4 AAC 33.110 - Charter school application and review procedure
(a)
The application procedure required under
AS
14.03.250(a) for the
establishment of an initial or renewed charter for a charter school must be in
writing and must be available upon request at the school district's central
office. The local school board shall require an applicant to submit sufficient
information so that the local school board may conduct a thorough review of the
proposed charter school. An application must be in the format that the
department requires. An application, upon final approval by the State Board of
Education and Early Development, operates as the charter for the school. In
addition to meeting the requirements of
AS
14.03.250(a), an application
must include
(1) a list of the members of the
academic policy committee and their qualifications;
(3) the length of the term of the contract
required under
AS
14.03.255(c);
(4) the charter school's bylaws;
(5) a description of the education program to
be offered at the charter school and mechanisms for student assessment to be
utilized in addition to those required under state law;
(6) a written instructional program that
addresses state content standards under 4 AAC 04 and that aligns with the
content on the statewide student assessment system under
4 AAC 06.710 -
4 AAC 06.790;
(7) written objectives for program
achievement;
(8) a description of
and schedule for staff development activities;
(9) a school schedule and calendar;
(10) plans for serving special
education, vocational education, gifted, and bilingual students;
(11) written admissions policies and
procedures;
(12) if the charter
school is the only school in the community, an alternative option for students
not wishing to attend the charter school;
(13) a written administrative policy manual;
(14) a written budget summary and
financial plan, including
(A) a statement of
the charter school's funding allocation from the local school board and costs
assignable to the charter school program budget; and
(B) the method by which the charter school
will account for receipts and expenditures;
(15) a written plan for the charter school's
facility;
(16) a written plan that
addresses the teacher-to-student ratio, including projected enrollment figures;
(17) a written student recruitment
process, including a lottery or random drawing mechanism for enrollment if
applicants exceed the school's capacity;
(18) a requested or existing exemption for the charter school from
a written collective bargaining contract;
(19) a plan for student transportation and
the district charter school transportation policy, if proposed or adopted;
(20) the written termination
clause that must appear in the contract between the charter school and the
local school board;
(21) proof of
compliance with applicable law; and
(22) other documents or information the
district needs to evaluate the proposed charter school.
(b) Not later than 30 days after a local
school board's decision to approve an initial application or a renewal
application for a charter school, the local school board shall forward the
application to the State Board of Education and Early Development for review
and approval under
AS
14.03.250(c) by mailing to
the department
(1) the complete application
filed with the local school board, including all supporting documents required
under (a) of this section;
(2) the
written decision of the local school board;
(3) all other materials considered by the
local school board in support of or in opposition to the application; and
(4) the minutes of the local
school board meeting at which the charter school was
approved.
(c) An initial
application for a charter school approved by a local school board may not be
submitted to the department under (b) of this section more than 12 months
before the planned start up date for the new school. A renewal application for
a charter school approved by a local school board may not be submitted to the
department under (b) of this section more than 12 ยท months before the
expiration of the existing contract.
(d) An initial application and a renewal
application approved by a local school board and submitted to the department
under (b) of this section must be received by the department at least 90 days
before the next regularly scheduled meeting of the State Board of Education and
Early Development.
(e) The State
Board of Education and Early Development will review an initial application or
a renewal application approved by the local school board and submitted to the
department under (b) of this section. The State Board of Education and Early
Development will consider an initial application or a renewal application in
the order in which it is received.
(f) Not later than 60 days after a local
school board issues a decision to deny an initial application or a renewal
application for a charter school, an applicant may file a notice of appeal to
the commissioner under
AS
14.03.250(d). In the notice
of appeal, the applicant must specify the grounds for its appeal, stating
which, if any, finding of fact or conclusion of law in the local school board's
decision is alleged to be in error. If the applicant alleges that a finding of
fact is in error, the applicant must specify in the notice of appeal the
evidence in the record before the local school board that supports a contrary
finding of fact. With the notice of appeal, the applicant must file with the
commissioner
(1) the complete application
submitted to the local school board, including all supporting documents
required under (a) of this section;
(2) the written decision of the local school
board;
(3) any other materials
considered by the local school board in support of or in opposition to the
application;
(4) the minutes of the
local school board meeting at which the application was approved or denied, or
if the minutes are not yet available, the date on which the minutes will be
available for review by the department; and
(5) not later than 10 working days after
receiving the commissioner's written request for a hearing transcript, a
transcript of any recorded testimony presented to the local school board
regarding the charter school application.
(g) The commissioner will review an appeal of
a local school board decision denying an initial or renewal application for a
charter school under
AS
14.03.250(d).
(h) If the commissioner upholds the denial of
an application, the applicant may file an appeal of the commissioner's decision
to the State Board of Education and Early Development not later than 30 days
after the issuance of the commissioner's decision. The commissioner will
forward the appeal to the State Board of Education and Early Development
immediately for consideration at its next meeting. The State Board of Education
and Early Development will issue a decision not later than 90 days after the
filing of an appeal of a commissioner's decision upholding a denial of an
application.
(i) If the
commissioner approves an initial or renewal application by overturning a denial
by the local school board, the commissioner will forward the application and
record to the State Board of Education and Early Development not later than 30
days after the commissioner issues a written decision of approval. The State
Board of Education and Early Development will consider the application at its
next meeting.
(j) The State Board
of Education and Early Development will not approve an application that
contains insufficient information to determine compliance with applicable
law.
(k) A decision of the State
Board of Education and Early Development granting or denying approval for a
charter school application is a final agency action for purposes of an appeal
to the superior court.
Notes
The address for mailing the materials described in 4 AAC 33.110(b) is Commissioner, Department of Education and Early Development, P. O. BOX 110500, 801 West Tenth Street, Juneau, Alaska 99801-0500.
As of Register 151 (October 1999), the regulations attorney made technical revisions under AS 44.62.125(b)(6) to reflect the name change of the Department of Education to the Department of Education and Early Development made by ch. 58, SLA 1999, and the corresponding title change of the commissioner of education.
Authority:AS 14.03.250
AS 14.03.253
AS 14.03.255
AS 14.03.280
AS 14.07.020
AS 14.07.060
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.