Charter renewal regulations released for comment
SBE also extends emergency regulations on Parent Empowerment
Published: March 22, 2011
While they could bring needed clarity to the process for renewing school charters, regulations circulating for comment through March 28 include a tight timeline that could pose problems for charter authorizers.
“If a governing board fails to make written factual findings as to why the charter school is not renewed within 60 days of a charter school’s submission of a complete petition for renewal, the renewal petition shall be deemed approved,” according to the draft regulations, which are available on the California Department of Education’s Charter Renewal and Appeals Web page. Charter petitioners and authorizers could extend the period by an additional 30 days by written mutual agreement.
“The proposed regulations require automatic renewal if an authorizer misses the deadline, which could be disastrous on many policy fronts. School districts that are current authorizers should take a close look at the regulations and let us know of any concerns,” said CSBA Senior Policy Consultant Stephanie Farland, who can be reached at sfarland@csba.org.
The regulations specify the information charter operators would have to provide to have their renewal applications considered complete, and they would establish criteria under which the applications should be evaluated. They would also specify the grounds and timelines under which county offices of education or the State Board can take up appeals of rejected renewal applications.
The State Board of Education cleared the draft regulations for public comment at its March 10 meeting in Sacramento. It has not been announced when the proposal will return to the State Board for action.
Parent Empowerment
The panel also extended emergency regulations implementing the Parent Empowerment Act and scheduled a special meeting April 21 on permanent regulations.
Signed into law as part of California’s unsuccessful bid for competitive funding under the federal Race to the Top program, the Parent Empowerment Act allows parents or guardians of students in up to 75 academically struggling schools to petition their school district to implement one of Race to the Top’s school restructuring models—including closing a school entirely.
Only one petition has been submitted so far, in the Compton Unified School District. It was ultimately rejected, but as many as three dozen or more may be circulating, State Board member Patricia Rucker noted in casting the only vote against extending the emergency regulations. Rucker, part of the new majority appointed to the State Board soon after Gov. Jerry Brown took office, cited confusion and controversy over the regulations in Compton, such as questions about who can circulate the petitions, who can sign them and how the signatures can be verified on the regulations approved by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appointees to the State Board.
CSBA Research and Policy Analyst Marguerite Noteware is part of a stakeholder group that is working with the California Department of Education as it drafts permanent regulations for the State Board’s consideration.