HF1580 - Charter Schools Policy and Technical Changes

• Establishes authorizer roles and responsibilities including reviewing applications, negotiating contracts, conducting ongoing monitoring, and evaluating school performance based on academic, operational, and financial metrics.

• Requires charter school boards to include at least five nonrelated members with at least one licensed teacher, one parent/guardian, and one community member; prohibits conflicts of interest and restricts board service for authorizer employees.

• Creates new procedures for charter schools to transfer to different authorizers when mutually agreed upon or when an authorizer withdraws, with 100 business day notice and commissioner review timelines.

• Prohibits charter schools from contracting with for-profit educational management organizations (EMOs) and requires public review of charter management organization (CMO) contracts for at least 20 business days before adoption.

• Reduces the initial training timeframe for new charter school board members from six to three months and requires annual training throughout their tenure.