§ 21-3-304 — Charter school; requirements; authority

(a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
nonreligious, nonhome-based school which operates within a
public school district. Tuition shall not be charged by a
charter school to any student in grades kindergarten through
twelve (12).
(b) If a charter is granted by a school district, the
charter school shall be a public school within the school
district that grants its charter. If a charter is granted by the
Wyoming charter school authorizing board, the charter school
shall be an independent public school within the district where
the charter school is located. The charter school shall be
accountable to its authorizer for purposes of ensuring
compliance with applicable laws and charter provisions and the
requirements of the state constitution.
(c) A charter school shall be subject to all federal and
state laws and constitutional provisions prohibiting
discrimination on the basis of disability, race, creed, color,
gender, national origin, religion, ancestry or need for special
education services. Enrollment decisions shall be made in a
nondiscriminatory manner specified by the charter school
applicant in the charter school application. Enrollment
decisions shall not discriminate against at-risk students or
students with special education needs. A charter school
sponsored jointly or separately by the Eastern Shoshone or the
Northern Arapaho Indian tribes may give preference to a student
who is a member or eligible for membership in an Indian tribe.
(d) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
a governing body in a manner agreed to by the charter contract.
A charter school may organize as a nonprofit corporation
pursuant to the Wyoming Nonprofit Corporation Act, which shall
not affect its status as a public school for any purposes under
Wyoming law. A charter school organized by a school district may
include school board members or school district employees on its
governing board.
(e) A charter school, as a public school, is a
governmental entity. Direct leases and financial obligations of
a charter school shall not constitute debt or financial
obligations of the authorizer unless the authorizer expressly
assumes the obligations in writing.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of this article to the
contrary, a charter school and the authorizer may agree to
extend the length of the charter beyond five (5) years.
(g) A charter school may operate free from specified
school district policies and state regulations. Pursuant to
contract, a school district may waive locally imposed school
district requirements, without seeking approval of the state
board. The state board may waive state statutory requirements or
rules promulgated by the state board, except that the state
board shall not waive any statute or rule relating to the
assessments or standards required to be administered. Upon
request of the charter applicant, the state board shall provide
summaries of such regulations and policies to use in preparing a
charter school application. The department of education shall
prepare the summary of state regulations within existing
appropriations. Any waiver of state or local school district
regulations made pursuant to this subsection shall be for the
term of the charter for which the waiver is made, except that a
waiver of state statutes or regulations by the state board shall
be subject to review every two (2) years and may be revoked if
the waiver is deemed no longer necessary by the state board.
Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to exempt the charter
school from:
(i) Any civil rights, health or safety requirements
applicable to other public schools in the state except as
specifically provided in this article;
(ii) The student assessment and accountability
requirements applicable to other public schools, provided that
this paragraph shall not prohibit a charter school from
establishing additional student assessment measures;
(iii) The public records act and public meeting
requirements applicable to public schools and school districts
and any federal or state privacy laws applicable to public
schools or school districts.
(h) A charter school shall be responsible for its own
operation including, but not limited to, preparation of a
budget, contracting for services and personnel matters.
(j) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
school district, the governing body of a community college or
the University of Wyoming, or any third party for the use of a
school building and grounds, the operation and maintenance
thereof, and the provision of any service, activity or
undertaking that the charter school is required to perform in
order to carry out the educational program described in its
charter. Any services for which a charter school contracts with
a school district shall be provided by the district at the
incremental cost and may be negotiated as an agreement separate
from a charter contract between the charter school and the
authorizer. For school district capital facilities that are
rented at the time of the charter school application and had
been rented for the immediately preceding six (6) months by a
third party, the net loss of rental income shall be considered
an incremental cost. The charter school shall have standing to
sue and be sued in its own name for the enforcement of any
contract created pursuant to this subsection.
(k) Except as provided in subsection (j) of this section,
a charter school shall not be required to pay rent for space
which is deemed available and adequate by the state construction
department within the applicable district for operation of the
charter school. All other costs for the improvement,
modification, operation and maintenance of school district
facilities used by the charter school shall be subject to
negotiation between the charter school and the district board
and may be negotiated as an agreement separate from a charter
contract between the charter school and the authorizer.
(m) A charter school shall be authorized to offer any
educational program that may be offered by a school district
unless expressly prohibited by its charter or by state law.
(n) Repealed by Laws 2021, ch. 169, § 4.
(o) Repealed by Laws 2021, ch. 169, § 4.
(p) Admission to a charter school shall not be determined
solely on academic abilities or achievements, including minimum
test scores or intelligence quotient scores.
(q) Individuals compensated by an education service
provider shall be prohibited from serving as a voting member on
the governing board of any charter school that contracts with
the education service provider unless waived by the authorizer.
(r) A charter school governing board shall have access to
education service provider records as necessary to oversee the
education service provider contract.