An Act To Amend and Clarify the Public Charter School Law
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1762
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: MASON
Amends: 20-A MRSA §2403, 20-A MRSA §2405, 20-A MRSA §2410, 20-A MRSA §2411, 20-A MRSA §2412, 20-A MRSA §2413

Legislative Document 
No. 1762
S.P. 607 
In Senate, January 10, 2012
An Act To Amend and Clarify the Public Charter School Law 
(EMERGENCY) 
Submitted by the Department of Education pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator MASON of Androscoggin. 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, Public Law 2011, chapter 414 authorized the creation of public charter 
schools in Maine; and 
Whereas, charter school authorizers are studying the law and potential charter 
school founders are making plans for schools, which could begin educating students as 
early as July 1, 2012; and 
Whereas, the Legislature directed the Department of Education to review the new 
law to determine whether any clarifications were needed prior to the authorization or 
opening of new charter schools; and 
Whereas, charter school authorizers and founders need clarity about the law's 
requirements as soon as possible; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §2403, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, §5, is 
amended to read: 
5.  Investigation and sanction of authorizers.  Consistent with the policies and 
practices established in subsection 4, the department may investigate and, as appropriate, 
institute sanctions in response to deficiencies in authorizer performance or legal 
compliance.  In addition to any other sanction instituted, the commissioner may suspend a 
deficient authorizer's authority to issue new charters until the commissioner is satisfied 
that the deficiencies have been corrected. 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §2405, sub-§1, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, §5, is 
amended to read: 
C.  A collaborative among authorizing entities local school boards that forms to set 
up a regional public charter school to be located within the area managed and 
controlled by those school boards. 
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §2405, sub-§4, ¶¶C and D, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, 
§5, are amended to read: 
C.  The status of the authorizer's public charter school portfolio of approved charter 
applications, identifying all public charter schools within that portfolio as: 
(1)  Approved, but not yet open; 
(2)  Operating; 
(3)  Renewed; 
(4)  Transferred; 
(5)  Terminated; 
(6)  Closed; or 
(7)  Never opened; and 
D.  The oversight and services provided by the authorizer to the public charter 
schools under the authorizer's purview.; and 
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §2405, sub-§4, ¶E is enacted to read: 
E.  The total amount of funds collected from each public charter school the authorizer 
authorized pursuant to subsection 5, paragraph B and the costs incurred by the 
authorizer to oversee the school. 
Sec. 5.  20-A MRSA §2405, sub-§8, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, §5, is 
amended to read: 
A.  The commission consists of 7 members appointed by the state board for 3-year 
terms.  The commission shall elect a chair and such other officers as may be 
necessary to conduct its business.  Four members constitute a quorum. 
(1)  Three members must be members of the state board, and those 3 members 
shall nominate the other 4 members who must be approved by a majority vote of 
the state board. 
(2)  Members appointed to the commission must have diverse professional 
experience in education, social services, youth training, business startup and 
administration, accounting and finance, strategic planning and nonprofit 
governance.  The following provisions apply to the appointment of the 4 other 
members nominated and appointed by state board members pursuant to 
subparagraph (1): 
(a) In appointing members to the commission, the state board shall give 
proper consideration to candidates with experience in a noncharter public 
school in the State in one of the following positions:  school board member, 
superintendent, teacher and special education director; 
(b) The state board shall ensure that the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters has an opportunity to 
meet and interview the candidate or candidates nominated for the 
commission; 
(c) Within 10 days of meeting with the candidate or candidates, the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education 
matters shall deliver to the state board its written appraisal of the strengths 
and weaknesses of the candidate or candidates; and 
(d) The state board shall consider the appraisal of the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters prior 
to appointing a candidate or candidates to the commission. 
(3)  A commission member may not serve more than 3 consecutive terms, but 
may serve again after not serving on the commission for at least one term. 
(4)  A commission member may not receive compensation, but may be 
reimbursed for travel expenses. 
(5)  A commission member who is a member of the state board serves on the 
commission only during that person's membership on the state board.  Upon 
expiration of that person's state board membership, the position on the 
commission becomes vacant and must be filled in the manner provided for filling 
vacancies. 
(6)  A vacancy on the commission must be filled in the same manner as applies to 
the position in which the vacancy occurs, including, if applicable, a review by the 
joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education 
matters.  A vacancy is filled for the remainder of the unexpired term.  If the 
person serves more than 1 1/2 years of an unexpired term, that service counts as 
one term for purposes of the limitation set forth in subparagraph (3). 
(7)  A member of the commission may be removed for failure to perform the 
duties of office by a majority vote of the state board. 
