Knox County Board of Education

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1 Knox County Board of Education Descriptor Term: Descriptor Code: Issued: Newly Created Public Charter Schools Rescinds: /0 Revised: / Charter schools should significantly benefit the students they serve and promote education reform and improvement within their adopted school model. This policy is to promote a fair and equitable process for sponsors seeking to newly create public charter schools within Knoxville and Knox County. I. The following principles and conditions will be considered in reviewing an application for a charter: a. Student Population The prospective student population shall be: (A) Students who were previously enrolled in a charter school; (B) Students who are assigned to, or were previously enrolled in, a school failing to make adequate yearly progress, as defined by the state's accountability system, giving priority to at-risk students; (C) Students who, in the previous year, failed to test proficient in the subjects of language arts/reading or mathematics in grades three through eight (-) on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program examinations; (D) Students who, in the previous school year, failed to test proficient on the Gateway examinations in language arts/reading or mathematics; (E) Students in grades kindergarten through three (K-) who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, who may only be enrolled no earlier than August ; or (F) Students who are under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court and who in the court's judgment would benefit from a work experience and career exploration program. The proposed public charter school shall, in addition to complying with the application requirements --0, apply to the Commissioner of Education for approval of its proposed work experience and career exploration program. First priority shall be given to eligible students who meet criteria A - D above. Students enrolled in a charter school under free-reduced lunch status shall not exceed twenty-five percent (%) of the total school population in grades kindergarten through three (K-). Further, in no event shall more than twentyfive percent (%) of the total school enrollment in grades kindergarten through three (K-) consist of students who only meet free-reduced lunch criteria. Any charter school enrolling students based on free-reduced lunch status shall enroll students using a random selection process. KCS shall certify each student's eligibility to attend a charter school based on free-reduced lunch status. For certification purposes, the charter school shall supply KCS with a list of

2 who applied, the date of the application, all students who were accepted, and the priority category of each student accepted. The required list shall be provided no later than forty-five () days after the charter school's first day of the academic school year. No charter agreement shall be granted for a private, parochial, cyber-based, or home-based school. Sponsors of public charter schools cannot be a for-profit entity, a private school, a religious school or church school, or promote the agenda of any religiously affiliated entity. b. Academic Achievement Charter schools must be committed to attaining a higher level of academic achievement than that realized in typical Knox County Schools in our system serving similar student populations. Charter schools must be committed to meeting or exceeding each of the Board s academic and target goals, and must be focused on clear instructional goals that support rigorous, challenging learning for all students. c. Commitment to Diversity and the Varied and Individual Needs of Students Charter schools must be accessible to and positioned to address the needs of all students, regardless of race, color, national-origin, religion, gender, proficiency in English, disability, or academic achievement. d. Reform and Innovation Charter schools shall serve as model school programs that are markedly different than those already being offered within Knox County Schools. Charter schools must promote different and innovative teaching methods. Charter schools should support an environment and conditions in delivering public education not typically found in traditional public schools. Charter schools are expected to serve as model centers of reform and innovation from which educators, parents, and community members can learn new and promising instructional practices and methods that could ultimately be replicated. Charter schools should facilitate the active participation of all charter school constituents (administrators, board, sponsor(s), teachers, students, parents, and any others who might have a vested interest). While there is no prototypical charter school, approved charter schools shall provide parents and students with a clear, meaningful alternative to low performing schools. 0 The vision, mission, and operation of charter schools should be clear and focused such that parents will be able to determine whether or not the school is a good match in meeting their expectations, their student's individual learning style and learning needs, and in the best interests of both students and parents. e. Choice Schools under NCLB No newly established school, including charter schools, shall be considered for student assignment as a choice school pursuant to NCLB, until the school has met AYP for two consecutive years. f. Management and Operation Charter schools must be administratively, managerially and fiscally sound, as well as accountable. Approval of a charter school application entrusts public dollars with a chartering agency. The business/budget plan, as submitted, must be capable of on-going success and sustainable over time. The charter and meet its defined academic focus and vision for learning while remaining within its designated budget. Page of

