Charter, Contract, Laws, Policies, Regulations, and
Statutes
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National Alliance for Public Charter Schools: Public Charter
schools are always public schools. They never charge tuition, and
they accept any student who wants to attend. Charter laws require
that students are admitted by a random lottery drawing in cases too
many students want to enroll in a single charter school. Charter
schools must also meet the state and federal academic requirements
that apply to all public schools.
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Charter schools are not exempt from federal laws that cover
equal rights, access and discrimination. Students attend charter
schools by choice of their parents or guardians rather than by
assignment by a school district.
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The document submitted to a charter school sponsor for approval
It describes what the charter school has promised to do and how it
will do it. An approved charter application constitutes an
agreement between the charter school and its sponsor.
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Fixed term, renewable contract between a charter school and a
sponsor that outlines the roles, powers, responsibilities, and
performance expectations for each party to the contract
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As your schools authorizer, the SCPCSD must monitor your
schools faithfulness to the terms of its charter and its contract.
Make sure you become very familiar with your charter and your
contract!!!
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Material revisions of the terms of the charter or contract can
only be made with approval of both parties. For amendments to your
charter, complete and submit a charter amendment request form. The
SCPCSD will review and determine if the proposed amendment is
material and requires approval of the SCPCSD Board. For amendments
to your contract, refer to the process outlined in the
contract.
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Educational program Mission School name Curriculum Application
and enrollment requirements Grades to be served Organizational
Structure Maximum student enrollment Goals and related measures
Methods of pupil assessment Facilities (expansion, location) EMO
relationship Governance
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The South Carolina Charter Schools Act requires authorizers to:
monitor the performance and legal/fiscal compliance of each charter
school conduct or require oversight activities including conducting
appropriate inquiries and investigations only if such activities
are consistent with the law and do not unduly inhibit the autonomy
granted to charter schools
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notify the charter school of perceived problems if the schools
performance or legal compliance appears to be unsatisfactory take
appropriate corrective actions or exercise sanctions short of
revocation including requiring a school to develop a CAP w/in a
specified timeframe
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determine whether each schools charter merits renewal,
nonrenewal, or revocation
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SCPCSD created a compliance ladder to notify schools of
performance/compliance issues and to help track compliance The
compliance ladder is a 3-tier approach with graduated
notices/warnings: Caution, Probation, and Revocation
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SCPCSD addresses noncompliance throughout the calendar year as
concerns/deficiencies are identified Each tier triggers a specific
notice to a school and requires the school to take corrective
action
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Schools are notified in writing that there is a performance or
compliance deficiency Cautions are typically issued after the
school has been afforded an opportunity to resolve the deficiency
on its own and fails to do so Schools are provided a reasonable
opportunity to remedy the deficiency through the development of a
corrective action plan (CAP) Leading causes of cautions: special
education violations, lack of special education capacity, failure
to submit timely and/or accurate data/reports; test security
violations; low academic achievement
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Applies to schools that fall into one or more of the following
three categories: schools that have been cautioned but have failed
to self-correct; schools with subpar academic performance; or
schools with systemic issues of noncompliance or a pattern of
noncompliance A sanction short of revocation- provides a school an
opportunity to remedy the performance and/or compliance issues that
led to probation via the development and implementation of a
comprehensive remedial action plan Schools on probation must
demonstrate improvement and correct any outstanding issues of
noncompliance to lift probation
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59 40 110 (C) A charter must be revoked or not renewed by the
sponsor if it determines that the charter school: (1) committed a
material violation of the conditions, standards, or procedures
provided for in the charter application; (2) failed to meet or make
reasonable progress, as defined in the charter application, toward
pupil achievement standards identified in the charter
application;
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(3) failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal
management; or (4) violated any provision of law from which the
charter school was not specifically exempted.
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Because the SCPCSD is obligated by law to conduct ongoing
performance reviews of each of its charter schools, the SCPCSD will
be evaluating each schools performance over the term of its charter
in four key areas: academics, compliance, finance, and
organization/governance
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Academics -the success of the schools academic program
Compliance- the schools faithfulness to the terms of its charter,
contract, and applicable policies, laws, regulations, and statutes
Finance-the schools fiscal stewardship, health and sustainability
Organization/Governance- the viability of the school as an
organization
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Charter and charter amendments Contract and contract amendments
Annual report of the school Annual independent financial audit and
review of financial records/data Federal and State accountability
data Record reviews Federal program reviews Notifications of non-
compliance and corrective action plans Site visits Stakeholder
input
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Tailor oversight to match an increasingly diverse portfolio of
schools Recognize change in expectations from start-up to mature
organization Respect the autonomy of and minimize the burden on
high performing schools
Year of Charter Term Site Visit TypePurposeInspection Team
Approximate Site Visit Length* Site Visit Deliverable Pre-Opening
Period Visit will occur prior to school opening Ensure completion
of all SPCSD required pre- opening conditions as outlined in the
contract SCPCSD staffHalf-daySummary letter/memo to the school
Board outlining key findings and schools status regarding final
authorization to open 1Check-in 2 3Full Program Evaluation 4As
needed 5Full Program Evaluation 6 As needed 7Full Program
Evaluation 8 As needed 9Renewal Evaluation 10 As needed * **
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