SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL 429
54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019
AN ACT
RELATING TO VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOLS; ENACTING THE VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOLS ACT; REQUIRING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION COMMISSION TO CHARTER VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOLS THAT DRAW STUDENTS FROM MORE THAN ONE SCHOOL DISTRICT; ALLOWING A SCHOOL DISTRICT TO CHARTER A VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOL THAT ENROLLS ONLY STUDENTS WHO RESIDE IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; LIMITING THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS A NEW VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOL MAY ENROLL UNTIL THE VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOL HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT ITS PERFORMANCE MEETS OR EXCEEDS ITS PERFORMANCE TARGETS; SETTING OUT ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICATIONS AND VIRTUAL CHARTER CONTRACTS; REQUIRING ADDITIONAL, RIGOROUS MONITORING AND OVERSIGHT BY THE CHARTERING AUTHORITY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 9 of this act may be cited as the "Virtual Charter Schools Act"."
SECTION 2. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Virtual Charter Schools Act:
A. "management" means:
(1) assuming administrative, operational, supervisory and evaluative responsibility and overall instructional leadership for a virtual charter school, including disciplining students and the planning, operation, supervision and evaluation of the educational program, education-related activities, policies and procedures of the school;
(2) employing, evaluating, promoting, disciplining, discharging or terminating school employees and developing professional development plans or job-improvement plans to assist school employees to improve;
(3) directing the day-to-day activities of a virtual charter school and its school employees, whether licensed or unlicensed, and its contractors and subcontractors;
(4) maintaining the privacy of student records and performance data at a school site;
(5) providing at least forty percent of the educational programming at a virtual charter school;
(6) developing, with input from the governing body, a proposed budget for a virtual charter school and submitting the proposed budget to the department or to the local school board; or
(7) implementing the policies of the governing body of a virtual charter school;
B. "necessarily small school district" means a school district that has fewer than one thousand three hundred students;
C. "statewide" means enrolling students from more than one school district in the state; and
D. "virtual charter school" means a charter school that provides for the delivery of more than sixty percent of instruction to students through online distance learning technologies in which the students are separated from their primary teachers by time or space or both."
SECTION 3. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOL TERMS--SITE VISITS.--
A. A virtual charter school may be approved for an initial term of four years; provided that the first year shall be used exclusively for planning and not for completing the application. A virtual charter school may be renewed for successive periods of three years each. Approvals of less than three years may be agreed upon between the virtual charter school and the chartering authority.
B. On or after July 1, 2019, the commission shall be the chartering authority for all statewide virtual charter schools. A local school board shall not authorize or renew a statewide virtual charter school after the effective date of the Virtual Charter Schools Act; however, the local school board shall continue to provide oversight and administrative support for a statewide virtual charter school that the local school board chartered until the statewide virtual charter school's next charter renewal period, at which time the statewide virtual charter school shall seek renewal from the commission unless the statewide virtual charter school offers to limit its enrollment only to students who are residents of the school district.
C. A local school board may charter a virtual charter school in which the only students who attend the virtual charter school are residents of the school district.
D. The commission is responsible for monitoring and overseeing statewide virtual charter schools and may delegate those responsibilities to the charter schools division, except for final actions.
E. A virtual charter school shall not be eligible for funding pursuant to the Public School Capital Outlay Act, the Public School Capital Improvements Act or the Public School Buildings Act or transportation funding pursuant to Chapter 22, Article 16 NMSA 1978.
F. The department shall promulgate rules to carry out the provisions of the Virtual Charter Schools Act."
SECTION 4. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOL GRADE LIMITATIONS-- ENROLLMENT LIMITATIONS.--
A. Beginning with charter applications submitted in 2019, qualified applicants for a new virtual charter school may operate only as a public school for students in any grades from fifth through twelfth grade and shall not be chartered to operate a school for kindergarten through fourth grade.
B. A virtual charter school existing on July 1, 2019 that seeks renewal after that date shall not be authorized to operate as a public school for students in kindergarten through fourth grade; provided that enrolled kindergarten through fourth grade students that were enrolled in the immediately preceding year prior to the renewal year may continue in those grades, but the virtual charter school shall not enroll any new kindergarten through fourth grade students.
C. A statewide virtual charter school chartered after January 1, 2019 shall not enroll more than two hundred students per year until the virtual charter school has met or exceeded its annual performance targets. At no time shall a statewide virtual charter school chartered after January 1, 2019 enroll more than one thousand students unless the school has demonstrated to the commission that the virtual charter school's performance exceeds its annual performance targets and its students are passing their courses and are on track toward timely or early graduation and receipt of diplomas of excellence.
D. A locally chartered virtual charter school chartered after January 1, 2019 shall not enroll more than two hundred students per year until the virtual charter school has demonstrated to the local school board that the virtual charter school has met or exceeded its annual performance targets.
E. A virtual charter school chartered after January 1, 2019 is prohibited from accepting students from a necessarily small school district if the virtual charter school's proposed enrollment for all grades or the virtual charter school's proposed enrollment for all grades in combination with any other charter schools' enrollment for all grades would equal or exceed ten percent of the necessarily small school district's total membership.
