33-5205C. PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL REPLICATION. (1) Public charter schools may petition for replication, subject to the following provisions:

(a) The public charter schools must have successfully completed at least one (1) renewal cycle and be eligible for a nonconditional renewal; or

(b) Public charter schools that are scheduled to be evaluated for renewal or nonrenewal between March 1, 2016, and March 1, 2019, must be rated in the top twenty percent (20%) of all Idaho public schools by the state’s accountability system for the two (2) previous years.

(2) Replication public charter schools must serve the same, or a subset of the same, grades as the public charter school being replicated and the operational model must be the same as that of the public charter school being replicated.

(3) A public charter school authorized by the public charter school commission or an Idaho college or university pursuant to section 33-5202A, Idaho Code, must provide written notice and opportunity to comment to the school district for which the replication school will be located at least thirty (30) days prior to submitting the replication request to the authorizing entity. The petitioner must provide written notice to the state department of education at the time the petition is submitted to the authorized chartering entity.

(4) A school district authorizer may not approve the replication of a public charter school that is physically located outside of the authorizer’s school district boundaries.

(5) Replication petitions are not subject to a sufficiency review by the state department of education.

(6) The replicated public charter schools under a single charter holder shall be authorized and funded as separate schools. The charter holder must obtain annual independent comprehensive fiscal audits that treat each school as a separate component unit. Funds appropriated by the state must be used toward the operations of the public charter school for which they were appropriated. This does not prohibit multiple public charter schools under a single charter holder from combining resources toward administrative or program costs or prohibit public charter schools from participating in cooperative education services pursuant to sections 33-315 and 33-316, Idaho Code.

(7) Authorized chartering entities must establish policies regarding the criteria that will be considered when evaluating a petition for replication. Such criteria must include at a minimum the following replication petition requirements:

(a) A description of the capacity of the charter holder to successfully replicate an additional school;

(b) A description of how the charter holder will manage multiple charter schools while maintaining a high level of academic and fiscal performance in the original public charter school and the replication school; and

(c) A description of how the charter holder will incorporate representation and input in the school operations from the local area where the replication public charter school is physically located if the location is outside of the school district of the public charter school being replicated.

History:

[33-5205C, added 2016, ch. 271, sec. 6, p. 739.]