Sec. 6.  20-A MRSA §2405, sub-§8, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, §5, is 
amended to read: 
B.  The commission shall adopt rules for the organization and operation of the 
commission and to develop, implement and refine its procedures for authorizing 
public charter schools in this State.  Rules adopted by the commission pursuant to this 
paragraph are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 7.  20-A MRSA §2405, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, §5, is 
amended to read: 
9.  Transition period.  The public charter school program set out in this chapter must 
begin with a 10-year transition period, beginning on the effective date of this chapter.  
During the transition period, the commissioner shall register the charters approved by all 
authorizers in chronological order by date of approval under this chapter.  During the 
transition period, only 10 public charter schools may be approved by authorizers other 
than local school boards the commission.  Once the cap is reached, the commissioner may 
not accept further registrations from authorizers other than local school boards the 
commission and only local school boards may approve charters until the end of the 
transition period. 
This subsection is repealed July 1, 2022. 
Sec. 8.  20-A MRSA §2410, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, §5, is 
amended to read: 
2.  Notification of unsatisfactory performance or compliance.  In the event that a 
public charter school's performance or legal compliance appears unsatisfactory, the 
authorizer shall promptly notify provide written notice to the public charter school of 
perceived problems and provide reasonable opportunity for the school to remedy the 
problems. 
Sec. 9.  20-A MRSA §2411, sub-§6, ¶C is enacted to read: 
C.  The authorizer shall include in the charter contract a description of the standards 
and processes under which the authorizer may pursue revocation of the charter 
contract.  The processes must comply with section 2410, subsection 2 and provide an 
opportunity for the public charter school to be heard prior to a decision on revocation. 
Sec. 10.  20-A MRSA §2412, sub-§5, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, §5, is 
amended to read: 
C.  Governing boards are subject to and must comply with sections 1002 and 1004 in 
the same manner as school boards and Title 1, chapter 13. 
Sec. 11.  20-A MRSA §2412, sub-§5, ¶¶G and H are enacted to read: 
G.  Public charter schools are subject to the same federal and state laws, regulations 
and rules regarding special education as noncharter public schools.  Notwithstanding 
any law or rule to the contrary, a charter school takes over responsibility for special 
education for a student transferring to the charter school on the first day of school at 
the charter school unless the charter school and the transferring school agree to an 
earlier date. 
H.  A public charter school student's eligibility for and funding of career and 
technical education programming is the same as if the student were attending school 
within that student's resident school administrative unit.  If the public charter school 
is located outside the student's resident school administrative unit, the public charter 
school is responsible for ensuring that the student is transported to the career and 
technical education center or to a location from which the student will be transported 
by the resident school administrative unit, the career and technical education region 
or the career and technical education center. 
Sec. 12.  20-A MRSA §2413, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 414, §5, is 
amended to read: 
2.  Revenue provisions.  All state State and local operating funds follow each student 
to the public charter school attended by the student, except that the school administrative 
unit of the student's residence may retain up to 1% of the per-pupil allocation described in 
this subsection to cover associated administrative costs. 
A.  For each public charter school student, the school administrative unit in which the 
student resides must forward the per-pupil allocation to the public charter school 
attended by the student as follows. 
(1)  The per-pupil allocation amount is the EPS per-pupil rate for the school 
administrative unit in which the student resides, as calculated pursuant to section 
15676, based on the student’s grade level and adjusted as appropriate for 
economic disadvantage and limited English proficiency pursuant to section 
15675, subsections 1 and 2.  For transportation expenses, the average per-pupil 
expense in each school administrative unit of residence must be calculated and a 
per-pupil allocation of that amount must be forwarded to the public charter 
school attended on the same basis as the per-pupil allocations for operating funds.  
Debt service and capital outlays may not be included in the calculation of these 
per-pupil allocations.  The department shall adopt rules governing how to 
calculate these per-pupil allocations, including those for gifted and talented 
programs, vocational, technical and career education programs, and targeted 
funds for assessment technology and kindergarten to grade 2 programs. 
(2)  For students attending public charter schools, the school administrative unit 
of residence shall forward the per-pupil allocations described in subparagraph (1) 
directly to the public charter school attended.  These per-pupil allocations must 
be forwarded to each public charter school on a quarterly basis, as follows.  For 
each fiscal year, allocations must be made in quarterly payments on September 
1st, December 1st, March 1st and June 1st.  The September payment must be 
based on the number of students enrolled or anticipated to be enrolled in the 
public charter school at the opening of school for that school year, which may not 
exceed the maximum enrollment approved in the charter contract for that year 
unless a waiver is obtained from the authorizer.  In February of the school year, if 
the number of students is higher or lower than the number of students at the 
beginning of the school year, adjustments must be made in the June payment, 
with 50% of the annual per-pupil allocation added for additional students or 
subtracted if the total number of students is lower. 
A school administrative unit is not required to send funds to a public charter school 
for a student enrolled in the public charter school's preschool or prekindergarten 
program if the school administrative unit of the student's residence does not offer that 
program to its own residents. 