F. A virtual charter school chartered after January 1, 2019 shall not enroll a student who needs class C or D special education unless the student's student assistance team, or its equivalent, at the school or public or private educational training center or residential treatment center in which the student is or had been enrolled determines that the virtual charter school is an appropriate placement for the student and the student's parent and the student's medical and psychosocial specialists agree with the placement."
SECTION 5. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] ADDITIONAL VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATION CONTENTS--PROCESS.--The application for a new or renewing virtual charter school shall be the same as for other charter applications, except for the following provisions:
A. a detailed description of how the virtual charter school's management and educational program will be provided;
B. a detailed description of the way the virtual charter school's educational program will meet the individual needs of the students, including those students determined to be at risk or in need of an individualized education plan pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and
C. a description of how the virtual charter school will maintain student performance data at the school site and the process by which the virtual charter school will comply with the requirements of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 if sharing student information and performance data with any education-related contractors."
SECTION 6. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] ADDITIONAL VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.--In addition to contract requirements in the Charter Schools Act, the contract shall include the chartering authority's duties to the virtual charter school, including a detailed description of the criteria, processes and procedures that the chartering authority will use for ongoing oversight and evaluation of governance, operational and financial performance of the virtual charter school and the academic performance and progress of its students."
SECTION 7. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] PROCUREMENT--CONTRACTS--CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.--
A. A virtual charter school is subject to the Procurement Code. Notwithstanding the Procurement Code, a virtual charter school shall not enter into a sole source contract.
B. Except for small purchases made pursuant to Section 13-1-125 NMSA 1978, the chartering authority may require that any requests for proposals or procurement be subject to its review. A virtual charter school shall not artificially divide any requests for proposals or procurement so as to constitute a small purchase under this subsection.
C. Any contract for management or educational services shall include:
(1) clear identification of all fees to be paid to the contractor;
(2) detailed invoices from the contractor to allow the chartering authority to compare costs for specific items or services purchased by the virtual charter school;
(3) a statement of the respective roles and responsibilities of the governing body, the virtual charter school staff and the management or educational services provider;
(4) performance evaluation measures and time lines;
(5) the methods of contract oversight and enforcement;
(6) the conditions for renewal and termination of the contract; and
(7) the process by which the virtual charter school shall comply with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 if sharing student data and performance data with any education-related contractor and how the virtual charter school will maintain student data and performance data at the school site.
D. A virtual charter school may contract with one or more school districts, universities or colleges, political subdivisions of the state or tribal governments for the use of appropriate testing sites when the virtual charter school's students are required to take national or state tests, and such tests shall be proctored.
E. The department shall not waive the statutory instructional time required of public schools, and a virtual charter school shall ensure that its students are meeting the required number of instructional hours during a school year."
SECTION 8. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOLS--OVERSIGHT AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS--SITE VISITS--RENEWAL OF CHARTER--GROUNDS FOR NONRENEWAL OR REVOCATION.--
A. As part of its performance review of a virtual charter school, a chartering authority shall visit a virtual charter school under its authority at least twice annually to provide technical assistance to the virtual charter school and to determine the status of the virtual charter school and the progress of the virtual charter school toward the performance framework in its charter contract.
B. At the end of each school year, a chartering authority shall notify the department of any virtual charter school that failed to meet its annual performance targets.
C. At the end of the second or a subsequent charter term, a chartering authority shall not renew the charter of a virtual charter school that has had its program cost withheld for two or more consecutive years because it is not meeting its annual performance targets in accordance with Section 10 of this 2019 act. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit a chartering authority's power to revoke or refuse to renew a virtual charter school's charter.
D. If a chartering authority revokes or refuses to renew a virtual charter school's charter, that decision is a final agency decision and may not be appealed to the secretary, but may be appealed to the district court as provided in Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978."
SECTION 9. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] APPLICABILITY.--A virtual charter school is a charter school subject to the provisions of the Public School Code that are applicable to charter schools, except as provided in the Virtual Charter Schools Act and the Public School Finance Act."
SECTION 10. A new section of the Public School Finance Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOL PROGRAM COST CALCULATION--LOCAL RESPONSIBILITY.--
A. For fiscal year 2020 and subsequent fiscal years, the total program units for the purpose of computing the program cost of virtual charter schools shall be calculated by multiplying the program units itemized in Paragraph (1) of this subsection by the staffing cost multiplier and adding the program units itemized in Paragraph (2) and (3) of this subsection. The itemized program units are as follows:
(1) basic education;
(2) special education, if generated; and
(3) national board for professional teaching standards certification, only if the certified teacher is a resident of New Mexico and is licensed by the department.
B. On notification by the chartering authority pursuant to Subsection B of Section 8 of the Virtual Charter Schools Act, the department shall withhold ten percent of the program cost of a virtual charter school that does not meet the annual performance targets established in its performance framework; provided that the withholding shall be during the immediately subsequent school year and shall continue until the virtual charter school meets its annual performance targets."
SECTION 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2019.
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