2015 Minnesota Statutes

124E.10 CHARTER CONTRACT.

Subdivision 1.Contents.

(a) The authorization for a charter school must be in the form of a written contract signed by the authorizer and the board of directors of the charter school. The contract must be completed within 45 business days of the commissioner's approval of the authorizer's affidavit. The authorizer shall submit to the commissioner a copy of the signed charter contract within ten business days of its execution. The contract for a charter school must be in writing and contain at least the following:

(1) a declaration that the charter school will carry out the primary purpose in section 124E.01, subdivision 1, and how the school will report its implementation of the primary purpose;

(2) a declaration of the additional purpose or purposes in section 124E.01, subdivision 1, that the school intends to carry out and how the school will report its implementation of those purposes;

(3) a description of the school program and the specific academic and nonacademic outcomes that pupils must achieve;

(4) a statement of admission policies and procedures;

(5) a governance, management, and administration plan for the school;

(6) signed agreements from charter school board members to comply with all federal and state laws governing organizational, programmatic, and financial requirements applicable to charter schools;

(7) the criteria, processes, and procedures that the authorizer will use to monitor and evaluate the fiscal, operational, and academic performance consistent with subdivision 3, paragraphs (a) and (b);

(8) for contract renewal, the formal written performance evaluation of the school that is a prerequisite for reviewing a charter contract under subdivision 3;

(9) types and amounts of insurance liability coverage to be obtained by the charter school, consistent with section 124E.03, subdivision 2, paragraph (d);

(10) consistent with section 124E.09, paragraph (d), a provision to indemnify and hold harmless the authorizer and its officers, agents, and employees from any suit, claim, or liability arising from any operation of the charter school, and the commissioner and department officers, agents, and employees notwithstanding section 3.736;

(11) the term of the initial contract, which may be up to five years plus an additional preoperational planning year, and up to five years for a renewed contract or a contract with a new authorizer after a transfer of authorizers, if warranted by the school's academic, financial, and operational performance;

(12) how the board of directors or the operators of the charter school will provide special instruction and services for children with a disability under sections 125A.03 to 125A.24, and 125A.65, a description of the financial parameters within which the charter school will operate to provide the special instruction and services to children with a disability;

(13) the specific conditions for contract renewal that identify performance of all students under the primary purpose of section 124E.01, subdivision 1, as the most important factor in determining contract renewal;

(14) the additional purposes under section 124E.01, subdivision 1, and related performance obligations under clause (7) contained in the charter contract as additional factors in determining contract renewal; and

(15) the plan for an orderly closing of the school under chapter 317A, whether the closure is a termination for cause, a voluntary termination, or a nonrenewal of the contract, that includes establishing the responsibilities of the school board of directors and the authorizer and notifying the commissioner, authorizer, school district in which the charter school is located, and parents of enrolled students about the closure, information and assistance sufficient to enable the student to re-enroll in another school, the transfer of student records under section 124E.03, subdivision 5, paragraph (b), and procedures for closing financial operations.

(b) A charter school must design its programs to at least meet the outcomes adopted by the commissioner for public school students. In the absence of the commissioner's requirements, the school must meet the outcomes contained in the contract with the authorizer. The achievement levels of the outcomes contained in the contract may exceed the achievement levels of any outcomes adopted by the commissioner for public school students.

Subd. 2.Limitations on charter contract.

(a) Any potential contract, lease, or purchase of service from an authorizer must be disclosed to the commissioner, accepted through an open bidding process, and be a separate contract from the charter contract. The school must document the open bidding process. An authorizer must not enter into a contract to provide management and financial services for a school that it authorizes, unless the school documents that it received at least two competitive bids.

(b) The granting or renewal of a charter school by an authorizer must not be contingent on the charter school being required to contract, lease, or purchase services from the authorizer.

(c) The granting or renewal of a charter by an authorizer must not be conditioned upon the bargaining unit status of the employees of the school.

Subd. 3.Review and comment.

(a) The authorizer shall provide a formal written evaluation of the school's performance before the authorizer renews the charter contract. The department must review and comment on the authorizer's evaluation process at the time the authorizer submits its application for approval and each time the authorizer undergoes its five-year review under section 124E.05, subdivision 5.

(b) An authorizer shall monitor and evaluate the academic, financial, operational, and student performance of the school, and may for this purpose annually assess a charter school a fee according to paragraph (c). The agreed-upon fee structure must be stated in the charter school contract.

(c) The fee that an authorizer may annually assess is the greater of:

(1) the basic formula allowance for that year; or

(2) the lesser of:

(i) the maximum fee factor times the basic formula allowance for that year; or

(ii) the fee factor times the basic formula allowance for that year times the charter school's adjusted pupil units for that year. The fee factor equals .015. The maximum fee factor equals 4.0.

