§ 2851 — Eligible applicants; applications; submission

§ 2851. Eligible applicants; applications; submission. 1. An\napplication to establish a charter school may be submitted by teachers,\nparents, school administrators, community residents or any combination\nthereof. Such application may be filed in conjunction with a college,\nuniversity, museum, educational institution, not-for-profit corporation\nexempt from taxation under paragraph 3 of subsection (c) of section 501\nof the internal revenue code or for-profit business or corporate entity\nauthorized to do business in New York state. Provided however,\nfor-profit business or corporate entities shall not be eligible to\nsubmit an application to establish a charter school pursuant to\nsubdivision nine-a of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of this\narticle, or operate or manage a charter school for a charter issued\npursuant to subdivision nine-a of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two\nof this article. For charter schools established in conjunction with a\nfor-profit business or corporate entity, the charter shall specify the\nextent of the entity's participation in the management and operation of\nthe school.\n 2. The information provided on the application shall be consistent\nwith the provisions of this article and other applicable laws, rules and\nregulations. Such information shall include:\n (a) A mission statement for the school and a description of an\neducational program that implements one or more of the purposes\ndescribed in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of\nthis article.\n (b) A description of student achievement goals for the school's\neducational program and the chosen methods of evaluating that students\nhave attained the skills and knowledge specified for those goals. Such\neducational program shall meet or exceed the student performance\nstandards adopted by the board of regents for other public schools.\n (c) The proposed governance structure of the school, including a list\nof members of the initial board of trustees, a description of the\nqualifications, terms and method of appointment or election of trustees,\nthe organizational structure of the school, a procedure for conducting\nand publicizing monthly board of trustee meetings at each charter\nschool, and the processes to be followed by the school to promote\nparental and staff involvement in school governance.\n (d) Admission policies and procedures for the school, which shall be\nconsistent with the requirements of subdivision two of section\ntwenty-eight hundred fifty-four of this article.\n (e) A proposed budget and fiscal plan for the school, including\nsupporting evidence that the fiscal plan is sound and that sufficient\nstart-up funds will be available to the charter school.\n (f) Requirements and procedures for programmatic and independent\nfiscal audits at least once annually, with such audits being comparable\nin scope to those required of other public schools.\n (g) The hiring and personnel policies and procedures of the school,\nincluding the qualifications to be used in the hiring of teachers,\nschool administrators and other school employees, and a description of\nstaff responsibilities.\n (h) The rules and procedures by which students may be disciplined,\nincluding but not limited to expulsion or suspension from the school,\nwhich shall be consistent with the requirements of due process and with\nfederal laws and regulations governing the placement of students with\ndisabilities.\n (i) The number of students to be served by the school, which number\nshall be at least fifty at a single site and the minimum number of\nteachers to be employed at the school, which shall be at least three.\nProvided, however, that a charter school may serve fewer than fifty\nstudents or employ fewer than three teachers in the school's first year\nof operation or if the applicant presents a compelling justification,\nsuch as the school would serve a geographically remote region.\n (j) Information regarding the facilities to be used by the school,\nincluding the location of the school, if known, and the means by which\npupils will be transported to and from the school. If the facilities to\nbe used by the proposed school are not known at the time the application\nis submitted, the applicant shall notify the charter entity and, if\napplicable, the board of regents within ten business days of acquiring\nfacilities for such school; provided, however, that the charter school\nmust obtain a certificate of occupancy for such facilities prior to the\ndate on which instruction is to commence at the school.\n (k) The name of the proposed charter school, which shall include the\nwords "charter school" and which shall not include the name or\nidentification of a for-profit business or corporate entity.\n (l) A description of the ages and grade levels to be served by the\nschool.\n (m) Identification and background information on all applicants and\nproposed members of the board of trustees.\n (n) The school calendar and school day schedule, which shall provide\nat least as much instruction time during a school year as required of\nother public schools.\n (o) Types and amounts of insurance coverage to be obtained by the\nschool, which shall include adequate insurance for liability, property\nloss and the personal injury of students. The commissioner and the\nsuperintendent of financial services may jointly promulgate regulations\nto implement the provisions of this paragraph.\n (p) The term of the proposed charter, which shall not exceed five\nyears; provided however, in the case of charters issued pursuant to\nsubdivision nine-a of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of this\narticle the term of such proposed charter shall not exceed five years in\nwhich instruction is provided to pupils plus the period commencing with\nthe effective date of the charter and ending with the opening of the\nschool for instruction.\n (q) Evidence of adequate community support for and interest in the\ncharter school sufficient to allow the school to reach its anticipated\nenrollment, and an assessment of the projected programmatic and fiscal\nimpact of the school on other public and nonpublic schools in the area.\n (r) A description of the health and food services to be provided to\nstudents attending the school.\n (s) Methods and strategies for serving students with disabilities in\ncompliance with all federal laws and regulations relating thereto.