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Until such date, any other members who have been elected
or selected shall serve as an interim Board of Trustees. Such
an interim Board of Trustees may exercise all of the powers,
and shall be subject to all of the duties, of a Board of Trust-
ees.
(d) FIDUCIARIES.—The Board of Trustees of a public
charter school shall be fiduciaries of the school and shall
set overall policy for the school. The Board of Trustees may
make final decisions on matters related to the operation of
the school, consistent with the charter granted to the school,
this subtitle, and other applicable law.
SEC. 2206. STUDENT ADMISSION, ENROLLMENT, AND WITH-
DRAWAL.
(a) OPEN ENROLLMENT.—Enrollment in a public
charter school shall be open to all students who are residents
of the District of Columbia and, if space is available, to
nonresident students who meet the tuition requirement in
subsection (e).
(b) CRITERIA
FOR ADMISSION.—A public charter
school may not limit enrollment on the basis of a student’s
race, color, religion, national origin, language spoken, intel-
lectual or athletic ability, measures of achievement or apti-
tude, or status as a student with special needs. A public
charter school may limit enrollment to specific grade levels.
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(c) RANDOM SELECTION.—If there are more applica-
tions to enroll in a public charter school from students who
are residents of the District of Columbia than there are
spaces available, students shall be admitted using a random
selection process.
(d) ADMISSION TO AN EXISTING SCHOOL.—During the
5-year period beginning on the date that a petition, filed
by an eligible applicant seeking to convert a District of Co-
lumbia public school or a private or independent school into
a public charter school, is approved, the school may give
priority in enrollment to—
(1) students enrolled in the school at the time the
petition is granted;
(2) the siblings of students described in para-
graph (1); and
(3) in the case of the conversion of a District of
Columbia public school, students who reside within
the attendance boundaries, if any, in which the school
is located.
(e) NONRESIDENT STUDENTS.—Nonresident students
shall pay tuition to attend a public charter school at the
applicable rate established for District of Columbia public
schools administered by the Board of Education for the type
of program in which the student is enrolled.
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(f) STUDENT WITHDRAWAL.—A student may with-
draw from a public charter school at any time and, if other-
wise eligible, enroll in a District of Columbia public school
administered by the Board of Education.
(g) EXPULSION AND SUSPENSION.—The principal of
a public charter school may expel or suspend a student from
the school based on criteria set forth in the charter granted
to the school.
SEC. 2207. EMPLOYEES.
(a) EXTENDED LEAVE OF ABSENCE WITHOUT PAY.—
(1) LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM DISTRICT OF CO-
LUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.—The Superintendent shall
grant, upon request, an extended leave of absence,
without pay, to an employee of the District of Colum-
bia public schools for the purpose of permitting the
employee to accept a position at a public charter
school for a 2-year term.
(2) REQUEST FOR EXTENSION.—At the end of a
2-year term referred to in paragraph (1), an em-
ployee granted an extended leave of absence without
pay under such paragraph may submit a request to
the Superintendent for an extension of the leave of ab-
sence for an unlimited number of 2-year terms. The
Superintendent may not unreasonably (as determined
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by the eligible chartering authority) withhold ap-
proval of the request.
(3) RIGHTS UPON TERMINATION OF LEAVE.—An
employee granted an extended leave of absence with-
out pay for the purpose described in paragraph (1)
or (2) shall have the same rights and benefits under
law upon termination of such leave of absence as an
employee of the District of Columbia public schools
who is granted an extended leave of absence without
pay for any other purpose.
(b) RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—
(1) CREDITABLE SERVICE.—An employee of a
public charter school who has received a leave of ab-
sence under subsection (a) shall receive creditable
service, as defined in section 2604 of D.C. Law 2–139,
effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Code, sec. 1–627.4) and
the rules established under such section, for the period
of the employee’s employment at the public charter
school.
(2) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH SEPARATE SYS-
TEM.—A public charter school may establish a retire-
ment system for employees under its authority.
(3) ELECTION
OF
RETIREMENT
SYSTEM.—A
former employee of the District of Columbia public
schools who becomes an employee of a public charter
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school within 60 days after the date the employee’s
employment with the District of Columbia public
schools is terminated may, at the time the employee
commences employment with the public charter
school, elect—
(A) to remain in a District of Columbia
Government retirement system and continue to
receive creditable service for the period of their
employment at a public charter school; or
(B) to transfer into a retirement system es-
tablished by the public charter school pursuant
to paragraph (2).
(4) PROHIBITED EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS.—No
public charter school may require a former employee
of the District of Columbia public schools to transfer
to the public charter school’s retirement system as a
condition of employment.
(5) CONTRIBUTIONS.—
(A) EMPLOYEES ELECTING NOT TO TRANS-
FER.—In the case of a former employee of the
District of Columbia public schools who elects to
remain in a District of Columbia Government
retirement system pursuant to paragraph (3)(A),
the public charter school that employs the person
shall make the same contribution to such system
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on behalf of the person as the District of Colum-
bia would have been required to make if the per-
son had continued to be an employee of the Dis-
trict of Columbia public schools.