(d) An authorizer may not assess a fee for any required services other than as provided in this subdivision.

(e) For the preoperational planning period, after a school is chartered, the authorizer may assess a charter school a fee equal to the basic formula allowance.

Subd. 4.Causes for nonrenewal or termination of charter school contract.

(a) The duration of the contract with an authorizer must be for the term contained in the contract according to subdivision 1, paragraph (a). The authorizer may or may not renew a contract at the end of the term for any ground listed in paragraph (b). An authorizer may unilaterally terminate a contract during the term of the contract for any ground listed in paragraph (b). At least 60 business days before not renewing or terminating a contract, the authorizer shall notify the board of directors of the charter school of the proposed action in writing. The notice shall state the grounds for the proposed action in reasonable detail and that the charter school's board of directors may request in writing an informal hearing before the authorizer within 15 business days of receiving notice of nonrenewal or termination of the contract. Failure by the board of directors to make a written request for an informal hearing within the 15-business-day period shall be treated as acquiescence to the proposed action. Upon receiving a timely written request for a hearing, the authorizer shall give ten business days' notice to the charter school's board of directors of the hearing date. The authorizer shall conduct an informal hearing before taking final action. The authorizer shall take final action to renew or not renew a contract no later than 20 business days before the proposed date for terminating the contract or the end date of the contract.

(b) A contract may be terminated or not renewed upon any of the following grounds:

(1) failure to demonstrate satisfactory academic achievement for all students, including the requirements for pupil performance contained in the contract;

(2) failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management;

(3) violations of law; or

(4) other good cause shown.

If a contract is terminated or not renewed under this paragraph, the school must be dissolved according to the applicable provisions of chapter 317A.

(c) The commissioner, after providing reasonable notice to the board of directors of a charter school and the existing authorizer, and after providing an opportunity for a public hearing, may terminate the existing contract between the authorizer and the charter school board if the charter school has a history of:

(1) failure to meet pupil performance requirements consistent with state law;

(2) financial mismanagement or failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management; or

(3) repeated or major violations of the law.

Subd. 5.Mutual nonrenewal.

If the authorizer and the charter school board of directors mutually agree not to renew the contract, a change in authorizers is allowed. The authorizer and the school board must jointly submit a written and signed letter of their intent to the commissioner to mutually not renew the contract. The authorizer that is a party to the existing contract must inform the proposed authorizer about the fiscal, operational, and student performance status of the school, as well as any outstanding contractual obligations that exist. The charter contract between the proposed authorizer and the school must identify and provide a plan to address any outstanding obligations from the previous contract. The proposed contract must be submitted at least 105 business days before the end of the existing charter contract. The commissioner shall have 30 business days to review and make a determination. The proposed authorizer and the school shall have 15 business days to respond to the determination and address any issues identified by the commissioner. A final determination by the commissioner shall be made no later than 45 business days before the end of the current charter contract. If no change in authorizer is approved, the school and the current authorizer may withdraw their letter of nonrenewal and enter into a new contract. If the transfer of authorizers is not approved and the current authorizer and the school do not withdraw their letter and enter into a new contract, the school must be dissolved according to applicable law and the terms of the contract.

Subd. 6.Pupil enrollment upon nonrenewal or termination of charter school contract.

If a contract is not renewed or is terminated according to subdivision 4 or 5, a pupil who attended the school, siblings of the pupil, or another pupil who resides in the same place as the pupil may enroll in the resident district or may submit an application to a nonresident district according to section 124D.03 at any time. Applications and notices required by section 124D.03 must be processed and provided in a prompt manner. The application and notice deadlines in section 124D.03 do not apply under these circumstances. The closed charter school must transfer the student's educational records within ten business days of closure to the student's school district of residence where the records must be retained or transferred under section 120A.22, subdivision 7.

History:

1991 c 265 art 9 s 3; 1993 c 224 art 9 s 6,12; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 9 s 2; 1Sp1997 c 4 art 5 s 7,8; 1998 c 397 art 2 s 2,4,8,13,19,20,164; art 11 s 3; 1998 c 398 art 2 s 4; art 5 s 55; 1999 c 241 art 5 s 10; 2000 c 489 art 6 s 22,23; 1Sp2001 c 6 art 2 s 24; 2003 c 130 s 12; 1Sp2005 c 5 art 2 s 60-62; 2007 c 146 art 2 s 25; 2009 c 96 art 2 s 41; 2010 c 382 s 27,28; 1Sp2011 c 11 art 2 s 29; 2012 c 187 art 1 s 18; 2012 c 239 art 2 s 11,13; 2013 c 116 art 4 s 1; 2013 c 144 s 11; 2014 c 272 art 3 s 36; 1Sp2015 c 3 art 4 s 3,10