New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 11 - CHARTER SCHOOLS › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 6A:11-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, as used in this chapter, shall
				  have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise.
"Administrator" means an employee of a charter school
				  who:
1. Holds a position that requires
				a certificate authorizing the holder to serve as school administrator,
				principal, or school business administrator;
2. Holds a position that requires a
				certificate authorizing the holder to serve as supervisor who is responsible
				for making recommendations regarding hiring or the purchase or acquisition of
				any property or services of a charter school; or
3. Holds a position that does not require the
				person to hold any type of certificate but is responsible for making
				recommendations regarding hiring or the purchase or acquisition of any property
				or services by a charter school.
"Annual review" means the yearly assessment by the
				  Commissioner as to whether the charter school is meeting the goals of its
				  charter.
"Application" means the New Jersey Charter School
				  Application, which includes, but is not limited to, a description of the areas
				  listed in 18A:36A-5 and 6A:11-2.1(b).
"Approval" means an endorsement by the Commissioner following
				  the review of an eligible application by the Department and contingent upon the
				  receipt of necessary documentation in accordance with 6A:11-2.1(f).
"Board of trustees" means the public agents authorized by the
				  State Board of Education to supervise and control a charter school.
"Certification" means the endorsement of a person who is
				  employed by a district board of education or a charter school board of trustees
				  to perform duties that are regulated by N.J.A.C. 6A:9 and 6A:23A-22, and
				  18A:26-2.
"Charter agreement" means a written agreement between a
				  charter school and the Commissioner that sets forth criteria the charter school
				  shall be expected to satisfy, including, but not limited to, measureable
				  performance goals and indicators in the charter school's Performance
				  Framework.
"Charter school" means a public school operated under a
				  charter granted by the Commissioner that is independent of the district board
				  of education and managed by a board of trustees.
"Construction" means the building of a wholly new school
				  facility.
"Contiguous district boards of education" means school
				  districts that comprise a region of residence that all share a common
				  border.
"Demonstrable experience" means a record of success in
				  engendering student growth and improving the academic performance of at-risk,
				  multilingual learner s, and special education students; and evidence of
				  financial stability.
"District of residence" means the school district in which a
				  charter school facility is physically located; if a charter school is approved
				  with a region of residence comprised of contiguous school districts, that
				  region is the charter school's district of residence.
"Educator evaluation system" means a system by which a
				  charter school measures the effectiveness of an educator through a measurement
				  of student learning growth and educator practice.
"Eligible applicant" means teaching staff members from
				  anywhere in the State, parents of children attending the schools of the
				  district of residence, a combination of teaching staff members and parents, or
				  an institution of higher education or a private entity located within the State
				  in conjunction with teaching staff members and parents of children attending
				  the schools of the district of residence.
"Expansion" means an addition to an existing school facility
				  characterized by an increase in the school facility's gross square
				  footage.
"Expedited action" means to allow an applicant to apply early
				  and receive an early decision regarding the status of the application for a
				  charter. It also permits an approved applicant to open a charter school on an
				  expedited timeline. The application must be submitted by October 15 to receive
				  a decision in advance of the standard schedule and no later than February
				  15.
"Expedited renewal" means the granting on an accelerated
				  basis of a charter's continuation for a five-year period by the Commissioner,
				  which is reserved for high-performing charter schools with no major fiscal or
				  compliance issues that meet the standards set forth in N.J.A.C.
				  6A:11-2.3.
"Failing school district" means a school district identified
				  by the Department as a "district in need of improvement" in the 2010-2011
				  school year pursuant to the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001,
				  Pub. L. 107-110, as identified in the chapter Appendix, incorporated herein by
				  reference, or that has been identified as a "Priority" or "Focus" school (see
				  6A:33-1.2 ).
"Final granting of a charter" means the written notification
				  in which the Commissioner makes the charter effective as a result of all
				  required documentation being submitted by the charter school and approved by
				  the Department in accordance with 6A:11-2.1(f), (h), and (i).
"GAAP" means the generally accepted accounting principles
				  established by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board as prescribed by the
				  State Board of Education pursuant to 18A:4-14 and 6A:23A-16.1.
"High-performing charter school" means a charter school that
				  earns a Tier Rank 1, which is the highest possible rank, based on the metrics
				  set forth in the Academic Performance Framework.
"High-performing nonpublic school" means a nonpublic school
				  that ranked in the 66th percentile or higher on a norm-referenced achievement
				  test in the school year prior to the school year in which a conversion
				  application is submitted pursuant to 6A:11-2.7.
"In-depth interview" means the performance assessment of the
				  founders of a charter school during the application and approval process for a
				  charter.
"Initial recruitment period" means the period during which
				  there are the first outreach efforts by a charter school to a cross section of
				  the community for the application, random selection process (if applicable) and
				  enrollment of students for the next school year.
