CHARTER SCHOOL

Charter schools are schools established under AS 14.03.250 that operate within the public school district.  Charter schools are established upon approval by the Board and the State Board of Education of an application for a charter school.  Charter schools shall operate under a written contract between the charter school and the School Board.

Establishment of Charter Schools

The Board shall give appropriate consideration to any charter school petition, in light of its overall effect on the district’s children and the proposed school’s ability to function effectively and meet its goals.  The Board desires to support alternative programs which improve student learning and views charter schools as an opportunity to implement school-level reform. In accordance with law, the proposed charter must include descriptions of the vision, mission and goals of the charter school, the governance structure which will be used, the educational outcomes to be attained by students, and the method by which progress in meeting these outcomes will be measured.

Applications for a charter school to operate during the next school year shall be submitted to the Board no later than February 1st of the current school year.  Applications received after the February 1st deadline shall not be considered until the next school year.  A charter school shall begin operation as agreed with the Board but no later than October 1st.

Charter schools in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District shall comply with the following general requirements:

1. Each charter school shall establish an Academic Policy Committee that will function according to the terms of law.
   
   
2. Each contract will provide a training plan for the APC included within its budget.
   
   
3. Each charter school Academic Policy Committee shall report directly to the Board or a subcommittee of the Board unless mutually agreed otherwise.
   
   
4. Each charter school shall operate in compliance with Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District policies unless mutually agreed otherwise.
   
   
5. Each charter school shall comply with the requirements of the district accounting system.
   
   
6. Each charter school shall comply with the requirements of the district purchasing system.
   
   
7. Each charter school shall be designed to advance basic skills areas (mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies) appropriate to the age of students included in the program.
   
   
8. If the charter school adopts their own disciplinary program through negotiations with the Board it shall enforce Alaska statutes, state and federal regulations, and [district policies] with respect to drugs, alcohol, weapons, tobacco, harassment, and violence.
   
   
9. The charter school shall participate in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District’s report card to the public process as required by Alaska statute.
   
   
10. Each charter school shall participate in all assessments required by the State Department of Education an all assessments required by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District not exempted by the contract.
    
    
11. No charter school shall promote religious ideologies or philosophies.
    
    
12. Each charter school shall operate in compliance with negotiated agreements established between employee groups and the Board.
    
    
13. Each Academic Policy Committee shall be subject to the Open Meeting Act.

State Notification of a Charter School Application

It is permissible for the charter school to use the State application form in their application to the school board in conjunction with supplementary material the school board may require. Upon approval or rejection of a charter school application, the School Board will submit to the State Board of Education a copy of the charter school application and a report on the action taken by the School Board no later than 20 (twenty) working days following the School Board action.

Annual Review of the Charter School

Once approved by both the School Board and the State Board of Education, the charter school will be subject to an annual review of its operations and finances by the School Board.  Annually, the charter school will submit a written report and make a presentation to the School Board and the public.  This report will include information on the attainment of student performance expectations, meeting minutes of the governing bodies of the charter school, descriptions of charter school activities, implementation of APC training, and other information of interest to the School Board.  If academic performance targets for student achievement are not reached by the identified timelines specified in the contract, the Academic Policy Committee must submit a Plan for Improvement, outlining activities for remediation, a process for monitoring the progress of the Plan, and a process for reporting progress of the Plan to the School Board.

If there is evidence of a breach of contract, then the School Board shall have a right to investigate this breach of contract and meet with the charter school to discuss possible remedies, including termination of the charter school contract.

The contract will include a termination clause providing that the contract may be terminated by the School Board for the failure of the charter school to meet educational achievement goals or fiscal management standards, or for other good cause. The School Board shall provide written notice to the charter school of its intent to terminate this contract and the reasons therefore. The charter school may also terminate the contract on an annual basis. In such event the charter school must notify the District by February 1st of a given school year of its intent to cease operations the following school year. This date may be waived under extreme circumstances by action of the School Board upon recommendation of the Superintendent.

Organization and Operation of a Charter School

A charter school operates as a school in the school district except that a charter school:

• is exempt from the school district’s textbook, program, curriculum, and scheduling requirements.
  
  
• is exempt from AS 14.14.130(c) which states, “If the district employs a chief school administrator, the administrator shall select, appoint, and otherwise control all school district employees who serve under the chief school administrator subject to the approval of the school board.”
  
  
• operates under the charter school’s annual program budget as set out in the contract between the Board and the charter school.

 A school board shall provide to an approved charter school an estimated per pupil allocation available from the District for the operation of the charter school.  The estimated allocation shall be computed in a manner consistent with the method in which the District receives money from the State’s foundation program and minimum required local match less the following costs retained by the District:

1. If housed in a District facility, facility costs including user fees, utilities, custodial and building maintenance costs, allocated on a per pupil basis; and
   
   
2. Instructional and administrative costs affecting all of the District’s students, allocated on a per pupil basis.

Each charter school shall submit an annual program budget to the school board by April 15th. The annual program budget shall include on a per pupil basis the allocations for housing students and the instructional and administrative costs affecting all of the District’s students.  The District shall provide an approved charter school with an annual program budget that is not less than the amount determined in accordance with AS 14.03.260.  The charter school budget shall not diminish the per pupil financial support of students enrolled in the remainder of the district’s schools.

