Waivers For Charter Schools

Under current law, the state board of education (state board) may, by rule, automatically waive certain statutes and state board rules for all charter schools. A charter school may request additional waivers of statutes and state board rules by submitting a specific request, the rationale for the request, and a statement explaining the manner in which the charter school plans to meet the intent of the waived statute or rule.

The bill repeals the authority of the state board to automatically waive state statutes or state board rules by adopting a rule.

The provisions of the bill apply to charter school contracts that are entered into or renewed on or after the effective date of the bill. For a charter contract that is renewed on or after the effective date of the bill, a charter school must submit a request for a waiver, including the statement of rationale and plan for compliance, for any statute or state board rule that was previously automatically waived and for which the charter school seeks a continued waiver.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that were subsequently adopted.)