§302B-14  Accountability; probationary
status; revocation of charter.  (a)  Every charter school shall conduct
annual self-evaluations that shall be submitted to the panel within sixty
working days after the completion of the school year, or in accordance with
reporting requirements adopted by the panel.  The self-evaluation process shall
include but not be limited to:



(1)  The identification and adoption of benchmarks to
measure and evaluate administrative and instructional programs;



(2)  The identification of any innovations or research
that may assist other public schools;



(3)  The identification of any administrative and
legal barriers to meeting the adopted benchmarks, and recommendations for
improvements and modifications to address the barriers;



(4)  An evaluation of student achievement within the
charter school;



(5)  A profile of the charter school's enrollment and
the community it serves, including a breakdown of regular education and special
education students; and



(6)  An evaluation of the school's organizational
viability.



(b)  The panel shall conduct a multi-year
evaluation of each charter school on its fourth anniversary year and every five
years thereafter.  The panel may from time to time establish a schedule to
stagger the multi-year evaluations.



(c)  The panel may conduct special evaluations
of charter schools at any time.



(d)  The panel may place a charter school on
probationary status; provided that:



(1)  The panel evaluates the charter school or reviews
an evaluation of the charter school;



(2)  The panel and the office are involved in
substantive discussions with the charter school regarding the areas of
deficiencies;



(3)  The notice of probation is delivered to the
charter school and specifies the deficiencies requiring correction, the probation
period, and monitoring and reporting requirements;



(4)  For deficiencies related to student performance,
a charter school shall be allowed two years to improve student performance;



(5)  For deficiencies related to financial plans, a
charter school shall be allowed one year to develop a sound financial plan; and



(6)  For deficiencies related to organizational
viability, a charter school may be allowed one year to improve administrative
compliance.



The charter school shall remain on probationary
status until the panel votes either to remove the charter school from
probationary status or revoke its charter.



(e)  If a charter school fails to resolve
deficiencies by the end of the probation period, the panel may revoke the
charter; provided that the vote of two-thirds of all the members to which the
panel is entitled shall be required to revoke the charter.



(f)  The panel may place a charter school on
probationary status or revoke the charter for serious student or employee
health or safety deficiencies; provided that:



(1)  The charter school is given notice of specific
health or safety deficiencies and is afforded an opportunity to present its
case to the panel;



(2)  The panel chair appoints a task group, which may
be an investigative task group or the office, to visit the charter school and
conduct meetings with its local school board and its school community to gather
input;



(3)  Based on its findings, the task group shall
recommend to the panel to revoke the charter, place the charter school on probation,
or continue the charter;



(4)  The vote of two-thirds of all the members to
which the panel is entitled shall be required to revoke the charter;



(5)  The best interest of the school's students guide
all decisions; and



(6)  After a decision to revoke a charter, the charter
school shall be allowed to remain open until a plan for an orderly shutdown or
transfer of students and assets is developed and executed, or until the school
year ends, whichever comes first.



(g)  If there is an immediate concern for
student or employee health or safety at a charter school, the panel, in
consultation with the office, may adopt an interim restructuring plan that may
include the appointment of an interim local school board, an interim local
school board chairperson, or a principal to temporarily assume operations of
the school; provided that if possible without further jeopardizing the health
or safety of students and employees, the charter school's stakeholders and
community are first given the opportunity to elect a new local school board
which shall appoint a new interim principal.  The board shall have the
authority to direct the panel to take appropriate action to immediately address
serious health and safety issues that may exist at a charter school in order to
ensure the health and safety of students and employees and mitigate significant
liability to the State.



(h)  The board shall adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 91 for placing charter schools on probation and for revoking a charter.



(i)  If, at any time, a charter school
dissolves or the charter is revoked, the State shall have first right, at no
cost to the State, to all the assets and facilities of the charter school,
except as otherwise provided by law. [L 2006, c 298, pt of §2; am L 2007, c
115, §13; am L 2009, c 86, §6]