Senate Bill 485 Summary

• Expands charter school eligibility to allow operation in school districts accredited without provisions if sponsored only by local school boards, with enrollment caps limiting transfers to 35% of student enrollment for districts with 1,550+ students

• Creates section 161.096 authorizing the state board of education to classify individual school buildings within unaccredited districts separately from the district as a whole

• Establishes new student transfer provisions (section 167.133) allowing students in unaccredited districts to transfer to accredited districts in the same or adjoining county, with receiving districts determining capacity and establishing admission criteria by August 30, 2014

• Creates a clearinghouse (section 167.135) to coordinate student transfers when a metropolitan district or large urban district is classified as unaccredited, with February 1 notification deadlines and provisions for "good cause" late applications

• Modifies school calendar requirements (section 171.031) to allow unaccredited districts to increase school day length, annual instruction hours, and school term length upon board resolution, and expands vocational school exception to eight-hour days