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Chapter 1. General Provisions of California Education Code >> Division 4. >> Title 2. >> Part 26.8. >> Chapter 1.

This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the "Charter Schools Act of 1992."
It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this part, to provide opportunities for teachers, parents, pupils, and community members to establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure, as a method to accomplish all of the following:
  (a) Improve pupil learning.
  (b) Increase learning opportunities for all pupils, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for pupils who are identified as academically low achieving.
  (c) Encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods.
  (d) Create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the schoolsite.
  (e) Provide parents and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system.
  (f) Hold the schools established under this part accountable for meeting measurable pupil outcomes, and provide the schools with a method to change from rule-based to performance-based accountability systems.
  (g) Provide vigorous competition within the public school system to stimulate continual improvements in all public schools.
(a) (1) In the 1998-99 school year, the maximum total number of charter schools authorized to operate in this state shall be 250. In the 1999-2000 school year, and in each successive school year thereafter, an additional 100 charter schools are authorized to operate in this state each successive school year. For the purposes of implementing this section, the State Board of Education shall assign a number to each charter petition that it grants pursuant to subdivision (j) of Section 47605 or Section 47605.8 and to each charter notice it receives pursuant to this part, based on the chronological order in which the notice is received. Each number assigned by the state board on or after January 1, 2003, shall correspond to a single petition that identifies a charter school that will operate within the geographic and site limitations of this part. The State Board of Education shall develop a numbering system for charter schools that identifies each school associated with a charter and that operates within the existing limit on the number of charter schools that can be approved each year. For purposes of this section, sites that share educational programs and serve similar pupil populations may not be counted as separate schools. Sites that do not share a common educational program shall be considered separate schools for purposes of this section. The limits contained in this paragraph may not be waived by the State Board of Education pursuant to Section 33050 or any other provision of law.
  (2) By July 1, 2003, the Legislative Analyst shall, pursuant to the criteria in Section 47616.5, report to the Legislature on the effectiveness of the charter school approach authorized under this part and recommend whether to expand or reduce the annual rate of growth of charter schools authorized pursuant to this section.
  (b) No charter shall be granted under this part that authorizes the conversion of any private school to a charter school. No charter school shall receive any public funds for a pupil if the pupil also attends a private school that charges the pupil's family for tuition. The State Board of Education shall adopt regulations to implement this section.
(a) This part shall not be construed to prohibit any private person or organization from providing funding or other assistance to the establishment or operation of a charter school.
  (b) (1) A charter school may contract with a county superintendent of schools or a county board of education for purposes of borrowing moneys pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 1042.
  (2) Moneys borrowed pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 1042 shall be expended by a charter school solely for purposes of meeting the cash management needs of the charter school due to the deferral of apportionment payments pursuant to Sections 14041.5, 14041.6, 14041.65, and 14041.7 and pursuant to Sections 16325, 16325.5, and 16326 of the Government Code and shall not be used for purposes of making capital acquisitions.
  (c) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and, as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
(a) This part shall not be construed to prohibit any private person or organization from providing funding or other assistance to the establishment or operation of a charter school.
  (b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2017.
(a) Charter schools may elect to operate as, or be operated by, a nonprofit public benefit corporation, formed and organized pursuant to the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law (Part 2 (commencing with Section 5110) of Division 2 of Title 1) of the Corporations Code).
  (b) The governing board of a school district that grants a charter for the establishment of a charter school formed and organized pursuant to this section shall be entitled to a single representative on the board of directors of the nonprofit public benefit corporation.
  (c) An authority that grants a charter to a charter school to be operated by, or as, a nonprofit public benefit corporation is not liable for the debts or obligations of the charter school, or for claims arising from the performance of acts, errors, or omissions by the charter school, if the authority has complied with all oversight responsibilities required by law, including, but not limited to, those required by Section 47604.32 and subdivision (m) of Section 47605.
A charter school shall promptly respond to all reasonable inquiries, including, but not limited to, inquiries regarding its financial records, from its chartering authority, the county office of education that has jurisdiction over the school's chartering authority, or from the Superintendent of Public Instruction and shall consult with the chartering authority, the county office of education, or the Superintendent of Public Instruction regarding any inquiries.
Each chartering authority, in addition to any other duties imposed by this part, shall do all of the following with respect to each charter school under its authority:
  (a) Identify at least one staff member as a contact person for the charter school.
  (b) Visit each charter school at least annually.
  (c) Ensure that each charter school under its authority complies with all reports required of charter schools by law, including the annual update required pursuant to Section 47606.5.
  (d) Monitor the fiscal condition of each charter school under its authority.
  (e) Provide timely notification to the department if any of the following circumstances occur or will occur with regard to a charter school for which it is the chartering authority:
  (1) A renewal of the charter is granted or denied.
  (2) The charter is revoked.
  (3) The charter school will cease operation for any reason.
  (f) The cost of performing the duties required by this section shall be funded with supervisorial oversight fees collected pursuant to Section 47613.
(a) Each charter school shall annually prepare and submit the following reports to its chartering authority and the county superintendent of schools, or only to the county superintendent of schools if the county board of education is the chartering authority:
  (1) On or before July 1, a preliminary budget. For a charter school in its first year of operation, the information submitted pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 47605 satisfies this requirement.
  (2) On or before July 1, an annual update required pursuant to Section 47606.5.
  (3) On or before December 15, an interim financial report. This report shall reflect changes through October 31.
  (4) On or before March 15, a second interim financial report. This report shall reflect changes through January 31.
  (5) On or before September 15, a final unaudited report for the full prior year.
  (b) The chartering authority shall use any financial information it obtains from the charter school, including, but not limited to, the reports required by this section, to assess the fiscal condition of the charter school pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 47604.32.
  (c) The cost of performing the duties required by this section shall be funded with supervisorial oversight fees collected pursuant to Section 47613.
(a) In addition to the authority granted by Sections 1241.5 and 47604.3, a county superintendent of schools may, based upon written complaints by parents or other information that justifies the investigation, monitor the operations of a charter school located within that county and conduct an investigation into the operations of that charter school. If a county superintendent of schools monitors or investigates a charter school pursuant to this section, the county office of education shall not incur any liability beyond the cost of the investigation.
  (b) A charter school shall notify the county superintendent of schools of the county in which it is located of the location of the charter school, including the location of each site, if applicable, prior to commencing operations.
The state board, whether or not it is the authority that granted the charter, may, based upon the recommendation of the Superintendent, take appropriate action, including, but not limited to, revocation of the school's charter, when the state board finds any of the following:
  (a) Gross financial mismanagement that jeopardizes the financial stability of the charter school.
  (b) Illegal or substantially improper use of charter school funds for the personal benefit of any officer, director, or fiduciary of the charter school.
  (c) Substantial and sustained departure from measurably successful practices such that continued departure would jeopardize the educational development of the school's pupils.
  (d) Failure to improve pupil outcomes across multiple state and school priorities identified in the charter pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 47605 or subparagraph (A) of paragraph (5) of subdivision (d) of Section 47605.6.