Sponsored by:
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires an application fee to be paid to the DOE when applying to establish a charter school.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning charter schools and amending P.L.1995, c.426.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 5 of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-5) is amended to read as follows:
5. A charter school applicant shall pay a nonrefundable application fee to the commissioner upon submission of the application. The application fee shall be established by the State Board of Education in an amount not to exceed $500 per application.
The application for a charter school shall include the following information:
a. The identification of the charter applicant;
b. The name of the proposed charter school;
c. The proposed governance structure of the charter school including a list of the proposed members of the board of trustees of the charter school or a description of the qualifications and method for the appointment or election of members of the board of trustees;
d. The educational goals of the charter school, the curriculum to be offered, and the methods of assessing whether students are meeting educational goals. Charter school students shall be required to meet the same testing and academic performance standards as established by law and regulation for public school students. Charter school students shall also meet any additional assessment indicators which are included within the charter approved by the commissioner;
e. The admission policy and criteria for evaluating the admission of students which shall comply with the requirements of section 8 of this act;
f. The age or grade range of students to be enrolled;
g. The school calendar and school day schedule;
h. A description of the charter school staff responsibilities and the proposed qualifications of teaching staff;
i. A description of the procedures to be implemented to ensure significant parental involvement in the operation of the school;
j. A description of, and address for, the physical facility in which the charter school will be located;
k. Information on the manner in which community groups will be involved in the charter school planning process;
l. The financial plan for the charter school and the provisions which will be made for auditing the school pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.18A:23-1;
m. A description of and justification for any waivers of regulations which the charter school will request; and
n. Such other information as the commissioner may require.
(cf: P.L.1995,c.426,s.5)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require an applicant seeking to establish a charter school to pay an application fee to the Commissioner of Education. The bill provides that the State Board of Education would set the amount of the application fee, however, the fee would not be permitted to exceed $500 per application.