(B) EMPLOYEES ELECTING TO TRANSFER.—
In the case of a former employee of the District
of Columbia public schools who elects to transfer
into a retirement system of a public charter
school pursuant to paragraph (3)(B), the appli-
cable District of Columbia Government retire-
ment system from which the former employee is
transferring shall compute the employee’s con-
tribution to that system and transfer this
amount, to the retirement system of the public
charter school.
(c) EMPLOYMENT
STATUS.—Notwithstanding any
other provision of law and except as provided in this sec-
tion, an employee of a public charter school shall not be
considered to be an employee of the District of Columbia
Government for any purpose.
SEC. 2208. REDUCED FARES FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
A student attending a public charter school shall be
eligible for reduced fares on the Metrobus and Metrorail
Transit System on the same terms and conditions as are
applicable under section 2 of D.C. Law 2–152, effective
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March 9, 1979 (D.C. Code, sec. 44–216 et seq.), to a student
attending a District of Columbia public school.
SEC. 2209. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOL SERV-
ICES TO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.
The Superintendent may provide services, such as fa-
cilities maintenance, to public charter schools. All com-
pensation for costs of such services shall be subject to nego-
tiation and mutual agreement between a public charter
school and the Superintendent.
SEC. 2210. APPLICATION OF LAW.
(a) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT
OF 1965.—
(1) TREATMENT AS LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CY.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year, a
public charter school shall be considered to be a
local educational agency for purposes of part A
of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), and
shall be eligible for assistance under such part,
if the fraction the numerator of which is the
number of low-income students enrolled in the
public charter school during the fiscal year pre-
ceding the fiscal year for which the determina-
tion is made and the denominator of which is
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the total number of students enrolled in such
public charter school for such preceding year, is
equal to or greater than the lowest fraction deter-
mined for any District of Columbia public school
receiving assistance under such part A where the
numerator is the number of low-income students
enrolled in such public school for such preceding
year and the denominator is the total number of
students enrolled in such public school for such
preceding year.
(B) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this
subsection, the term ‘‘low-income student’’ means
a student from a low-income family determined
according to the measure adopted by the District
of Columbia to carry out the provisions of part
A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 that is consistent with the
measures described in section 1113(a)(5) of such
Act (20 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)) for the fiscal year for
which the determination is made.
(2) 
ALLOCATION
FOR
FISCAL
YEARS
1996
THROUGH 1998.—
(A) PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.—For fiscal
years 1996 through 1998, each public charter
school that is eligible to receive assistance under
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part A of title I of the Elementary and Second-
ary Education Act of 1965 shall receive a por-
tion of the District of Columbia’s total allocation
under such part which bears the same ratio to
such total allocation as the number described in
subparagraph (C) bears to the number described
in subparagraph (D).
(B) 
DISTRICT
OF
COLUMBIA
PUBLIC
SCHOOLS.—For fiscal years 1996 through 1998,
the District of Columbia public schools shall re-
ceive a portion of the District of Columbia’s total
allocation under part A of title I of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
which bears the same ratio to such total alloca-
tion as the total of the numbers described in
clauses (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (D) bears
to the aggregate total described in subparagraph
(D).
(C) NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE STUDENTS EN-
ROLLED IN THE PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL.—The
number described in this subparagraph is the
number of low-income students enrolled in the
public charter school during the fiscal year pre-
ceding the fiscal year for which the determina-
tion is made.
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(D) AGGREGATE NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE STU-
DENTS.—The number described in this subpara-
graph is the aggregate total of the following
numbers:
(i) The number of low-income students
who, during the fiscal year preceding the
fiscal year for which the determination is
made, were enrolled in a public charter
school.
(ii) The number of low-income students
who, during the fiscal year preceding the
fiscal year for which the determination is
made, were enrolled in a District of Colum-
bia public school selected to provide services
under part A of title I of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(iii) The number of low-income stu-
dents who, during the fiscal year preceding
the fiscal year for which the determination
is made—
(I) were enrolled in a private or
independent school; and
(II) resided in an attendance area
of a District of Columbia public school
selected to provide services under part
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A of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(3) ALLOCATION
FOR
FISCAL
YEAR
1999
AND
THEREAFTER.—
(A) CALCULATION
BY
SECRETARY.—Not-
withstanding sections 1124(a)(2), 1124A(a)(4),
and 1125(d) of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(a)(2),
6334(a)(4), and 6335(d)), for fiscal year 1999
and each fiscal year thereafter, the total alloca-
tion under part A of title I of such Act for all
local educational agencies in the District of Co-
lumbia, including public charter schools that are
eligible to receive assistance under such part,
shall be calculated by the Secretary of Edu-
cation. In making such calculation, such Sec-
retary shall treat all such local educational agen-
cies as if such agencies were a single local edu-
cational agency for the District of Columbia.