3 The Knox County Board will give priority for application approval to charter schools with established and successful academic and fiscal records. g. Facilities All charter school applicants must guarantee operation in facilities that meet or exceed Knox County Board standards. No charter school shall open unless, and until, the charter school s facility had been evaluated for compliance with all applicable laws, including but not limited to ADA, fire, zoning, and other compliance standards. h. Charter Schools are Independent Knox County Schools administrators may provide technical assistance, if appropriate, to the Sponsor before or during the charter school application process. Charter Schools approved by the Knox County Board of Education are to operate independently in all areas, including but not limited to instruction, human resources, communication, administration, business, facilities and operations, transportation, food services, safety, and student discipline. After a Charter School is in operation, services provided by Knox County Schools personnel to charter schools shall be compensated as agreed to prior to the service being rendered. i. Professional Environment Charter schools shall hire qualified personnel. Charter schools are expected to have the capacity to provide appropriate and ongoing professional development to their staff based on student needs and sound educational pedagogy. Charter schools are to create new professional opportunities for teachers. Charter schools are expected to promote a sense of professional community through sufficient opportunities, time, and resources that will build teacher knowledge and practice, expertise, collaboration, and reflection. j. Discipline of Students Student discipline must be dealt with in a fair and constructive manner. Disciplinary procedures required by state and federal law, shall be followed. Although the State of Tennessee allows for corporal punishment, no charter school under the Knox County Board of Education shall employ corporal punishment. k. Recognized (Consistent) Grade Level Configurations Charter school applications must maintain the same grade configurations as Knox County Schools, i.e., K-, -, K-, -, or -. Proposals for charter schools that combine grade levels, i.e., K- and -, or K- and -, or - and -, thus creating a K- or - school will be accepted. Proposals that split grade levels or combine grade levels into other configurations will not be approved. l. Charter High Schools Any charter high school must, at a minimum, meet Knox County Schools graduation requirements, and provide a curriculum to meet University of Tennessee, Tennessee Board of Regents, and NCAA requirements for Division I schools. m. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS/CASI) Accreditation Page of

4 KCS requires that all charter schools that include high schools (grades -) be SACS/CASI accredited. It is expected that the candidate school status for accreditation will be received during the first year of the charter school operation. II. Application and Review Procedures a. Applications Applications must be submitted to the Knox County Board of Education, through the Board Administrative Secretary, on or before :0 p.m. on October st of the year proceeding the year in which the proposed public charter school plans to begin operation as a public charter school. Applications will be accepted only between September st and October st. If the st of October falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday on which the school district offices are closed, applications must be filed by :0 p.m. on September 0th. Late applications will not be accepted. The sponsor must complete the state-developed application form for public charter schools. Applications are available through the Tennessee State Department of Education or on-line at or Pages in the application must be numbered, and a table of contents must also be included in the application. Applications must be submitted with one () typed original, twenty (0) hard copies and one () electronic copy (i.e. a PDF file attached to an or a CD), all of which shall include any attachments and/or exhibits. Applications must be presented in a binder or notebook on x inch paper using -point font. The operating budget, which is a required element of a complete application, must be submitted in the state-approved budget document format. b. Charter School Application Review Committee The Board shall appoint a Charter Schools Review Team to assist the Board in reviewing and evaluating charter school applications. The team shall consist of individuals from the following KCS departments: Finance, Operations, Human Resources, Research and Evaluation, and Curriculum and Instruction. Additional members on the review team will be a Board member, a community person, and a representative from the Knox County Law Department. At the last Board meeting in July each year, the Director of Schools shall make a recommendation to the Board of which members of his administrative staff shall be appointed to the review team. The Board shall name the members of the Review Team and designate a chairperson at its first meeting in August of each year. An Executive committee from within the Review Team shall be composed of the review team chairperson, the Board member serving on the Review Team, the community member, and the representative from the legal department. The Review Team shall: Review and rate charter school applications using state criteria. Provide technical assistance to newly created public charter schools. Review and monitor the applications of all approved public charter schools. Recommend policy or administrative changes to the Director of Schools. Conduct an annual meeting (after August appointments to review team) with potential sponsors to review the application process. Page of

