Sponsors: Roxann Robinson

Public charter schools; funding and service contracts. Provides that following a local school board decision to deny a public charter school application or to revoke or fail to renew a charter agreement, the local school board shall submit documentation to the Board of Education as to the rationale for the local school board’s denial or revocation of the charter school application. The Board of Education continues to have no authority to grant or deny a public charter school application or to revoke or fail to renew a charter agreement. The bill also provides that (i) a local school board shall no longer have the discretion to revoke a charter if it finds the school is no longer in the public interest or for the welfare of the students; (ii) all purchases made by a public charter school shall be exempt from the Virginia Public Procurement Act, unless otherwise negotiated by contract; (iii) local school boards may elect whether charter school personnel are employees of the charter school or of the local school board granting the charter; (iv) the amount of funds provided to the charter school by the local school board shall be commensurate with the average school-based costs of educating the students in the division; and (v) the local school board may allow a public charter school to lease or purchase vacant or unused properties or real estate owned by the school board.