\n (t) Procedures to be followed in the case of the closure or\ndissolution of the charter school, including provisions for the transfer\nof students and student records to the school district in which the\ncharter school is located and for the disposition of the school's assets\nto the school district in which the charter school is located or another\ncharter school located within the school district. Notwithstanding any\nother provision of law or of a charter to the contrary, such procedures\nshall ensure that upon dissolution of a charter school, any funds\nremaining in the possession of the charter school that can be attributed\nto public funding, after all of its debts and obligations have been\npaid, shall be paid over to each school district having resident\nchildren served by the charter school in the school year in which the\ncharter was dissolved or the last year in which students were enrolled\nin the charter school, in the same proportion as the number of students\nplaced by each school district and served by the charter school in the\nlast school year in which children were served by the charter school,\nbears to the total number of students served by the charter school in\nsuch school year. Provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision\nshall be construed to require a charter school to pay to such districts\nany remaining funds that can be attributed to gifts, donations, grants\nor other authorized charitable contributions.\n (u) Requirements for the grant of a diploma, if the school serves the\ntwelfth grade.\n (v) A code of ethics for the charter school, setting forth for the\nguidance of its trustees, officers and employees the standards of\nconduct expected of them including standards with respect to disclosure\nof conflicts of interest regarding any matter brought before the board\nof trustees.\n (w) A description of the residential facilities, if any, provided by\nthe charter school.\n (x) Any other information relevant to the issuance of a charter\nrequired by the charter entity.\n 3. An applicant shall submit the application to a charter entity for\napproval. For purposes of this article, a charter entity shall be:\n (a) The board of education of a school district eligible for an\napportionment of aid under subdivision four of section thirty-six\nhundred two of this chapter, provided that a board of education shall\nnot approve an application for a school to be operated outside the\nschool district's geographic boundaries and further provided that in a\ncity having a population of one million or more, the chancellor of any\nsuch city school district shall be the charter entity established by\nthis paragraph;\n (b) The board of trustees of the state university of New York; or\n (c) The board of regents.\n The board of regents shall be the only entity authorized to issue a\ncharter pursuant to this article. Notwithstanding any provision of this\nsubdivision to the contrary, an application for the conversion of an\nexisting public school to a charter school shall be submitted to, and\nmay only be approved by, the charter entity set forth in paragraph (a)\nof this subdivision. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the\ncontrary, any such application for conversion shall be consistent with\nthis section but shall not be subject to the process pursuant to\nsubdivision nine-a of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of this\narticle, and the charter entity shall require that the parents or\nguardians of a majority of the students then enrolled in the existing\npublic school vote in favor of converting the school to a charter\nschool.\n 4. Charters may be renewed, upon application, for a term of up to five\nyears in accordance with the provisions of this article for the issuance\nof such charters pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of\nthis article; provided, however, that a renewal application shall\ninclude:\n (a) A report of the progress of the charter school in achieving the\neducational objectives set forth in the charter.\n (b) A detailed financial statement that discloses the cost of\nadministration, instruction and other spending categories for the\ncharter school that will allow a comparison of such costs to other\nschools, both public and private. Such statement shall be in a form\nprescribed by the board of regents.\n (c) Copies of each of the annual reports of the charter school\nrequired by subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-seven\nof this article, including the charter school report cards and the\ncertified financial statements.\n (d) Indications of parent and student satisfaction.\n (e) The means by which the charter school will meet or exceed\nenrollment and retention targets as prescribed by the board of regents\nor the board of trustees of the state university of New York, as\napplicable, of students with disabilities, English language learners,\nand students who are eligible applicants for the free and reduced price\nlunch program which shall be considered by the charter entity prior to\napproving such charter school's application for renewal. When developing\nsuch targets, the board of regents and the board of trustees of the\nstate university of New York shall ensure (1) that such enrollment\ntargets are comparable to the enrollment figures of such categories of\nstudents attending the public schools within the school district, or in\na city school district in a city having a population of one million or\nmore inhabitants, the community school district, in which the charter\nschool is located; and (2) that such retention targets are comparable to\nthe rate of retention of such categories of students attending the\npublic schools within the school district, or in a city school district\nin a city having a population of one million or more inhabitants, the\ncommunity school district, in which the proposed charter school would be\nlocated.\n Such renewal application shall be submitted to the charter entity no\nlater than six months prior to the expiration of the charter; provided,\nhowever, that the charter entity may waive such deadline for good cause\nshown.\n 5. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the\ncontrary for a period of one year from the effective date of this\nsubdivision, a charter school approved by a charter entity listed in\nsubdivision three of this section may apply at any time during this\nperiod to another charter entity, defined in paragraph (a), (b) or (c)\nof subdivision three of this section to request such other charter\nentity to oversee and supervise such charter school. All standards and\nrequirements established in the original charter agreement shall remain\nin effect until the scheduled expiration of such charter agreement and\nprovided however that all obligations of the previous charter entity to\noversee and supervise a charter school shall terminate upon the transfer\nof authorization of such charter school to a new charter entity, as\ndefined in subdivision five of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of\nthis article, and the previous charter entity shall provide in a timely\nfashion information relevant to the charter as requested by such other\ncharter entity. A charter school that seeks to change its charter entity\nmust have met all other requirements of this article and cannot be in\nviolation of any legal requirement, in probationary status, or slated\nfor closure.\n