Section 071-140-3 - CHARTER SCHOOL OPERATIONS1. Notice of charter school openingsA charter school must give reasonable public notice that it has openings for student enrollment, at least 30 days before the enrollment application deadline. Notice must be provided in a manner designed to give notice to all eligible students and must include, at a minimum, publication on two consecutive weekends in the State Paper designated in Title 1, section 551 and notice to interested parties as provided in Section 2, subsection 2. Notice must also be submitted to the department, and the department shall include the notice on the Department's charter school Website on the Internet. Notice must also be provided to any person who has asked the authorizer of the school for notice of school openings.
2. EnrollmentA.Declaration of student intent. A charter school shall require a written declaration of intent to enroll in the charter school in the upcoming school year from each student who wishes to enroll in the charter school, including students who have an enrollment preference. The written declaration must be signed by the student's parent, guardian or legal guardian and submitted to the charter school within the deadline established by the charter school. The charter school must set the deadline so that sufficient time is allowed to conduct a lottery within the time frame set forth in this rule if the number of declarations of intent to enroll exceeds the number of seats available in a grade, level or division of the charter school. The declaration of student intent may request only such information as is needed to determine which grade, level or division of the school the student wishes to enter, whether the student is eligible for a preference, and the identity of the student's resident school administrative unit (SAU).B.Enrollment commitments when declarations do not exceed openings. If the number of students submitting declarations of intent by the submission deadline is smaller than the number of openings in any grade, level or division of the school, the charter school shall notify each student and his or her parent, guardian or legal guardian of the right to enroll in the upcoming school year, and shall seek a written commitment to enroll signed by the student and the parent, guardian or legal guardian. The charter school may enroll students to fill remaining openings, on a rolling basis or by other means specified in the charter application or contract, once all students who filed a declaration of intent prior to the deadline have been offered the opportunity to enroll or commit to enroll.C.Random selection process. If the number of students submitting a declaration of intent to enroll exceeds the number of openings in a school, grade, level or division, the charter school must notify students with preferences of their right to enroll and then shall conduct a random selection process to fill remaining openings. (1) The selection process must be conducted not later than April 1st, unless the authorizer, for compelling reasons, sets a different date. For purposes of this section, the term "compelling reasons" includes, but is not limited to, the need for a date later than April 1st in the first year of implementation of the charter school law and the need for flexibility for at-risk students and their families. Any date set by an authorizer under this subparagraph (1) must be designed to ensure that students will have an equal opportunity to seek enrollment in the school and that information is provided to each student's resident SAU in as timely a manner as possible.(2) The selection must be conducted in public and must be designed to ensure that each student has an equal chance of being selected for enrollment. If the process is a lottery involving drawing of names or other objects to make a selection, a disinterested party must perform the drawing of names or objects.(3) Reasonable public notice must be given at least one week prior to the lottery or other selection process.(4) The names of students and the order in which they were selected must be recorded. All names must be placed in the order of selection, and any names that exceed the enrollment limit for a grade, level or division of the charter school must be placed on a waiting list for that grade, level or division. The charter school shall use eligible students on the waiting list to fill any openings that occur in the grade, level or division during the school year for which names were selected. If all students on the waiting list have been offered enrollment, the charter school may enroll students on a rolling basis, or such other basis as may be set forth in the charter application or charter contract.(5) If the number of students selected for enrollment from any school administrative unit exceeds the applicable 5% or 10% limit set forth in Title 20-A, section 2404, subsection 2, paragraphs D and E, the excess names must be moved from the enrollment list to the top of the waiting list, in the order selected. If an opening occurs after the initial selection process, a student placed on a waiting list under this subparagraph may be selected for enrollment from the waiting list only if the student's enrollment is within the 5% or 10% limit; otherwise, the student's name remains on the waiting list. For purposes of the 5% and 10% limits, the charter school shall use enrollment figures for a school administrative unit (SAU) as determined by the most recent October subsidizable pupil count, excluding students who are attending any charter school on the date of the October pupil count.D.Commitment to enroll. Within 14 days of being notified of the right to enroll in a charter school, each student must submit to the charter school a written form committing to enroll in the charter school in the upcoming school year, signed by the student's parent, guardian or legal guardian. The commitment to enroll form must authorize the resident SAU to release to the charter school the student's unique identifier number in the state's student information system.E.Student information form. After a student files a commitment to enroll form, a charter school may require the student to complete a form to gather information about a student's interests, abilities and experiences. Information on the form may be used in discussions with a student or parent regarding enrollment in the charter school, but may not be used to