HB 24-1363

HB 24-1363, also known as the Charter Schools Accountability Bill, aims to enhance transparency and accountability in Colorado's charter schools. It requires that at least one-third of a charter school’s governing board members are parents or guardians of enrolled students and reflect the community demographics. The bill also mandates clear disclosure of waived laws and policies on both district and charter school websites, and it demands public reporting of financial documents like federal form 990. Additionally, it sets new requirements for charter applications and renewals to address unmet educational needs in the community and specifies enrollment numbers. Signed into law, this bill will now be implemented with its provisions affecting how charter schools operate and are governed in Colorado.

Official Summary

The bill requires, when appointing members to a charter school's governing body, that the appointing authority make reasonable efforts to ensure that at least one-third of the board is comprised of parents or legal guardians of students who are enrolled in the charter school and people who reflect the demographics of the community where the charter school is located. The bill prohibits: Automatic waivers from being included in charter contracts executed or renewed on or after July 1, 2024; and A charter contract from waiving educator personnel performance evaluation system requirements. Under current law, a charter school is not required to pay rent for school district facilities that are available, and an independent charter school is not required to pay more than $12 in rent per year for a building of a public school that is subject to conversion. The bill repeals this provision. The bill repeals a requirement that a school district prepare, and provide upon request, a list of vacant or underused buildings and land to the district charter schools, charter school applicants, and other interested persons, and repeals the ability of a district charter school or charter school applicant to apply to use the district building or land. The bill requires information about laws and policies waived by the charter school to be provided in plain and easy-to-understand language on: A school district's enrollment website portal; and A charter school's website. Failure to satisfy this requirement is grounds for revocation or nonrenewal of the charter contract. The bill requires a charter school to publicly report on its website its unredacted federal form 990 and an unredacted copy of any form including revenue and expenses related to marketing and student recruitment, except for redactions required to protect personal or confidential information. The bill requires a charter school application or renewal to include: Descriptions of educational services that the applicant will provide that meet the unmet needs of the students in the community where the charter school is located and, in a charter renewal application, information concerning the progress and results in satisfying this purpose; and Its annual minimum pupil enrollment requirement. Failure to satisfy this requirement is grounds for revocation or nonrenewal of the charter contract. Under current law, certain local board of education (local board) decisions may be appealed to the state board of education (state board). The state board may remand a decision to the local board for reconsideration. If the local board's decision remains unchanged, that decision may be appealed to the state board again. The state board's decision is then the final decision. The bill repeals the second remand to the state board, so that the local board's final decision ends the appeal process. The bill creates a process for community members to appeal a local board's decision to approve a charter application. Under current law, a local board is prohibited from imposing a moratorium on the approval of district charter schools. The bill creates an exception for a school district whose pupil enrollment is less than the immediately preceding budget year or is projected to decline over the next 3 budget years. The bill allows a local board to revoke or not renew a district charter school charter because of the school district's declining pupil enrollment or the district charter school's declining enrollment. The charter school may appeal the decision. Under current law, a district accountability committee is required to review a charter school application. The bill requires a district accountability committee to also review a charter school renewal application. The bill prohibits a charter school governing board member or leader from engaging in activity or having any financial interest that might result in a conflict of interest between the board member's or leader's charter school duties and personal or financial interest. Under current law, as a part of a charter school contract, the school district and charter school negotiate funding. A school district may retain the actual amount of the charter school's per pupil share of central administrative overhead costs for services provided to the charter school, up to 5% of the district per pupil revenues for each pupil enrolled in a charter school. The bill requires the school district to retain the costs, including any costs that are otherwise not reimbursed for special education services provided to the charter school, and repeals the 5% cap. Under current law, the department of education is required to submit an annual report to the governor and the house of representatives and senate education committees concerning charter schools. The bill requires the report to include data concerning attrition rates for charter school student enrollment and teacher and administration employment. Current law generally requires school districts and boards of cooperative services to evaluate the performance of their licensed personnel. The bill requires an evaluation of all personnel, including at institute charter schools, regardless of whether the person is licensed. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

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