§302B-6  Conversion charter schools;establishment.  (a)  A conversion charter school may be establishedpursuant to this section. 

(b)  Any department school, school communitycouncil, group of teachers, group of teachers and administrators, or nonprofitorganization may submit a letter of intent to the office to convert adepartment school to a charter school, establish an interim local school boardas its governing body, and develop a detailed implementation plan pursuant tosubsection (d).

(c)  The conversion charter school applicationprocess and schedule shall be determined by the panel, and shall provide forand include the following elements:

(1)  The submission of a letter of intent to convertto a charter school;

(2)  The timely transmittal of the application formand completion guidelines to the interim local school board;

(3)  The timely submission to the panel of a completedapplication; provided that the application shall include certification anddocumentation that the application and the proposed detailed implementationplan was approved by a majority of the votes cast by existing administrative,support, teaching personnel, and parents of students at the proposed conversioncharter school;

(4)  The timely review of the application by the panelfor completeness, and notification of the interim local school board if theapplication is complete or, if the application is insufficient, a writtenstatement of the elements of the application that require completion;

(5)  The timely resubmission of the application;

(6)  Upon receipt of a completed application, theconvening of the panel by the panel chairperson to begin review of theapplication;

(7)  The timely notification of the applicant of anyrevisions the panel may request as necessary for a recommendation of approval;

(8)  Following the submission of an application,issuance of a charter or denial of the application by the panel by majorityvote; provided that if the panel does not approve the application and issue acharter, provisions requiring the panel to:

(A)  Clearly identify in writing its reasonsfor not issuing the charter, which may be used as guidelines for an amendedplan; and

(B)  Allow the interim local school board torevise its plan in accordance with the panel's guidelines, and resubmit anamended plan within ten calendar days;

(9)  A provision for a final date on which a decisionmust be made upon receipt of an amended plan; and

(10)  A provision that no conversion charter school maybegin operation before obtaining panel approval of its charter.

(d)  An application to become a conversioncharter school shall include a detailed implementation plan that meets therequirements of this subsection and section 302B-9.  The plan shall include thefollowing:

(1)  A description of employee rights and managementissues and a framework for addressing those issues that protects the rights ofemployees;

(2)  A plan for identifying, recruiting, and retaininghighly-qualified instructional faculty;

(3)  A plan for identifying, recruiting, and selectingstudents that is not exclusive, elitist, or segregationist;

(4)  The curriculum and instructional framework to beused to achieve student outcomes, including an assessment plan;

(5)  A plan for the assessment of student,administrative support, and teaching personnel performance that:

(A)  Recognizes the interests of the generalpublic;

(B)  Incorporates or exceeds the educationalcontent and performance standards developed by the department for the publicschool system;

(C)  Includes a system of faculty and staffaccountability that holds faculty and staff both individually and collectivelyaccountable for their performance, and that is at least equivalent to theaverage system of accountability in public schools throughout the State; and

(D)  Provides for program audits and annualfinancial audits;

(6)  A governance structure for the charter schoolthat incorporates a conflict of interest policy and a plan for periodictraining to carry out the duties of local school board members;

(7)  A financial plan based on the most recent fiscalyear's per-pupil charter school allocation that demonstrates the ability tomeet the financial obligations of one-time, start-up costs and ongoing costssuch as monthly payrolls, faculty recruitment, professional development, andfacilities costs; and

(8)  A facilities plan.

(e)  A nonprofit organization may submit aletter of intent to the office to convert a department school to a conversioncharter school, operate and manage the school, establish a local school boardas its governing body, and develop a detailed implementation plan pursuant tosubsection (d); provided that:

(1)  As the governing body of the conversion charterschool, the local school board shall be composed of the board of directors ofthe nonprofit organization and not representatives of the participant groupsspecified in section 302B-7.  The nonprofit organization may also appointadvisory groups of community representatives for each school managed by thenonprofit organization; provided that these groups shall not have governingauthority over the school and shall serve only in an advisory capacity to thenonprofit organization;

(2)  The detailed implementation plan for eachconversion charter school to be operated by the nonprofit organization shall beformulated, developed, and submitted by the nonprofit organization, and shallbe approved by a majority of the votes cast by existing administrative,support, and teaching personnel, and parents of the students of the proposedconversion charter school;

(3)  The board of directors of the nonprofitorganization, as the governing body for the conversion charter school that itoperates and manages, shall have the same protections that are afforded to theboard in its role as the conversion charter school governing body;

(4)  Any conversion charter school that is managed andoperated by a nonprofit organization shall be eligible for the same federal andstate funding as other public schools; provided that the nonprofit organizationmakes a minimum annual contribution of $1 per pupil toward the operation of aconversion charter school for every $4 per pupil allocated by the office forthe operation of the conversion charter school; provided that in no event shallthe nonprofit organization be required to contribute more than the totalrequired contribution per pupil per year.  As used in this section, "totalrequired contribution" means:

(A)  $1,500 for school years 2006-2007 through2010-2011;

(B)  $1,650 for school years 2011-2012 through2015-2016; and

(C)  $1,815 for school years 2016-2017 through2020-2021; and

(5)  If, at any time, the board of directors of thenonprofit organization governing the conversion charter school votes todiscontinue its relationship with the charter school, the charter school maysubmit an application with a revised detailed implementation plan to the panelto continue as a conversion school without the participation of the nonprofitorganization.

(f)  Any nonprofit organization that seeks tomanage or operate a conversion charter school as provided in subsection (e)shall comply with the following at the time of application:

(1)  Have bylaws or policies that describe the mannerin which business is conducted and policies that relate to the management ofpotential conflict of interest situations;

(2)  Have experience in the management and operationof public or private schools or, to the extent necessary, agree to obtainappropriate services from another entity or entities possessing suchexperience;

(3)  Comply with all applicable federal, state, andcounty laws, including licensure or accreditation, as applicable; and

(4)  Comply with any other requirements prescribed bythe department to ensure adherence with applicable federal, state, and countylaws, and the purposes of this chapter.

(g)  Any public school or schools, programs, orsections of existing public school populations that are part of a separateHawaiian language immersion program using existing public school facilities maysubmit a letter of intent to the office to form a conversion charter schoolpursuant to this section. 

(h)  In the event of a conflict between theprovisions in this section and other provisions in this chapter, this sectionshall control. [L 2006, c 298, pt of §2; am L 2007, c 115, §10]