BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1263
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1263 (Pavley)
As Amended August 22, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :21-12
EDUCATION 5-2
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Gonzalez, | | |
| |Nazarian, Weber, Williams | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Olsen, Ch�vez | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes a charter school to locate outside the
jurisdiction of the chartering school district with written
approval from the school district within the jurisdiction of
which the charter school chooses to operate and 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 were approved
prior to April 1, 2013, and are in operation with students
enrolled and attending before September 15, 2014; and, prohibits
a school district with a negative certification from authorizing
new charter schools located outside of their jurisdiction.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes a charter school that is unable to locate within
the jurisdiction of the chartering school district to
establish one facility outside the boundaries of the
authorizer, but within the county in which that authorizer is
located, if either of the following exist:
a) The school district within the jurisdiction of which the
charter school proposes to operate provides written
approval to the chartering school district before the
charter petition is approved for that facility and before
each charter petition renewal.
b) The facility is needed for temporary use during the
period of construction for a construction or expansion
project, for up to 18 months, unless the school district in
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which the charter school proposes to operate approves of a
longer period of time. The charter school shall provide
written notice before the charter petition is approved to
the school district within the jurisdiction of which the
charter school proposes to temporarily operate, the county
superintendent of schools, and the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
2)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
least 60 days before the beginning of the school year:
a) The name of the chartering school district;
b) The physical address of the temporary site at which the
charter school will locate;
c) The reason for the temporary location;
d) The physical address 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.
3)Authorizes a charter school to continue to operate a facility
outside the boundaries of the chartering school district if
both of the following apply:
a) The charter school was authorized before April 1, 2013,
to locate at that facility.
b) The charter school operated that facility with pupils
enrolled and attending before September 15, 2014.
4)Specifies that an existing charter school that does not meet
the requirements above may continue to operate the facility
outside the boundaries of the chartering school district if
the school district within the jurisdiction of which the
charter school operates provides written approval to the
chartering school district.
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5)Specifies a charter school may operate a facility outside the
boundaries of the chartering school district if either of the
following apply:
a) The charter school is an American Indian charter school,
where pupils identified as American Indian or Alaska Native
comprise more than 50% of the charter school's enrollment.
b) The charter school meets the eligibility criteria for
the Alternative Schools Accountability model adopted by the
state board.
6)Prohibits a school district that is assigned negative
certification to authorize new charter schools that would
locate outside the authorizing school district.
7)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
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 of Public Instruction 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 Sections 47605 and
47605.1)
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : This bill authorizes a charter school to locate
outside the jurisdiction of the chartering school district with
written approval from the school district within the
jurisdiction of which the charter school chooses to operate.
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This 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 18 months unless authorization from the
neighboring school district has been given. This bill
grandfathers in existing charter schools that were approved
prior to April 1, 2013, and will be in operation with students
enrolled prior to September 15, 2014. Lastly, this 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
located, there is no way to resolve or address concerns and
issues. Since 2011, the five 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 Los Angeles 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, this bill requires charter schools to obtain
approval from the school district where it chooses to operate if
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they choose to locate outside of their authorizing district.
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 18 months
during a construction project. This bill authorizes a longer
stay if the neighboring school district approves. School
construction typically lasts a minimum of two to five years.
Grandfathering Existing Schools: This bill authorizes existing
charter schools that are located outside the jurisdiction of
their authorizer to continue to operate, if the charter was
approved prior to April 1, 2013, and is in operation with
students enrolled prior to September 15, 2014.
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
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authorizing a new charter school to be located outside their
jurisdiction.
Arguments in Support: The Castaic Union School District
supports this 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 this
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."
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0005221