Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 10 - Education Institutions and Agencies › Part 402 - MCSAB Board Policies › Chapter 2 - Application Toolkit 2013 › Rule 10-402-2.2 - Guidance

Current through June 25, 2024
Guidance
The 80% Rule
The Rule and Definitions
One of the important aspects of Mississippi's charter school
				  law is its sensitivity to concerns that charters will under-enroll students
				  with the greatest need to be served. As a result, the legislature added the 80%
				  rule to the law. Mississippi Code §
									37-28-23(5)
				  reads, "The underserved student composition of a charter school's enrollment
				  collectively must reflect that of students of all ages attending the school
				  district in which the charter school is located, to be defined for the purposes
				  of this chapter as being at least eighty percent (80%) of that
				  population."
The term "underserved" is defined in Mississippi Code §
									37-28-5 as
				  'students participating in the federal free lunch program who qualify for
				  at-risk student funding under the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and
				  students who are identified as having special educational needs."
What does this mean?
Essentially, a charter school's percentage of underserved
				  students (students qualifying for free lunch and/or special education services)
				  must be at least 80% of the percent of underserved students of every age within
				  the traditional school district in which the charter resides.
For example, if 60% of students in a district are
				  underserved, a charter school's enrollment of underserved students must equal
				  60% X 80%, or 48%.
Calculating a Proposed Charter School's 80%
				  Target of Underserved Students
Step 1: Gather the appropriate data.
* Publicly available data does not differentiate between
				  students who are only receiving free lunch or special education services versus
				  students who receive both. You will need to know these exact percentages in
				  order to
correctly
calculate the 80% target. The
				  Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board will provide the correct data to
				  all applicants who have properly completed a Letter of Intent by the
				  deadline.
Step 2: Find the district's total population of underserved
				  students.
* Complete the chart below to correctly calculate the
				  district's total underserved population.
% of students qualifying for FREE LUNCH ONLY
% of students qualifying for SPECIAL EDUCATION ONLY
% of students qualifying for BOTH FREE LUNCH AND SPECIAL
						  EDUCATION
Add boxes 1-3 together to find the TOTAL % of
						  underserved students
Step 3: Calculate the charter school's minimum percentage of
				  underserved students.
* Total District % of Underserved Students:
* Multiply the number above by 80% (remember to move decimal
				  places since you are finding a percent of a percent):
Step 4: In the application, project the demographics of your
				  proposed school.
* Make sure that the projected demographics satisfy the 80%
				  rule.
Does a charter school's free lunch percentage and
				  special education percentage separately have to equal 80% of the district's
				  population of both of these groups?
No. The legislation requires that the underserved population
				  at the charter school collectively reflect that of the district's. Therefore, a
				  charter could serve a population of students receiving special education
				  services that is exactly equal to that of the district's while serving a
				  smaller percentage of students who qualify for free lunch, as long as the total
				  underserved population is at least 80% of the district's underserved
				  population. However, if the percentage of students in either category is very
				  different from that of the district, a charter school could be investigated to
				  determine if it engaged in any unlawful practice to bring about that
				  result.
What happens if a charter school does not enroll
				  an appropriate underserved population?
Mississippi Code §
									37-28-5
				  states, "If the underserved student composition of an applicant's or charter
				  school's enrollment is less than eighty percent (80%) of the enrollment of
				  students of all ages in the school district in which the charter school is
				  located, despite the school's best efforts, the authorizer must consider the
				  applicant's or charter school's recruitment efforts and the underserved student
				  composition of the applicant pool in determining whether the applicant or
				  charter school is operating in a nondiscriminatory manner. A finding by the
				  authorizer that a charter school is operating in a discriminatory manner
justifies the revocation of a
				  charter
."
Miss. Code Ann. §
										37-28-15