5 The Review Team shall read and rate each application. The Review Team shall have the authority to seek assistance from all appropriate Knox County Schools personnel when reviewing the applications, including individuals who are not members of the Charter Schools Review Team. The Review Team shall notify the Board of the status of all applications by October st. The Review Team shall present a written recommendation to accept or reject a public charter application to the Director of Schools. The Director can request the presence of a charter school sponsor if clarification is needed before rendering a decision on an application. c. Assessment for Completeness An application is complete if and only if it: provides all information and documents listed in T.C.A. - -0; identifies a student population eligible to attend the school for the upcoming school year ; intends to begin operation as a public charter school in the year of application; is sponsored by an eligible individual, group, or other organization; and, is submitted in the appropriate form, with the requisite number and type of copies. Within ten (0) school days from the receipt of a charter school application, the Review Team chairperson shall assess the application for completeness and shall notify the sponsor, in writing, if the application is incomplete. Notice is deemed received three () days after deposit in the U.S. mail, by certified mail. If the application is received after September 0th, the sponsor may not be notified if his/her application is incomplete. The sixty (0) day review period shall commence on the date of receipt of the completed application. If the sponsor does not submit a complete application on or before October st, the review process shall cease and the application will not be further considered. d. First Review of Complete Application The Review Team members shall independently review each charter school application and render recommendations to the review team chairperson. For each application, each Review Team member shall recommend that: the Review Team meets and has further discussion on the application; denial of the application; or, second review of the application. If the recommendation is that the application be denied, the recommendation should include objective reasons for denial. Based on the recommendations of review team members, the Executive Committee shall decide whether the Review Team: will meet to discuss the application further; will recommend denial of the application without further review; or, will further consider the application during the Second Review. If the Executive Team decides that the Review Team will meet to discuss the application further, the Review Team will meet to discuss the application before the Executive Committee determines whether it will recommend denial of the application without further review or further consider the application during Second Review. If the Executive Team decides to recommend denial of an application without further consideration, the Review Team Chairperson shall compile the Review Team members objective reasons for denial and shall render a written recommendation to the Director of Schools to deny the application based on the compiled objective reasons. If the Executive Team recommends that an application be further considered during Second Review, the review team shall continue as set forth in policy. Page of

6 e. Second Review of Complete Application The Review Team shall meet to review and evaluate applications on Second Review. The Review Team shall use the Scoring Criteria and Rubric developed and approved by the Tennessee Department of Education to score applications on second review. The score Scoring Criteria and Rubric shall not be the determining factor in the Review Team s recommendation to the Director of Schools; no score will guarantee the Review Team s recommendation of any application to the Director of Schools. The Review Team may, but is not required to, interview the sponsor, governing body, and/or teachers of the proposed charter school during second review. The Review Team may, but is not required to, include in its recommendation to the Director of Schools the score derived from the use of the Tennessee Department of Education s Scoring Criteria and Rubric. f. Initial Board Decision The School Board shall approve or deny a charter school application within sixty (0) days of receipt of the complete application. If the application is approved, the sponsor may proceed to negotiate a Charter Agreement with the Board, which shall be in writing and contain all components of the application. The Charter Agreement shall be binding on the charter school's governing body. If an application is denied, the Sponsor shall have fifteen () days to correct the deficiencies in the application and submit an amended application. All changes within amended applications shall be embedded within the text of the original application, in bold lettering. Information that has been deleted from the original application shall remain in the text of the amended application, but shall be noted with strike-through marks. Amended applications shall be submitted to the School Board Secretary. Amended applications must be submitted with one () typed original, twenty (0) hard copies and one () electronic copy (i.e. a PDF file attached to an or a CD), all of which shall include any attachments and/or exhibits. Amended applications must be presented in a binder or notebook on x inch paper using - point font. If the Sponsor elects not to submit an amended application, if the amended application is not timely submitted or if the amended application is not submitted in the appropriate format with the requisite number and type of copies, the application will not be further considered. The Review Team shall review and evaluate the amended application. Upon completion of the review of the amended application, the Review Team Chairperson shall render the Review Team's recommendation to approve or deny the amended charter application to the Board, in writing. If the Review Team recommends denial of the amended application, the Review Team shall include in its recommendation the objective reasons for denial. g. Final Board Decision The Board shall approve or deny an amended application within fifteen () days of receipt of the amended application. If the amended application is approved, the Sponsor may proceed to negotiate a charter agreement with the Board, which shall be in writing and contain all components of the application. 0 The Charter Agreement shall be binding on the charter school's governing body. Page of