Actual revenues received by the charter school shall be derived from actual student enrollments in the charter school during the year in which the charter school is operating.  The funding allocation set forth above is for the purposes of creating a program budget for the charter school for the next school year.  Actual student enrollments in the charter school (and revenues generated from those enrollments) shall be ascertained in the same manner that the State of Alaska uses to determine student enrollments and state revenues generated in the school district. If the actual enrollment during the Foundation count period is different from the approved projected enrollment, the charter school budget will be adjusted accordingly.

All equipment and supplies purchased by the charter school become the property of the school district upon completion or termination of the charter school contract.

• shall designate a contact person for all communications between the charter school and the district administration.

“A charter school is subject to secondary school competency testing as provided in AS 14.03.075 and other competency tests required by the Department of Education and Early Development.”

All provisions of existing negotiated agreements with the teachers association, support staff associations, principal association or other group negotiated agreements apply to the appropriate personnel in the charter schools, unless the Board and the Association agree to an exemption for the charter school.  A request for an exemption to the negotiated agreement shall be initiated by the charter school.  The charter school shall meet with the Association to discuss the exemption and, if agreeable, the charter school shall obtain a letter from the Association indicating their intent to allow the exemption.  A description of the exemption and the letter from the Association shall be included in the application.

Evaluation of Charter School Personnel

Charter school professional staff shall be evaluated in an equivalent manner as all other professional staff in the district and in conformance with AS 14.20.149.

1. Teacher Evaluation
   
   Charter school teachers shall be evaluated by the charter school principal holding a current Type B certificate if one is employed by the charter school.  If the charter school does not employ a Type B certificated principal, the charter school may contract with an administrator possessing a current Type B certificate for the purpose of conducting teacher evaluations. The individual must meet the requirements for an evaluator set forth in AS 14.20.149 and must be available to do regular on-site observations. The charter school will bear the costs associated with this.
   
   If the charter school has neither a full-time principal nor a contracted administrator for evaluation, the district, in cooperation with the charter school, will designate a school district administrator to evaluate the charter school teachers. Pertaining to the above situation, a written agreement identifying the evaluator will be signed by the district and the charter school’s Academic Policy Committee prior to the beginning of the school year.
   
   
2. Principal/Administrator Evaluation
   
   Evaluation of the charter school administrator is the responsibility of the Academic Policy Committee. The APC shall demonstrate to the district that the individual conducting the evaluation meets the requirements of AS 14.20.149. These requirements may be met by having a Type B certificated administrator on the Academic Policy Committee, by contracting with such an individual, or by other means as agreed to by the charter school, the administration, and the board.
   
   The Academic Policy Committee shall ensure that during the Evaluation process, the KGBSD administration will have the opportunity to provide written information on the performance of the administrator, including the administrator’s performance in meeting obligations set forth in the charter school contract.
   
   Prior to the beginning of each school year, a written agreement will be entered into between the KGBSD administration and the Academic Policy Committee identifying how the Academic Policy Committee will meet the obligations of AS 14.20.149 for conducting the administrator’s evaluation as well as identifying the procedures for obtaining district administration input into the evaluation. This agreement may be extended by mutual consent annually for the duration of the charter school contract.
   
   
3. Confidentiality of Evaluations
   
   Teacher evaluations are confidential and may not be publicly disclosed, including disclosure to members of the Academic Policy Committee, absent a written waiver signed and dated by the employee. The Academic Policy Committee may request that a teacher waive confidentiality so that the evaluation may be shared with the Academic Policy Committee. If a waiver is not obtained, the Type B certificated evaluator performing the evaluation of charter school teachers shall work in an advisory capacity with the Academic Policy Committee to assist the Committee in making informed decisions regarding the employment of Charter School Personnel. The details of this working relationship should be agreed to in writing between the evaluator and the Academic Policy Committee.
   
   The charter school principal’s or designated administrator’s evaluations are confidential and may not be publicly disclosed, but may be shared with the Academic Policy Committee without a waiver.  

Operation of a Charter School

 Each charter school’s principal or designated administrator:

• shall keep financial records of the charter school;
  
  
• shall oversee the operation of the charter school to ensure that the terms of the contract are being met;
  
  
• shall meet regularly with parents and with teachers of the charter school to review, evaluate, and improve operations of the charter school; and
  
  
• shall meet with the Academic Policy Committee at least once each year to monitor progress in achieving the committee’s policies and goals.

Definitions

“Designated Administrator” means a person selected by the Academic Policy Committee and approved by the Board of Education to perform the administrative functions of the charter school.  An administrator who does not possess a current Type B administrative certificate may not conduct employee evaluations.

“Employees” of charter schools are considered employees of the School District with all rights guaranteed by their respective collective bargaining agreements unless specifically waived by mutual agreement between the appropriate bargaining unit and Board.

“Principal” means a person selected by the Academic Policy Committee and approved by the Board of Education to select, appoint, or otherwise supervise employees of the charter school.  This person is not required to possess an Alaska Type B Administrative Certificate.  The school district assumes no responsibility for employing this person after the termination of the charter school contract unless the person is also employed as a teacher.

“Per-pupil allocation” means the funding generated, calculated on a per student basis, using the formula for basic need defined in AS 14.17.410.

Legal Reference:

Alaska Statutes
14.03.250-14.03.280 Charter Schools

Alaska Administrative Code
4 AAC 33.110 Charter Schools

KETCHIKAN GATEWAY BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
Revision Date:  4/27/05