An act to amend Section 47607 of the Education Code, relating to charter schools.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.
Section 47607 of the Education Code is amended to read:
47607.
(a) (1)
A
Initially, a
charter may be granted pursuant to Sections 47605, 47605.5, and 47606 for a period not to exceed five years. A charter granted by a school district governing board, a county board of education, or the state board may be granted one or more subsequent renewals by that entity. Each
renewal
of the first two renewals
shall be for a period of five years.
Subsequent renewals shall be for a period requested by the charter school not to exceed 15 years.
A material revision of the provisions of a charter petition may be made only with the approval of the authority that granted the charter. The authority that granted the charter may inspect or observe any part of the charter school at any time.
(2) Renewals and material revisions of charters are governed by the standards and criteria in Section 47605, and shall include, but not be limited to, a reasonably comprehensive description of any new requirement of charter schools enacted into law after the charter was originally granted or last renewed.
(3) (A) The authority that granted the charter shall consider increases in pupil academic achievement for all groups of pupils served by the charter school as the most important factor in determining whether to grant a charter renewal.
(B) For purposes of this section, “all groups of pupils served by the charter school” means a numerically significant pupil subgroup, as defined by paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 52052, served by the charter school.
(b) Commencing on January 1, 2005, or after a charter school has been in operation for four years, whichever date occurs later, a charter school shall meet at least one of the following criteria before receiving a charter renewal pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a):
(1) Attained its Academic Performance Index (API) growth target in the prior year or in two of the last three years both schoolwide and for all groups of pupils served by the charter school.
(2) Ranked in deciles 4 to 10, inclusive, on the API in the prior year or in two of the last three years.
(3) Ranked in deciles 4 to 10, inclusive, on the API for a demographically comparable school in the prior year or in two of the last three years.
(4) (A) The
entity
authority
that granted the charter determines that the academic performance of the charter school is at least equal to the academic performance of the public schools that the charter school pupils would otherwise have been required to attend, as well as the academic performance of the schools in the school district in which the charter school is located, taking into account the composition of the pupil population that is served at the charter school.
(B) The determination made pursuant to this paragraph shall be based upon all of the following:
(i) Documented and clear and convincing data.
(ii) Pupil achievement data from assessments, including, but not limited to, the
Standardized Testing and Reporting Program
pupil assessment program
established by Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640) of Chapter 5 of Part 33 for demographically similar pupil populations in the comparison schools.
(iii) Information submitted by the charter school.
(C) A chartering authority shall submit to the Superintendent copies of supporting documentation and a written summary of the basis for any determination made pursuant to this paragraph. The Superintendent shall review the materials and make recommendations to the chartering authority based on that review. The review may be the basis for a recommendation made pursuant to Section 47604.5.
(D) A charter renewal may not be granted to a charter school
prior to
before
30 days after that charter school submits materials pursuant to this paragraph.
(5) Qualified for an alternative accountability system pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 52052.
(c) (1) A charter may be revoked by the authority that granted the charter under this chapter if the authority finds, through a showing of substantial evidence, that the charter school did any of the following:
(A) Committed a material violation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter.
(B) Failed to meet or pursue any of the pupil outcomes identified in the charter.
(C) Failed to meet generally accepted accounting principles, or engaged in fiscal mismanagement.
(D) Violated any provision of law.
(2) The authority that granted the charter shall consider increases in pupil academic achievement for all groups of pupils served by the charter school as the most important factor in determining whether to revoke a charter.
(d) Before revocation, the authority that granted the charter shall notify the charter school of any violation of this section and give the
charter
school a reasonable opportunity to remedy the violation, unless the authority determines, in writing, that the violation constitutes a severe and imminent threat to the health or safety of the pupils.
(e) Before revoking a charter for failure to remedy a violation pursuant to subdivision (d), and after expiration of the
charter
school’s reasonable opportunity to remedy without successfully remedying the violation, the chartering authority shall provide a written notice of intent to revoke and notice of facts in support of revocation to the charter school. No later than 30 days after providing the notice of intent to revoke a charter, the chartering authority shall hold a public hearing, in the normal course of business, on the issue of whether evidence exists to revoke the charter. No later than 30 days after the public hearing, the chartering authority shall issue a final decision to revoke or decline to revoke the charter, unless the chartering authority and the charter school agree to extend the issuance of the decision by an additional 30 days. The chartering authority shall not revoke a charter, unless it makes written factual findings supported by substantial evidence, specific to the charter school, that support its findings.
(f) (1) If a school district is the chartering authority and it revokes a charter pursuant to this section, the charter school may appeal the revocation to the county board of education within 30 days following the final decision of the chartering authority.
(2) The county board of education may reverse the revocation decision if the county board of education determines that the findings made by the chartering authority under subdivision (e) are not supported by substantial evidence. The school district may appeal the reversal to the state board.
(3) If the county board of education does not issue a decision on the appeal within 90 days of receipt, or the county board of education upholds the revocation, the charter school may appeal the revocation to the state board.
(4) The state board may reverse the revocation decision if the state board determines that the findings made by the chartering authority under subdivision (e) are not supported by substantial evidence. The state board may uphold the revocation decision of the school district if the state board determines that the findings made by the chartering authority under subdivision (e) are supported by substantial evidence.
(g) (1) If a county office of education is the chartering authority and the county board of education revokes a charter pursuant to this section, the charter school may appeal the revocation to the state board within 30 days following the decision of the chartering authority.
(2) The state board may reverse the revocation decision if the state board determines that the findings made by the chartering authority under subdivision (e) are not supported by substantial evidence.
(h) If the revocation decision of the chartering authority is reversed on appeal, the
agency
authority
that granted the charter shall continue to be regarded as the chartering authority.
(i) During the pendency of an appeal filed under this section, a charter school, whose revocation proceedings are based on subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), shall continue to qualify as a charter school for funding and for all other purposes of this part, and may continue to hold all existing grants, resources, and facilities, in order to ensure that the education of pupils enrolled in the
charter
school is not disrupted.
(j) Immediately following the decision of a county board of education to reverse a decision of a school district to revoke a charter, the following shall apply:
(1) The charter school shall qualify as a charter school for funding and for all other purposes of this part.
(2) The charter school may continue to hold all existing grants, resources, and facilities.
(3) Any funding, grants, resources, and facilities that had been withheld from the charter school, or that the charter school had otherwise been deprived of use, as a result of the revocation of the charter shall be immediately reinstated or returned.
(k) A final decision of a revocation or appeal of a revocation pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be reported to the chartering authority, the county board of education, and the department.
SEC. 2.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

Summary: Existing law authorizes a school district governing board, a county board of education, or the State Board of Education to grant a charter to a charter school for an initial period not to exceed 5 years followed by renewals every 5 years.
This bill would provide that each of the first 2 renewals shall be for a period of 5 years and subsequent renewals shall be for a period requested by the charter school not to exceed 15 years. To the extent this bill would impose additional duties on school districts or county offices of education, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.