"Lead person" means the person who performs the
				  organizational tasks necessary for the operation of a charter school. Where a
				  group of individuals shares the organizational tasks, the person designated as
				  responsible for completion of the tasks required by the rules is the lead
				  person.
"Monitoring" means an on-site review at a charter school to
				  corroborate and augment the annual reports and to verify compliance with
				  statutes, regulations and the terms of the charter.
"Nonpublic conversion charter school" means a charter school
				  that has been authorized pursuant to 18A:36A-4.1.
"Non-resident district" means a school district outside the
				  district of residence of the charter school.
"Non-resident student" means a student from a non-resident
				  district attending a charter school.
"Norm-referenced achievement test" means any assessment that
				  compares test takers' results to an average to distinguish between high and low
				  performances. Examples include: the California Achievement Test (CAT),
				  Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT), Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), or the
				  Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) or one of the tests within the
				  CTBS.
"Performance Framework" means the accountability system that
				  shall be used by the Department to evaluate the academic, financial, and
				  organizational performance of each charter school. The Performance Framework
				  shall be shared with all charter schools and posted on the Department's
				  website. The academic component includes, but is not limited to, measures of:
				  student growth; student achievement; high school graduation rate; leading
				  indicators of school success, such as attendance; and all State and Federal
				  accountability requirements. Measures of student growth, student achievement,
				  graduation rate, and leading indicators are evaluated relative to: Statewide
				  results, primary sending district results, and results of similar schools.
				  Additionally, each charter school will be responsible for unique
				  mission-specific goals included in their charter agreement. Criteria for the
				  organizational component consist of, but are not limited to, compliance with
				  statutory requirements in N.J.S.A. 18A:36A-1 et seq., and all applicable
				  statutes in Title 18A, and regulatory requirements that ensure equitable
				  access, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:7, Managing for Equality and Equity in
				  Education; and safe and secure learning environments, pursuant to N.J.A.C.
				  6A:16, Programs to Support Student Services. Criteria for the financial
				  component include, but are not limited to: the generally accepted accounting
				  principles set forth in N.J.A.C. 6A:23A, Fiscal Accountability, Efficiency and
				  Budgeting Procedures, and indicators of near- and long-term viability.
"Planning year" means a one-year period between a charter
				  school's application approval and the final granting of its charter to prepare
				  for the charter school's opening.
"Preparedness visit" means the on-site inspection by
				  Department personnel that gauges readiness for school opening. The preparedness
				  visit shall include a review of program, facility, and fiscal documentation and
				  interviews with board of trustee members and staff members of the proposed
				  charter school to assess organizational leadership and capacity.
"Qualified applicant" means an applicant determined by the
				  Department to have submitted an application in the first phase of the
				  application process that met the charter school application quality standards
				  as set forth at 6A:11-2.1(b)3 ii.
"Qualified founder" means an individual who can establish a
				  charter school pursuant to 18A:36A-4. A charter school may be established by
				  teaching staff members, parents with children attending the schools of the
				  district, or a combination of teaching staff members and parents.
"Region of residence" means contiguous school districts in
				  which a charter school operates and is the charter school's district of
				  residence.
"Rehabilitation" means as defined in N.J.A.C.
				  6A:26-1.2.
"Renewal" means the granting of the continuation of a charter
				  for a five-year period by the Commissioner following a comprehensive review
				  conducted by the Commissioner.
"Resident student" means a student who resides in the area
				  served by the district board of education that is the same as the district of
				  residence of the charter school.
"Revocation" means the withdrawal of a charter by the
				  Commissioner from a charter school's board of trustees.
"Satellite campus" means a school facility operated by a
				  charter school that is in addition to the facility identified in the charter
				  school application or charter, if subsequently amended.
"School closure protocols" means procedures set forth at
				  6A:11-2.4(c) for the revocation, non-renewal, or surrender of a charter.
"School Ethics Act" means the statute 18A:12-21 et seq.
				  designed to set standards to guide the conduct of school officials and ensure
				  maintenance of those standards to ensure and preserve public confidence in the
				  integrity of elected and appointed school board members and school
				  administrators.
"School official" means a member of the board of trustees or
				  an administrator of a charter school.
"School year" means July 1 to June 30 of any given academic
				  year.
"Streamline tenure" means the tenure process for all charter
				  school teaching staff members, janitors, and secretaries who are either newly
				  employed in a charter school or employed in a charter school while on leave
				  from a district board of education.
"Structured interview" means the performance assessment of
				  the accomplishments of a charter school for renewal of the charter.
"Waiting list" means the document identifying the names of
				  grade-eligible students with applications to a charter school pending
				  acceptance for the subsequent school year, based upon the order of random
				  selection from a lottery following a recruitment period.
"Weighted lottery" means a random selection process that
				  provides additional weight or increased chances to individual students who are
				  identified as part of a specified set of educationally disadvantaged students
				  but does not reserve or set aside seats for individual students or sets of
				  students.