education which shall have the authority to determine eligibility and the amount of money to be awarded to school districts under this section, subject to the amount appropriated in the budget.
1995, 260:6. 1997, 334:15. 1998, 268:4. 1999, 17:58, VI. 2003, 273:2, 3. 2005, 257:15, 17, 18. 2006, 301:1, 4, 7. 2008, 173:12; 274:27; 274:36; 354:1, 4. 2009, 241:7. 2011, 224:154; 228:2; 258:1. 2012, 185:1. 2013, 144:63. 2015, 276:193, 259; 276:194. 2016, 22:1, 2; 262:2; 262:4. 2017, 156:95, 154, eff. July 1, 2017. 2022, 24:1, eff. June 17, 2022; 175:2, eff. July 1, 2022. 2023, 27:1, eff. July 16, 2023; 79:157, eff. July 1, 2023. 2024, 47:7, eff. July 1, 2024. 2025, 141:81, 82, eff. July 1, 2025.