7 h. Appeal If the application is denied, the Board shall give objective reason for the denial. The Sponsor shall have ten (0) days to appeal the Board s final denial to the State Board of Education. i. Approved Charter Schools A charter school shall be operated in accordance with the Charter Agreement. Should adjustments or amendments to the Charter Agreement be needed, the governing body may apply to the Board for any amendment to or deviation from the Charter Agreement. Substantial deviations from the Charter Agreement may result in the revocation of the Charter Agreement by the Board. Examples of substantial deviations may include, but are not limited to, changes to transportation or special education services, changes to the governing board, or alteration of the opening date of school, the location of the school, the targeted student population, etc. Should the Charter School substantially deviate from the charter without prior approval from the Board, the Board may revoke the Charter. j. Reporting Requirements The Governing Body of an approved public charter school shall make a written report to the Board annually between August and September. This reporting requirement shall begin in the year after the year in which the public charter school begins operation. This annual report shall include: a report on the progress of the school in achieving its goals, objectives, pupil performance standards, contents standards, and all other terms of the Charter Agreement and a financial statement disclosing the financial health of the school including costs of the administration, instruction and other spending categories of the school. k. Renewals No later than October st of the year prior to the year in which the charter agreement expires, the governing body of a public charter school may submit a renewal application to the Board. The Board shall make its renewal decision based on the Governing Body's annual report. The Board may revoke or deny renewal of a public charter school agreement for () a material violation of the conditions, standards or procedures set forth in the Charter; () failure to meet or make adequate yearly progress (AYP); or () failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management. l. Waiver of Requirements Waivers granted by the Commissioner of Education must be presented in writing. The Director of Schools may grant waivers with regard to Knox County Schools rules, procedures, requirements or any other administrative regulation that applies to the Charter School. Any application for waiver that conflicts with the Charter Agreement will be denied. Procedure for requesting a waiver (i) (ii) All waiver requests shall be submitted in writing no later than sixty (0) days prior to the Charter School s intention to implement the waiver, if granted. All waiver requests shall include a listing of the specific administrative regulation requested to be waived. Page of

8 (iii) (iv) Legal References: All waiver requests shall include detailed documentation of the grounds for requesting the waiver and specific evidence showing how the administrative regulation currently inhibits or hinders the proposed charter school s ability to meet its goals or comply with its mission statement. All waiver requests filed with the administration shall contain information on any other waiver requests filed with the Commissioner of Education, including the status of those waiver requests. Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a)() Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a)() Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a)() Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a)() Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a)() Tenn. Code Ann. --0(c)() Tenn. Code Ann. --0() Tenn. Code Ann. --(b) Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a)() 0 Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a)() NCLB regulatory requirements Tenn. Code Ann. --(a)(); Tenn. Code Ann. --(a) Tenn. Code Ann. --0(b)() Tenn. Code Ann. --(i) Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a)() Tenn. Code Ann. --0 Tenn. Atty. Gen. Op. 0-0 Tenn. Code Ann. --0(l) Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a) 0 Tenn. Code Ann. --0(a) Tenn. Code Ann. --0() Tenn. Code Ann Tenn. Code Ann Tenn. Code Ann. --0 Tenn. Code Ann. --(b) Tenn. Code Ann Tenn. Code Ann. --(a)( ) Page of