BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1263
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 25, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
SB 1263 (Pavley) - As Amended: June 17, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 21-12
SUBJECT : Charter schools: location.
SUMMARY : Deletes the authorization for a charter school to
locate outside the jurisdiction of the chartering school
district, due to site unavailability and instead authorizes a
charter school to temporarily locate outside the jurisdiction of
a chartering school district for purposes of construction, as
specified; authorizes existing charter schools that are located
outside the jurisdiction of the chartering school district to
continue operation if they are in operation with students
enrolled and attending before July 1, 2014; and, prohibits a
school district with a negative certification from authorizing
new charter schools located outside of their jurisdiction.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Deletes the authorization for a charter school to locate one
site outside the jurisdiction of the charter authorizer, but
within the county in which that authorizer is located, when a
facility is unavailable.
2)Authorizes a charter school that is unable to locate within
the jurisdiction of the chartering school district to
establish one site outside the boundaries of the authorizer,
but within the county in which that authorizer is located, if
the school district within the jurisdiction of which the
charter school proposes to operate is notified in advance of
the charter petition approval, the county superintendent of
schools and the Superintendent (SPI) are notified of the
location of the charter school before it commences operations,
and the site is needed for temporary use for up to one school
year during a construction or expansion project, unless the
school district in which the charter school intends to operate
consents to a longer period of time.
3)Requires a charter school locating outside the authorizing
school district during a construction project, to notify all
parents of enrolled students of the following information, at
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least 60 days before the beginning of the school year:
a) The name of the authorizing school district;
b) The location of the temporary site at which the charter
school will locate;
c) The reason for the temporary location;
d) The location of the site the charter school intends to
locate within the authorizing school district after the
temporary site; and,
e) The contact information, including but not limited to,
the name, phone number, and email address of a person
employed by the governing board of the charter school for
questions or additional information.
4)Allows a charter school that was authorized to locate, and
operate, a site outside the boundaries of the authorizing
school district at which pupils were enrolled and attending
before July 1, 2014, to continue to operate the site outside
the boundaries of the authorizing school district until the
charter school applies for renewal of its charter; and,
requires the chartering school district, at the time of the
charter school renewal, to make the following findings in
order for the charter school to continue operating outside the
boundaries of the authorizing school district:
a) That there is no site within the boundaries of the
authorizing school district for the charter school to
locate.
b) That only one site is located outside the boundaries of
the authorizing school district.
c) If the governing board of the authorizing school
district does not make the findings described above, the
charter school shall not operate a site outside the
boundaries of the authorizing school district after renewal
of its charter unless the school district in which the site
is located consents to the location of the charter school
site.
5)Prohibits a school district that is assigned negative
certification to authorize new charter schools that would
locate outside the authorizing school district.
6)Declares Legislative intent to close the statutory loopholes
authorizing a charter school to locate outside the geographic
boundaries of the chartering school district.
EXISTING LAW specifies that a charter school that is unable to
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locate within the jurisdiction of the chartering school district
may establish one site outside the boundaries of the authorizer,
but within the county in which that school district is located,
if the school district within the jurisdiction of which the
charter school proposes to operate is notified in advance of the
charter petition approval, the county superintendent of schools
and the Superintendent are notified of the location of the
charter school before it commences operations, and either of the
following circumstances exists:
1)The school has attempted to locate a single site or facility
to house the entire program, but a site or facility is
unavailable in the area in which the school chooses to locate.
2)The site is needed for temporary use during a construction or
expansion project. (Education Code 47605 and 47605.1)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : This bill deletes the current authorization for a
charter school to locate outside the jurisdiction of the
chartering school district, when a site is unavailable within
the jurisdiction of the chartering school district. However,
the bill authorizes existing charter schools that are located
outside the jurisdiction of the chartering school district to
continue operation, if they are in operation with students
enrolled and attending before July 1, 2014. The bill continues
the existing authorization for a charter school to temporarily
locate outside the jurisdiction of a chartering school district
for purposes of construction, but limits the duration to one
year unless authorization from the neighboring school district
has been given. Lastly, the bill prohibits a school district
with a negative certification from authorizing new charter
schools located outside their jurisdiction.
According to the author, "SB 1263 closes a loophole in current
law which allows a charter school to operate outside of its
authorizing district on an indefinite basis. Under state law, a
charter school may, in certain circumstances, be authorized by
one school district but locate in another. This has created
problems in Santa Clarita, where a charter school organization
applied for a charters in one district, but located the schools
within surrounding districts which have denied them multiple
times. The districts where the charter schools were located in
were then improperly notified and the facilities selected to
host the school were deemed inadequate. Since the charter
school isn't authorized by the district in which they are
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located, there is no way to resolve or address concerns and
issues. Since 2011, the 5 Santa Clarita Superintendents have
sent 16 letters to local, county, state, and Federal officials.
Yet the State Department of Education has told the Santa Clarita
districts that state law does not provide any remedies and that
any issues must be resolved by the authorizing district."
