Or. Admin. Code § 581-026-0400 - Process to Renew Charter
(1) A
public charter school governing body must request renewal of the charter
(contract) by the sponsor in writing at least 180 days before expiration of the
charter.
(2) When a sponsor has
received a written request from a public charter school governing body, the
sponsor must schedule and hold a public hearing on the renewal request within
45 days from the receipt of the request for renewal.
(3) Within 30 days after the public hearing,
the sponsor must either:
(a) Renew the
charter; or
(b) State in writing
the reasons for denying the renewal of the charter.
(4)
(a) A
sponsor must base its decision to renew or not renew a charter on a good faith
evaluation of whether the charter school:
(A)
Is in compliance with state and federal laws;
(B) Is in compliance with the terms of the
prior charter;
(C) Is meeting or
working toward meeting the student performance goals and agreements specified
in the charter or any other written agreements between the sponsor and the
public charter school governing body;
(D) Is fiscally stable and evidence that a
sound financial management system described in the proposal submitted under ORS
338.045 and incorporated into
the written charter was used; and
(E) Is in compliance with any renewal
criteria specified in the previous charter, if any.
(b) As used in this section, "good faith
evaluation" means an evaluation of all criteria required by this section
resulting in a conclusion that a reasonable person would come to who is
informed of the law and the facts before that person.
(5) The sponsor must base the evaluation
described in subsection (4) of this rule primarily on a review of the public
charter school's annual performance reports, annual audit of accounts and
annual site visit and review as required by ORS
338.095 and any other
information mutually agreed upon by the public charter school governing body
and the sponsor.
(6)
(a) If the sponsor renews the charter, the
sponsor and public charter school governing body shall negotiate in good faith
a new charter within 90 days after the date on which the sponsor approved the
renewal of the charter, unless both parties agree to an extension of
time.
(b) If the sponsor and the
charter school governing body have not executed a new charter agreement within
90 days after the date on which the sponsor approved the renewal of the charter
or an alternative date agreed to by both parties, the expiring charter shall
remain in effect until a new charter is negotiated.
(c) As used in this section, "negotiate in
good faith" means to negotiate with an honest exchange of the facts of the
matters under consideration with a view to obtaining agreement of each of the
parties involved.
(7) If
the sponsor does not renew the charter, the public charter school governing
body may address the reasons for nonrenewal and resubmit its request to the
sponsor within 30 days after the date on which the sponsor notified the public
charter school governing body of the decision not to renew the charter. If a
sponsor receives a revised request under this section, the sponsor shall review
the request using the process required by subsections (2) to (6) of this rule.
A public charter school governing board may only submit a revised request once
under this section unless otherwise specified by the sponsor.
(8) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (7) of
this rule, a sponsor and a public charter school governing body may agree in
the charter of the school to a timeline for renewing the charter that is
different from the timeline required by subsections (1) to (7) of this
rule.
(9) The State Board of
Education delegates to the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee all
administrative functions necessary or reasonable in order to determine if the
charter of a school sponsored by the state board should be renewed. The
Superintendent or designee shall follow the procedures and timelines required
by this rule. This delegation to the Superintendent or designee includes, but
is not limited to:
(a) Determining the form,
contents, and timelines of the renewal;
(b) Determining the records required for
determining the renewal and ordering the production of those records from the
public charter school governing body and establishing timelines for the
production of those records;
(c)
Requiring the charter school governing body to respond to written or oral
inquiries related to the sponsorship;
(d) Delegating the sponsorship function to
Department of Education staff or a hearings officer to conduct a hearing and to
issue a proposed order; and
(e)
Issuing a final order.
(10) If the sponsor does not renew the
charter based on the revised request for renewal submitted under subsection (7)
of this rule, the public charter school governing body may:
(a) If the sponsor is a school district,
appeal the decision of the sponsor to the State Board of Education under OAR
581-026-0405.
(b) If the sponsor is
the State Board of Education, seek judicial review of the final order under ORS
183.484.
(11) A public charter school must submit a
copy of the renewed charter to the Oregon Department of Education.
Notes
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 338.025
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 338.065
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