prevent or discourage a student from enrolling. A charter school may encourage potential enrollees or their parents to attend informational meetings or interviews, but may not require such attendance as a condition of enrollment or continued enrollment. A charter school may not condition enrollment on the results of any test of ability or achievement.F.Notice to resident SAU. Within 5 school days of receiving a commitment to enroll form, a charter school must notify the resident SAU of the student who has submitted the form. The resident SAU, within 5 school days of receiving notice from the charter school, provide the charter school with the student's unique identifier number so that the charter school may access the student information needed to determine the amount that will be due from the resident SAU.G.Date of enrollment. Notwithstanding the commitment to enroll made under paragraph D, a student is not considered to have enrolled in a charter school until the date after July 1st of each school year that the charter school enters the student as an attending student in the state's student information system.3. State and local fundingA. The resident SAU of a student enrolled in a public charter school must transfer the following funds to the public charter school in which the student is enrolled: (1) The following operating funds: (a) The per-pupil operating allocation amount, defined as the EPS per-pupil rate set by the department pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15676, based on the student's grade level and adjusted, as appropriate, for economic disadvantage and limited English proficiency pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15675, subsections 1 and 2. (b) For transportation expenses, the appropriate percentage of the unit's average per pupil transportation expense. The average per-pupil transportation expense in the resident SAU is calculated by dividing the resident SAU's (Transportation - EPS allocation) by the resident SAU's (Average Attending Pupils, Calendar Year xxx), as reported on the resident SAU's ED-279 for the year of allocation. The appropriate percentage of that amount is the percentage determined by the authorizer, between 0 and 100%, as required in Title 20-A, section 2413, subsection 2, paragraph A(3);(2) If the charter school is eligible, the resident SAU's targeted funds allocation for that student for technology, standards-based education and PreK-2 programs. To be eligible to receive targeted funds, the charter school must file plans and receive approval from the department pursuant to DOE Rule Chapter 7; and(3) Any other funds required by statute.B. A charter school does not pay for its students to attend career and technical education programs, and therefore is not entitled to career and technical education funding. The school administrative unit in which the charter school student resides must pay the cost of attendance for the student at a CTE program.C. If the charter school has an approved gifted and talented program, the department shall pay to the charter school any allocation assigned to the school for gifted and talented students pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15681-A, subsection 5, in the year in which the allocation is assigned.4. Federal fundsA. A charter school that is a school within an SAU must receive an equitable portion of federal entitlement and grant funds from the SAU as determined by federal laws and regulations applicable to each federal funding program.B. A charter school that is a local educational agency receives federal entitlement and grant funds directly from the department. The amounts, timing and corresponding charter school obligations are determined by the department in accordance with the federal laws and regulations governing the program.5. Notice of payments due; dispute resolution; adjustmentsA. A charter school shall submit a detailed invoice to the resident SAU of each of the charter school's attending students, indicating the amount payable for each student and the basis on which the amount was determined. The invoice must be submitted to the resident SAU at least 30 days before the quarterly payment due date. (1). If the resident SAU disagrees with the invoice, the SAU shall provide written notice to the charter school and the Department of the amount in dispute and the basis of the dispute.(2) If the notice by the resident SAU is provided at least 15 days before the payment due date, the Department shall make a determination, by the due date, of the amount to be paid. If the notice is not provided at least 15 days before the due date, the SAU shall pay the full invoice amount to the charter school by the payment due date.B. If the Department determines, after payment is made, that the resident SAU paid more than the required amount to the charter school, the Department shall order the charter school to refund the overpayment. If the charter school fails to make the refund within 30 days of being ordered to do so, the Department shall authorize the resident SAU to subtract the overpayment from the next payment due to the charter school.C. If the resident SAU fails to pay the amount payable to the charter school by the due date, the department shall determine the amount to be withheld from the resident SAU's General Purpose Aid under Title 20-A chapter 606-B, and shall adjust the amount to be paid by the Treasurer to the resident SAU. The Department shall notify the Treasurer to pay the withheld amount to the appropriate charter school.6. Data and reportingA charter school shall provide the department with staff, student and financial information that the department requests, including but not limited to information needed to carry out the purposes of the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act, Title 20-A, chapter 606-B. The information must be provided according to the time schedule, and in the form required by the department.
7. FeesA charter school is subject to the same limitation on fees as other public schools, including the requirement of Title 20-A, section 4002. A charter school may not charge students or their parents an application fee.
8. Transfer of records by a charter schoolA public charter school shall comply with Title 20-A, section 6001-B, subsections 1 and 2 for the purposes of timely transfer of records of a charter school student who is enrolling in another SAU.
05- 071 C.M.R. ch. 140, § 3