B.  The following provisions govern special education funding. 
(1)  For each enrolled special education pupil, a public charter school must 
receive the average additional allocation calculated by the department under 
section 15681-A, subsection 2 for each school administrative unit for its special 
education students.  These allocations must be paid on the same basis as the per-
pupil allocations for operating funds. 
(2)  The school administrative unit of residence shall pay directly to the public 
charter school any federal or state aid attributable to a student with a disability 
attending the public charter school in proportion to the level of services for the 
student with a disability that the public charter school provides directly or 
indirectly. 
(3)  The school administrative unit of residence shall pay to the public charter 
school any additional allocation assigned to the unit because of a high-cost in-
district or high-cost out-of-district placement pursuant to section 15681-A, 
subsection 2, paragraph B or C in the year in which the allocation is assigned to 
the school administrative unit. 
(4)  If the public charter school in which the student is enrolled was authorized by 
a local school board, the funds under this paragraph must be paid to the local 
school board that authorized the public charter school, rather than directly to the 
public charter school.  The local school board that authorized the charter school is 
responsible for ensuring that special education services are provided to students 
in that school, pursuant to section 2412, subsection 2, paragraph A. 
C.  Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the State shall send applicable 
federal funds directly to public charter schools attended by eligible students.  Public 
charter schools with students eligible for funds under Title I of the federal Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 United States Code, Section 6301 et seq. 
must receive and use these funds in accordance with federal and state law.  During 
the first year of operation, a public charter school must receive Title I funds on the 
basis of an estimated enrollment of eligible students, as agreed with its authorizer. 
D.  A public charter school may receive gifts and grants from private sources in any 
manner that is available to a school administrative unit. 
E.  A public charter school may not levy taxes or issue bonds secured by tax 
revenues. 
F.  In the event of the failure of the school administrative unit to make payments 
required by this section, the Treasurer of State shall deduct from any state funds that 
become due to the school administrative unit or to the municipalities within the 
school administrative unit an amount equal to the unpaid obligation.  The Treasurer 
of State shall pay over the amount to the public charter school upon certification by 
the department.  The department shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of this 
paragraph. 
G.  Any money received by a public charter school from any source and remaining in 
the school's accounts at the end of any budget year remains in the school's accounts 
for use by the school during subsequent budget years and may not revert to the 
authorizer or to the State. 
H.  Nothing in this chapter may be construed to prohibit any person or organization 
from providing funding or other assistance for the establishment or operation of a 
public charter school.  The governing board of a public charter school may accept 
gifts, donations or grants of any kind made to the school and expend or use such gifts, 
donations or grants in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the donor except 
that a gift, donation or grant may not be accepted if subject to a condition that is 
contrary to any provision of law or term of the charter contract. 
I.  Public charter schools have the same access as other noncharter public schools to 
any risk pool for high-cost special education services and to any fund for fiscal 
emergencies, as long as the risk pool or the fund is operated by the State or by the 
public charter school's authorizer. 
J.  The department may establish a method of transferring funds to public charter 
schools that is an alternative to the method provided in this subsection. 
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the law authorizing creation of public charter schools.  The bill 
makes the following changes with regard to authorizers of public charter schools.  It 
allows the Commissioner of Education to suspend an authorizer's authority to enter into 
new charter contracts if the commissioner finds that the authorizer is deficient in 
performing its functions.  It clarifies the functioning of local school boards that join 
together to form a regional charter school.  It clarifies membership and operations of the 
State Charter School Commission, including specifying that members who are appointed 
because of their membership on the State Board of Education continue to serve on the 
commission only as long as they are members of the State Board of Education.  It 
provides that the transitional 10-school limit on public charter schools in current law 
applies only to schools approved by the commission.  It requires a public charter school 
authorizer to give a public charter school written notice of deficiencies in the school and 
to provide written notice of the authorizer's charter revocation procedures and criteria. 
The bill makes the following changes with regard to public charter schools.  It 
provides that governing boards of public charter schools are subject to the same conflict 
of interest provisions as noncharter public school boards.  It clarifies when public charter 
schools take over responsibility for special education services for a student transferring 
from a noncharter public school and clarifies special education funding.  The bill changes 
the law regarding payment of special education funds to a public charter school 
authorized by a local school board by requiring that the payments be made to the local 
school board, not to the public charter school.  The bill ensures that a public charter 
school student has the same access to career and technical education programs as students 
in the noncharter public school in the student's resident school administrative unit. 
Under current laws, if a school administrative unit fails to make payment to a public 
charter school, the Treasurer of State is directed to withhold payments to that school 
administrative unit. This bill provides that the Treasurer of State may withhold those 
funds from the municipalities that are members of the school administrative unit. Finally, 
the bill provides that public charter schools have access to high-risk pools and emergency 
funds operated by the State or by the school's authorizer, but do not have access to local 
high-risk or emergency funds.