The author further states, "Ultimately, this is about funding -
since 2012, the school district (Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School
District) has approved 15 charters even though the district has
less than 2,500 students. Additionally, the school district is
receiving 3.5% of the revenues from the 15 charters it has
authorized through "Oversight Fees" and "Administrative
Services." This alone is illegal and has triggered an audit by
the LA County Office of Education. It should also be noted that
the authorizing school district is listed as being in negative
certification, meaning the Department of Education believes that
the district will be unable to meet its financial obligations in
the current fiscal year. In order to remedy this situation, SB
1263 deletes the ability for charter schools to locate outside
of their authorizing district. This would, in effect, prevent a
charter school from being able to operate outside of its
authorizing district indefinitely and remove the business model
that the authorizing school district has implemented. This is
consistent with the intent of California law, which was for the
charter school to be located within its authorizing district."
Notice to Parents : This bill requires charter schools located
outside the jurisdiction of their authorizer to send a notice to
parents with specific information about where the school is
located and who is the authorizer. This is intended to help
clear up confusion that may be happening. According to the
author, parents in some areas are being told that a charter
school will be located near them in the future, but they are
currently located a distance away.
Construction : This bill authorizes charter schools to locate
outside the jurisdiction of their authorizer for one year during
a construction project. The bill authorizes a longer stay if the
neighboring school district approves. School construction
typically lasts a minimum of two to five years. The committee
should consider whether one year is long and enough and whether
the bill should allow charters to temporarily locate outside the
jurisdiction of the authorizer during the period of actual
construction.
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Grandfathering Existing Schools : This bill authorizes existing
charter schools that are located outside the jurisdiction of
their authorizer to continue to operate, if the authorizing
school district makes a finding that the school is in compliance
with existing law. This means that the school has only one
location outside the jurisdiction of the authorizer due to a
lack of site availability within the authorizer's jurisdiction.
Existing charter schools are grandfathered in, if they were in
operation before July 1, 2014, which means they must have been
in operation for the 2013-14 school year. According to the
California Charter School Association, there are approximately
22 schools state-wide that operate outside the jurisdiction of
their chartering authority.
Negative Certification : Local education agencies (LEAs) are
required to file two reports during the fiscal year (interim
reports) on the status of the LEA's fiscal health. The first
report is due December 15 and the second report is due March 17.
The interim reports must include a certification of whether or
not the LEA is able to meet its financial obligations. The
certifications are classified as positive, qualified, or
negative. A positive certification is assigned when the district
will meet its financial obligations for the current and two
subsequent fiscal years. A qualified certification is assigned
when the district may not meet its financial obligations for the
current or two subsequent fiscal years. A negative certification
is assigned when a district will be unable to meet its financial
obligations for the remainder of the current year or for the
subsequent fiscal year. This bill prohibits a school district
with a negative certification from authorizing a new charter
school to be located outside their jurisdiction. The bill
specifies that school districts with a negative certification
are prohibited from authorizing new charter schools outside
their jurisdiction, but what about county offices of education
that have a negative certification? The committee should
consider whether county offices of education with a negative
certification should be allowed to authorize new charter
schools.
Committee Amendments : The committee should consider the
following amendments:
1)Specify that charter schools can locate outside the
jurisdiction of their authorizer for construction, during the
actual construction period, not to exceed 18 months.
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Authorize a longer stay if approved by the host district.
2)Authorize a charter school to locate outside the jurisdiction
of the authorizer, with written approval from the host
district as part of the charter petition and at each renewal
period.
3)Delete the grandfathering language from the bill and instead
authorize existing charter schools that are located outside
the jurisdiction of their authorizer to continue operation if
the site was authorized before April 1, 2013 and had pupils
attending before September 1, 2014. Authorize existing charter
schools to continue operation if they don't meet the
authorization date and operation date above, if they obtain
written approval from the host district.
Arguments in Support : The Castaic Union School District
supports the bill and states, "This measure addresses the
loopholes in charter law that permit charter schools to locate
outside of the authorizing school district?.Once the charter
school has set up operations in a neighboring district, it often
stays. No government entity except the authorizing district has
the practical ability to require the charter school to comply
with current law. Furthermore, the chartering school district
has a financial incentive to keep the charter school operating
outside of its geographical boundaries. The law is broken and
charter schools in various parts of the state have abused this
lack of enforcement authority."
Arguments in Opposition : The Classical Academies opposes the
bill and states, "SB 1263 would remove the current allowance
available to charter schools to place one school site outside of
its authorizing district under extenuating circumstances. While
I understand that Senator Pavley is attempting to address a
situation in her district dealing with the actions of a single
school district, this bill offers the wrong solution to a local
problem. Eliminating this option for charter schools aggravates
the challenges that some charter schools have in finding
educationally appropriate school facilities. Charter schools
have limited funding and authority to acquire or build school
facilities and are often forced to be innovative in securing a
desirable location for their students. We have had to look
outside our community for facility options for programming and
this legislation would greatly impact our operations and ability
to meet the needs of students at The Classical Academies."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
Castaic Union Elementary School District
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Newhall Elementary School District
San Diego Unified School District
Saugus Union Elementary School District
Sulphur Springs Union Elementary School District
William S. Hart High School District
Wiseburn School District
Opposition
Albert Einstein Academies for Letters, Arts and Sciences
California Charter Schools Association Advocates
Environmental Charter Middle School
Kid Street Learning Center
Pacific Charter Institute
Rocklin Academy
The Classical Academies
Twin Hills School District
Numerous individuals
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087