AB950: Bill Text

AB950,4,19 118.40 (1g) Notice to department. Whenever a school board intends to establish a charter school or an alternative sponsor receives a petition under sub. (1m) (am), it shall notify the department of its intention. The notice shall include a description of the proposed school.

AB950, s. 8 Section 8. 118.40 (1m) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB950,4,25 118.40 (1m) (a) A written petition requesting the school board to establish a charter school under this section may be filed with the school district clerk. The petition If the petition is filed by a person other than a corporation, it shall be signed by at least 10% of the teachers employed by the school district or by at least 50% of the teachers employed at one school of the school district.

AB950, s. 9 Section 9. 118.40 (1m) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,5,3 118.40 (1m) (am) A corporation may file a written petition with an alternative sponsor requesting the alternative sponsor to establish a charter school.

AB950, s. 10 Section 10. 118.40 (1m) (b) 15. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB950,5,8 118.40 (1m) (b) 15. The effect of the establishment of the charter school on the liability of the school district or, if the petition is filed by a corporation under par. (am), the effect of the establishment of the charter school on the liability of the alternative sponsor.

AB950, s. 11 Section 11. 118.40 (1m) (b) 16. and 17. of the statutes are created to read:

AB950,5,13 118.40 (1m) (b) 16. If the petition is filed by a corporation, a copy of the corporation's articles of incorporation, a copy of the bylaws of the corporation, the names of the directors of the corporation and the names of the officers of the corporation.

AB950,5,17 17. If the petition is filed by a corporation under par. (am), the name of the school district in which the charter school will be located, the estimated budget of the charter school in its first year of operation and the estimated cost per pupil enrolled in the charter school.

AB950, s. 12 Section 12. 118.40 (2) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,5,21 118.40 (2) (am) An alternative sponsor shall either grant or deny a petition under sub. (1m) (am) within 60 days after receiving it and shall notify the department of the alternative sponsor's decision.

AB950, s. 13 Section 13. 118.40 (2) (b) (intro.) of the statutes, as affected by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is amended to read:

AB950,6,4 118.40 (2) (b) (intro.) An alternative sponsor may not grant a petition that would convert a public school to a charter school. The board of control of a cooperative educational service agency may not grant a petition for the establishment of a charter school located outside the territory of the agency. A school board may grant a petition that would result in the conversion of all of the public schools in the school district to charter schools if all of the following apply:

AB950, s. 14 Section 14. 118.40 (2) (c) of the statutes, as created by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is amended to read:

AB950,6,13 118.40 (2) (c) The school board of the school district operating under ch. 119 shall either grant or deny the petition within 30 days after the public hearing. If the school board of the school district operating under ch. 119 denies a petition, the person seeking to establish the charter school may, within 30 days after the denial, appeal the denial to the department. The department shall issue a decision within 30 days after receiving the appeal. The department's decision is final and not subject to judicial review under ch. 227.

AB950, s. 15 Section 15. 118.40 (3) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,7,3 118.40 (3) (am) If an alternative sponsor grants a petition under sub. (2) (am), the alternative sponsor shall contract with the corporation to operate the school as a charter school under this section. The contract may be for any term not exceeding 5 school years and may be renewed for one or more terms not exceeding 5 school years. The contract shall include all of the provisions specified in the petition and may include other provisions agreed to by the parties. The contract shall also specify the manner in which the alternative sponsor will supervise the operation of the charter school and the amount to be paid by the school board of the school district in which the charter school is located to the charter school for each pupil enrolled in the charter school. That amount shall be the amount calculated as tuition for the pupil under s. 121.83, determined as if the school district were the agency of service. The school board shall pay the specified amount to the charter school in 4 equal instalments due in September, December, March and June unless the alternative sponsor and the corporation agree to a different payment schedule.

AB950, s. 16 Section 16. 118.40 (5) (intro.) and (a) of the statutes are amended to read:

AB950,7,7 118.40 (5) Charter revocation. (intro.) A charter may be revoked by the school board or alternative sponsor that contracted with the charter school if the school board or alternative sponsor finds that any of the following occurred:

AB950,7,9 (a) The charter school violated its contract with the school board or alternative sponsor.

AB950, s. 17 Section 17. 118.40 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB950,7,15 118.40 (6) (title) Program voluntary ; attendance restricted. No pupil may be required to attend a charter school without his or her approval, if the pupil is an adult, or the approval of his or her parents or legal guardian, if the pupil is a minor. A pupil may attend a charter school established by an alternative sponsor only if the charter school is located in the school district in which the pupil resides.

AB950, s. 18 Section 18. 118.40 (7) (a) of the statutes, as affected by 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, is amended to read:

AB950,7,22 118.40 (7) (a) A charter school is an instrumentality of the school district in which it is located and the school board of that school district shall employ all personnel for the charter school. This paragraph does not apply to charter schools located in the school district operating under ch. 119 or to charter schools established by alternative sponsors.

AB950, s. 19 Section 19. 118.40 (10) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,8,4 118.40 (10) Rules and bylaws. The board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System shall promulgate rules, and the annual convention for each cooperative educational service agency shall adopt bylaws, establishing the procedure for reviewing and either granting or denying petitions submitted under sub. (1m) (am). An alternative sponsor may not grant a petition unless such rules or bylaws are in effect.

AB950, s. 20 Section 20. 121.004 (7) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB950,8,11 121.004 (7) (a) "Pupils enrolled" is the total number of pupils, as expressed by official enrollments, in all schools of the school district, including charter schools located in the school district, except as provided in pars. (b) to (d). If such total contains a fraction, it shall be expressed as the nearest whole number. The same method shall be used in computing the number of pupils enrolled for resident pupils, nonresident pupils or both.

AB950, s. 21 Section 21. 121.02 (1) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB950,8,16 121.02 (1) (a) 2. Ensure that all instructional staff of charter schools located in under contract with the school district board hold a license or permit to teach issued by the department. The department shall promulgate rules defining "instructional staff" for purposes of this subdivision.

AB950, s. 22 Section 22. 121.51 (2) of the statutes is created to read:

AB950,8,19 121.51 (2) "Private school" includes a charter school established by an alternative sponsor.

AB950, s. 23 Section 23. Initial applicability.

AB950,8,22 (1) The treatment of section 118.40 (2) (c) of the statutes first applies to a petition filed with a school board on the effective date of this subsection.

AB950,8,23 (End)