GA Code § 20-2-2063.2 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 20 - Education|Chapter 2 - Elementary and Secondary Education|Article 31 - Charter Schools Act of 1998|§ 20-2-2063.2. Charter Systems

  The state board shall be authorized to enter into a charter with a local board to establish a local school system as a charter system.   A local board seeking to create a charter system must submit a petition to the state board. Prior to submitting such petition, the local board shall:   Adopt a resolution approving the proposed charter system petition;   Conduct at least two public hearings and provide notice of the hearings in the same manner as other legal notices of the local board; and   Send a notice to each principal within the local school system of the hearings with instructions that each school shall distribute the notice to faculty and instructional staff members and to the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in the school.  The local board may revise its proposed charter system petition, upon resolution, as a result of testimony at the public hearings or for other purposes.      Prior to approval or denial of a charter petition for a charter system, the state board shall receive and give all due consideration to the recommendation and input from the Charter Advisory Committee established in Code Section 20-2-2063.1. The state board shall approve the charter if the state board finds, after receiving input from the Charter Advisory Committee, that the petition complies with the rules, regulations, policies, and procedures promulgated pursuant to Code Section 20-2-2063 and the provisions of this title, is in the public interest, and promotes school level governance. A charter for a charter system shall include the interventions, sanctions, and loss of governance consequences contained in Code Section 20-14-41. A charter for a charter system shall require that the local school system has not been designated as a high-risk local school system by the Department of Audits and Accounts pursuant to Code Section 20-2-67, or if it has been designated as a high-risk local school system, the charter shall require that the local school system has a written corrective action plan in place and that local school system board members and appropriate personnel participate in required training to address the deficiencies.   All schools within an approved charter system shall be system charter schools except as otherwise provided in subsections (f) and (g) of this Code section.     Subject to appropriations by the General Assembly or other available funding, the state board, after receiving input and recommendations from the Charter Advisory Committee, shall disburse planning grants to local school systems which desire to become charter systems. Such grants will be disbursed in accordance with any applicable guidelines, policies, and requirements established by the state board.   Subject to specific appropriations by the General Assembly for this purpose, the state board shall disburse implementation grants in the amount of $125,000.00 or such other amount as determined by the state board to each charter system. The state board shall be authorized to approve up to five petitions for charter systems during fiscal year 2008, and may approve up to a maximum number of petitions in following years as may be established pursuant to board rules and as subject to availability of funding for implementation grants.     A system charter school shall not be precluded from petitioning to become a conversion charter school, in accordance with Code Section 20-2-2064, not subject to the terms of the system charter. In the event a system charter school becomes a conversion charter school, the system charter shall be amended to reflect that such school is no longer bound by the system charter.   An existing conversion or start-up charter school within a local school system which is petitioning to become a charter system shall have the option of continuing under its own existing charter, not subject to the terms of the system charter, or of terminating its existing charter, upon agreement by the local board and state board, and becoming subject to the system charter as a charter system school.     (Code 1981, §20-2-2063.2, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 185, § 5/SB 39; Ga. L. 2017, p. 75, § 3-3/HB 338; Ga. L. 2020, p. 62, § 1-12/SB 68.)    The 2017 amendment,  effective July 1, 2017, added the last sentence of subsection (c).    The 2020 amendment,  effective July 1, 2021, added the last sentence in subsection (c).   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2007, p. 185, § 1/SB 39, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Charter Systems Act.'"   Ga. L. 2007, p. 185, § 2/SB 39, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "The General Assembly finds that schools and school systems should be given high flexibility to tailor their educational programs to meet the unique needs of their communities. In furtherance of this, schools and school systems should be encouraged to use innovative educational programs including local management of schools and should be provided resources to help design and implement innovative programs. The General Assembly further finds that schools and school systems shall be held accountable for student achievement."   Ga. L. 2017, p. 75, § 1-1/HB 338, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'First Priority Act - Helping Turnaround Schools Put Students First.'"   Law reviews.   - For article on the 2017 amendment of this Code section, see 34 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 169 (2017). For note on 2007 enactment of this Code section, see 24 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 121 (2007).   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Entitlement to sovereign immunity.    - Dismissal of the whistleblowers' complaint filed by two teachers against a charter school and the school's chief executive officer was affirmed because the charter school was a public entity entitled to sovereign immunity and since the charter school was an instrumentality of the state, the chief executive officer was entitled to official immunity. Campbell v. Cirrus Education, Inc., 355 Ga. App. 637, 845 S.E.2d 384 (2020).    Cited in Campbell v. Cirrus Education, 355 Ga. App. 628, 845 S.E.2d 393 (2020).