HB 2200 -- Charter Schools

Sponsor:  Dieckhaus

This bill changes the laws regarding charter schools.  In its
main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Allows charter schools to be operated in an unaccredited
school district or in a school district that has a Title I school
in level 3, 4, or 5 of improvement.  Currently, charter schools
are permitted only in the St. Louis and Kansas City school
districts;

(2)  Expands those authorized to sponsor a charter school to
include a community college whose service area encompasses some
portion of an eligible school district; a private college or
university with its primary campus in Missouri that meets
specified enrollment and program requirements; and the mayor of
St. Louis City;

(3)  Requires a sponsor to develop policies and procedures for
the review of a charter school proposal; the granting of a
charter; and the closing of a charter school, including record
transfer and asset disposition;

(4)  Clarifies that the State Board of Education, when acting as
an interim sponsor, may revoke the charter of the school it is
sponsoring if the school fails to meet academic performance or
other goals as specified in the school's charter;

(5)  Revises the required contents of charters to include an
accountability plan that contains targets and measures for
academic performance, operation and governance, and the school's
mission, when applicable, as well as procedures if the school
should close;

(6)  Requires a proposed charter to be submitted to the sponsor
by August 15 of the year prior to the proposed opening date;

(7)  Specifies that employee criminal history background checks
and family care safety registry checks be required in the
charter;

(8)  Requires the establishment of baseline student performance
data during the first year of operation; collection of the data
throughout the duration of the charter; and participation in the
statewide assessment system to the extent applicable based on the
grade levels offered by the charter school;

(9)  Allows a high risk or alternative charter school to
establish alternative ways for students to obtain credit for
graduation, such as credit for off-campus instruction, work
experience, or embedded instruction.  The Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education, after three years, must
conduct a study of a school which was granted alternative
arrangements to assess student performance, graduation rates,
educational outcomes, and entry into the workforce or higher
education rates;

(10)  Clarifies that the biennial operational review must be
conducted during the first year of operation and every other year
after the most current review;

(11)  Removes the requirement that a charter school become a
local educational agency for the sole purpose of direct access to
federal grants and allows the school to become an agency if the
sponsor and the governing board reach a written agreement to
become an agency;

(12)  Requires, beginning January 1, 2011, a charter school
sponsor as part of the renewal process to demonstrate several
areas of compliance if the school falls below the specified
graduation rate or is in the lowest achieving 5% of Title I
schools.  If compliance cannot be established according to the
deadlines in the bill, the state board may vote to close the
school or to continue it under certain conditions;

(13)  Allows a charter school whose mission includes dropout
prevention or recovery to admit a nonresident student who is
considered high risk or is a dropout from the same or an adjacent
county when the student resides in a residential care facility, a
transitional living group home, or an independent living program.
Resident students will be given preference for admission over
nonresident pupils;

(14)  Requires charter schools operated by management companies
to make copies available for public inspection and upon the
request of specified district residents of the written contract
between the governing board of the charter school and the
educational or charter management organization;

(15)  Allows a charter school student who has moved out of the
school district to finish the current semester at the charter
school.  If school district boundaries change so that a student
attending a charter school no longer resides in the district, the
student may complete the current school year.  In both instances,
the student's parent or legal guardian will be responsible for
the student's transportation to and from the school; and

(16)  Allows the department to withhold funding during a charter
school's last year of operation until it determines that school
records, liabilities, and reporting requirements including a full
audit are satisfied.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:13 pm