N.M. Admin. Code § 6.80.4.13 - CHARTER SCHOOL RENEWAL PROCESS AND RENEWAL APPLICATIONS
A. The governing
body of a charter school seeking to renew its charter shall file its renewal
application with a chartering authority no earlier than 270 days prior to the
date the charter expires. Commencing with any charters that are due to expire
at any time after January 1, 2008, all applications for renewal shall be
submitted no later than October 1 of the fiscal year prior to the expiration of
the school's charter The chartering authority shall rule in a public meeting on
the renewal application no later than January 1 of the fiscal year in which the
charter expires.
B. The governing
body may submit its charter renewal application to either the commission or to
the local school board of the school district in which the charter school is
located, but may not submit the renewal application to both authorizers
simultaneously.
C. The application
shall contain:
(1) a report on the progress of
the charter school in achieving the goals, objectives, student performance
standards, state minimum educational standards, and other terms of the initial
approved charter application, including the accountability requirements set
forth in the Assessment and Accountability Act (Sections
22-2C-1 et seq., NMSA,
1978);
(2) a financial statement
that discloses the costs of administration, instruction, and other spending
categories for the charter school that is understandable to the general public,
that will allow comparison of costs to other schools or comparable
organizations and that is in a format required by the department;
(3) any changes to the original charter the
governing board is requesting and any amendment to the initial charter, which
were previously approved;
(4) a
certified petition in support of the charter school renewing its charter status
signed by not less than sixty-five percent of the employees in the charter
school;
(5) a certified petition in
support of the charter school renewing its charter status signed by at least
seventy-five percent of the households whose children are enrolled in the
charter school as identified in the school's 120-day report of the fiscal year
prior to the expiration of the charter;
(6) a description of the charter school
facilities and assurances that the facilities are in compliance with the
requirements of Section
22-8B-4.2 NMSA 1978;
(7) a statement of the term of the renewal
requested, if less than five years; if a charter school renewal application
does not include a statement of the term of the renewal, it will be assumed
that renewal is sought for a term of five years; and
(8) for charter schools located on tribal
land, documentation of ongoing tribal consultation pursuant to Section
22-8B-12.2 NMSA 1978 and
applicable federal laws and rules.
D. A chartering authority may refuse to renew
a charter if it determines that:
(1) the
charter school committed a material violation of any of the conditions,
standards, or procedures set forth in the charter contract;
(2) the charter school failed to meet or make
substantial progress toward achievement of the department's minimum educational
standards or student performance standards.
(3) the charter school failed to meet
generally accepted standards of fiscal management;
(4) the charter school violated any provision
of law from which the charter school was not specifically exempted;
(5) the public school capital outlay council
has determined that the facilities do not meet the standards required in
Section 22-8B-4.2 NMSA 1978; or
(6) for a charter school located on tribal
land, the charter school failed to comply with ongoing tribal consultation
pursuant to Section
22-8B-12.2 NMSA 1978, Paragraph
(8) of Subsection C of
6.80.4.13 NMAC, or applicable
federal laws and rules.
E. If the chartering authority refuses to
approve a charter school renewal application or approves the renewal
application with conditions, it shall state its reasons for the non-renewal or
imposition of conditions in writing within 14 days of the public meeting at
which the vote was taken. The written decision shall restate the motion that
was voted on in the public meeting and shall restate the reasons that were
voted on in the public meeting during which the vote was taken. The written
decision shall include specific reference to those reasons enumerated in
Subsection D of
6.80.4.13 NMAC as well as a
detailed explanation of the reason(s) that formed a basis for denial of the
application, or approval with conditions, on a form developed by the
department.
F. If the chartering
authority grants renewal of a charter, it shall deliver the approved charter to
the applicant and a copy to the chartering authority.
G. If the approved charter contains a waiver
request for release from department rules or the Public School Code, the
department shall notify the authorizer and the charter school whether the
request is granted or denied and, if denied, the reasons thereto.
H. If the authorizer refuses to approve a
charter school renewal application or imposes conditions for renewal that are
unacceptable to the charter applicant, the applicant may appeal the decision to
the secretary pursuant to Sections
22-8B-7 NMSA 1978 and
6.80.4.14 NMAC.
I. The chartering authority and charter
school shall consult with the tribe(s), pursuant to Subsections C and D of
Section 22-8B-12.2 NMSA 1978, prior to the
suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal of a charter school located on tribal
land.
J. The provisions of this
section shall apply to conversion schools.
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.