Senate Bill 392 Summary

• Designates the Superintendent of Public Instruction as an applicable elected representative authorized to approve private activity bonds to finance or refinance charter school facilities after conducting a public hearing.

• Clarifies charter renewal standards by requiring the State Board of Education to deny renewal if the charter school's proficiency rate on end-of-grade and end-of-course tests is at least 5 percentage points lower than the local school administrative unit where it is located.

• Requires nationwide criminal background checks for all proposed charter school board members, including social security number traces and certification of any felony or misdemeanor convictions, with checks specifically screening for crimes listed in G.S. 115C-332.

• Modifies virtual charter school enrollment caps by allowing the State Board of Education to waive maximum enrollment thresholds and permit growth exceeding 20% annually beginning in the school's fourth year of operation if determined to be in the best interest of North Carolina students.

• Applies renewal standard changes to applications submitted on or after the effective date and background check requirements to initial charter applications received on or after the effective date.