(B) ALLOCATION.—
(i) PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.—For
fiscal year 1999 and each fiscal year there-
after, each public charter school that is eli-
gible to receive assistance under part A of
title I of the Elementary and Secondary
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Education Act of 1965 shall receive a por-
tion of the total allocation calculated under
subparagraph (A) which bears the same
ratio to such total allocation as the number
described in paragraph (2)(C) bears to the
aggregate total described in paragraph
(2)(D).
(ii) DISTRICT
OF
COLUMBIA
PUBLIC
SCHOOL.—For fiscal year 1999 and each
fiscal year thereafter, the District of Colum-
bia public schools shall receive a portion of
the total allocation calculated under sub-
paragraph (A) which bears the same ratio
to such total allocation as the total of the
numbers described in clauses (ii) and (iii)
of paragraph (2)(D) bears to the aggregate
total described in paragraph (2)(D).
(4) USE OF ESEA FUNDS.—The Board of Edu-
cation may not direct a public charter school in the
school’s use of funds under part A of title I of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(5) ESEA REQUIREMENTS.—Except as provided
in paragraph (6), a public charter school receiving
funds under part A of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et
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seq.) shall comply with all requirements applicable to
schools receiving such funds.
(6) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN ESEA PROVI-
SIONS.—The following provisions of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 shall not apply
to a public charter school:
(A) Paragraphs (5) and (8) of section
1112(b) (20 U.S.C. 6312(b)).
(B) Paragraphs (1)(A), (1)(B), (1)(C),
(1)(D), (1)(F), (1)(H), and (3) of section 1112(c)
(20 U.S.C. 6312(c)).
(C) Section 1113 (20 U.S.C. 6313).
(D) Section 1115A (20 U.S.C. 6316).
(E) Subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section
1116 (20 U.S.C. 6317).
(F) Subsections (d) and (e) of section 1118
(20 U.S.C. 6319).
(G) Section 1120 (20 U.S.C. 6321).
(H) Subsections (a) and (c) of section
1120A (20 U.S.C. 6322).
(I) Section 1126 (20 U.S.C. 6337).
(b) PROPERTY AND SALES TAXES.—A public charter
school shall be exempt from District of Columbia property
and sales taxes.
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(c) EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, each pub-
lic charter school shall elect to be treated as a local edu-
cational agency or a District of Columbia public school for
the purpose of part B of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) and section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794).
SEC. 2211. POWERS AND DUTIES OF ELIGIBLE CHARTERING
AUTHORITIES.
(a) OVERSIGHT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible chartering author-
ity—
(A) shall monitor the operations of each
public charter school to which the eligible char-
tering authority has granted a charter;
(B) shall ensure that each such school com-
plies with applicable laws and the provisions of
the charter granted to such school; and
(C) shall monitor the progress of each such
school in meeting student academic achievement
expectations specified in the charter granted to
such school.
(2) PRODUCTION OF BOOKS AND RECORDS.—An
eligible chartering authority may require a public
charter school to which the eligible chartering author-
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ity has granted a charter to produce any book, record,
paper, or document, if the eligible chartering author-
ity determines that such production is necessary for
the eligible chartering authority to carry out its func-
tions under this subtitle.
(b) FEES.—
(1) APPLICATION
FEE.—An eligible chartering
authority may charge an eligible applicant a fee, not
to exceed $150, for processing a petition to establish
a public charter school.
(2) ADMINISTRATION FEE.—In the case of an eli-
gible chartering authority that has granted a charter
to a public charter school, the eligible chartering au-
thority may charge the school a fee, not to exceed one-
half of one percent of the annual budget of the school,
to cover the cost of undertaking the ongoing adminis-
trative responsibilities of the eligible chartering au-
thority with respect to the school that are described in
this subtitle. The school shall pay the fee to the eligi-
ble chartering authority not later than November 15
of each year.
(c) IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible chartering author-
ity, the Board of Trustees of such an eligible charter-
ing authority, and a director, officer, employee, or
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volunteer of such an eligible chartering authority,
shall be immune from civil liability, both personally
and professionally, for any act or omission within the
scope of their official duties unless the act or omis-
sion—
(A) constitutes gross negligence;
(B) constitutes an intentional tort; or
(C) is criminal in nature.
(2) COMMON LAW IMMUNITY PRESERVED.—Para-
graph (1) shall not be construed to abrogate any im-
munity under common law of a person described in
such paragraph.
(d) ANNUAL REPORT.—On or before July 30 of each
year, each eligible chartering authority that issues a charter
under this subtitle shall submit a report to the Mayor, the
District of Columbia Council, the Board of Education, the
Secretary of Education, the appropriate congressional com-
mittees, and the Consensus Commission that includes the
following information:
(1) A list of the members of the eligible charter-
ing authority and the addresses of such members.
(2) A list of the dates and places of each meeting
of the eligible chartering authority during the year
preceding the report.