Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 5 - DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION › Division 20 - Division of Learning Services › Chapter 100 - Office of Quality Schools › Section 5 CSR 20-100.260 - Standards for Charter Sponsorship

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This rule establishes the stan- dards and
				  indicators for charter sponsorship as required by the Missouri Department of
				  Elementary and Secondary Education. These standards serve as the foundation for
				  the sponsor application process as required by section 160.403, RSMo, and the
				  evaluation process for sponsors required in section 160.400.17(1),
				  RSMo.
(1) Standard 1-Sponsor
				Commitment and Capacity. The sponsor believes that chartering is a means to
				provide children with access to quality public schools that meet identified
				needs. The sponsor creates organizational systems and structures to fulfill its
				sponsorship duties and commits human and financial resources necessary to
				conduct its sponsoring duties effectively and efficiently. The sponsor shall -
(A) Ensure that all sponsorship staff and
				members of the sponsor's decision-making body understand and are committed to
				supporting and advancing the purposes of Missouri's charter school law and
				quality sponsorship practices;
(B)
				Engage in the sponsorship of charter schools according to the provisions and
				stipulations of section 160.400.2-5, RSMo, which address the types of entities
				that may sponsor charter schools and under what conditions;
(C) Employ, contract for, or otherwise
				provide personnel at a staffing level appropriate and sufficient to carry out
				its sponsorship duties, which require expertise that includes, but is not
				limited to, education leadership, curriculum, instruction, assessment, special
				education, federal programs, performance accountability, data analysis, law,
				finance, and nonprofit governance;
(D) Provide or provide access to professional
				development opportunities for staff to achieve and maintain high standards of
				professional sponsoring practice and to promote continuous
				improvement;
(E) Retain records
				showing that all individuals conducting sponsorship work, including any
				individual who has contact with students, complete a criminal background check
				and Missouri's Family Care Safety Registry (FCSR) check as outlined in section
				168.133.1, RSMo;
(F) Ensure that
				sponsor staff and members of the sponsor's decision-making body comply with the
				charter school office's or the sponsor's conflict of interest policy with
				respect to the charter schools it sponsors;
(G) Regularly evaluate its work against
				Missouri's charter school law and these standards, and develop and implement
				timely plans for improvement when it falls short;
(H) Provide an annual report to the joint
				committee on education, as outlined in section 160.400.12, RSMo, that includes
				sufficient data and information to demonstrate that the sponsor is in material
				compliance with sections
				160.400
				to
				160.425,
				RSMo, and section
				167.349,
				RSMo; and
(I) Annually submit, on
				the form provided by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
				(department), documentation showing that ninety percent (90%) of state funds
				expended during said fiscal year, are expended for sponsoring in support of the
				sponsor's charter school sponsorship program or as a direct investment in the
				sponsored schools, in accordance with section 160.400.11, RSMo.