PRINTER'S NO. 3758
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2281
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY COOK-ARTIS, BULLOCK, KINSEY AND SAVAGE,
AUGUST 15, 2016
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, AUGUST 15, 2016
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in charter schools, further providing
for facilities, for school staff and for annual reports and
assessments and providing for authorizer fee, for charter
school fund balance limit and for cyber charter school fund
balance limit.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 1722-A(a) of the act of March 10, 1949
(P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,
amended November 17, 2010 (P.L.996, No.104), is amended to read:
Section 1722-A. Facilities.--(a) (1) A charter school may
be located in an existing public school building, in a part of
an existing public school building, in space provided on a
privately owned site, in a public building or in any other
suitable location.
(2) The department shall review and approve all leases for
charter school facilities. A charter shall be void upon the
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third denial of a proposed lease under this paragraph.
* * *
Section 2. Sections 1724-A(a) and 1728-A, added June 19,
1997 (P.L.225, No.22), are amended to read:
Section 1724-A. School Staff.--(a) (1) The board of
trustees shall determine the level of compensation and all terms
and conditions of employment of the staff except as may
otherwise be provided in this article. [At] Subject to the
provisions of paragraph (2), at least seventy-five per centum of
the professional staff members of a charter school shall hold
appropriate State certification.
(2) (i) A professional staff member of a charter school who
is employed on the effective date of this paragraph and does not
possess the appropriate State certification on the effective
date of this paragraph shall not be required to obtain
additional State certification.
(ii) A professional staff member of a charter school who is
employed after the effective date of this paragraph must hold
the appropriate State certification.
(3) Employes of a charter school may organize under the act
of July 23, 1970 (P.L.563, No.195), known as the "Public Employe
Relations Act." The board of trustees of a charter school shall
be considered an employer for the purposes of Article XI-A. Upon
formation of one or more collective bargaining units at the
school, the board of trustees shall bargain with the employes
based on the provisions of this article, Article XI-A and the
"Public Employe Relations Act." Collective bargaining units at a
charter school shall be separate from any collective bargaining
unit of the school district in which the charter school is
located and shall be separate from any other collective
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bargaining unit. A charter school shall be considered a school
entity as provided for in section 1161-A for the purpose of the
secretary seeking an injunction requiring the charter school to
meet the minimum requirements for instruction as provided for in
this article.
* * *
Section 1728-A. Annual Reports and Assessments.--(a) (1)
The local board of school directors shall annually assess
whether each charter school is meeting the goals of its charter
and shall conduct a comprehensive review prior to granting a
five (5) year renewal of the charter. The local board of school
directors shall have ongoing access to the records and
facilities of the charter school to ensure that the charter
school is in compliance with its charter and this act and that
requirements for testing, civil rights and student health and
safety are being met.
(2) Ongoing access to a charter school's records shall
include access to financial reports, financial audits, aggregate
standardized test scores without student-identifying information
and teacher certification and personnel records.
(3) Charter schools shall comply with the requirements of
the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (Public
Law 90-247, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g) and associated regulations. No
personally identifiable information from education records shall
be provided by the charter school to the school district except
in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
of 1974.
(b) In order to facilitate the local board's review and
secretary's report, each charter school shall submit an annual
report no later than August 1 of each year to the local board of
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school directors and the secretary in the form prescribed by the
secretary.
[(c) Five (5) years following the effective date of this
article, the secretary shall contract with an independent
professional consultant with expertise in public and private
education. The consultant shall receive input from members of
the educational community and the public on the charter school
program. The consultant shall submit a report to the secretary,
the Governor and the General Assembly and an evaluation of the
charter school program, which shall include a recommendation on
the advisability of the continuation, modification, expansion or
termination of the program and any recommendations for changes
in the structure of the program.]
(d) A charter school entity shall form an independent audit
committee of its board of trustees members and an educational
management organization which shall review at the close of each
fiscal year a complete certified audit of the operations of the
charter school entity. The audit shall be conducted by a
qualified independent certified public accountant under
generally accepted audit standards of the Governmental
Accounting Standards Board and shall include the following:
(1) An enrollment test to verify the accuracy of student
enrollment and reporting to the State.
(2) Complete review of expense reimbursements for members of
the board of trustees and administrators, including sampling of
all reimbursements.
(3) Review of internal controls, including review of
receipts and disbursements.
(4) Review of annual Federal and State tax filings,
including the Internal Revenue Service Form 990, Return of
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Organization Exempt from Income Tax and all related schedules
and appendices for the charter school entity and charter school
foundation, if applicable. The information required under this
paragraph shall be consolidated and broken out by campus and
affiliates.
(5) Review of the financial statements of any charter school
foundation, which shall be consolidated and broken out by
affiliates.
(6) Review of the selection and acceptance process of all
contracts publicly bid pursuant to section 751.
(7) Review of all board policies and procedures with regard
to internal controls, code of ethics, conflicts of interest,
whistleblower protections, complaints from parents or the
public, compliance with 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 (relating to open
meetings) and the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known
as the "Right-to-Know Law," finances, budgeting, audits, public
bidding and bonding.
(e) The certified audit under subsection (d) and the annual
budget under subsection (g) are public documents and shall be
made available on the charter school entity's publicly
accessible Internet website, if available, and, in the case of a
charter school, on the school district's publicly accessible
Internet website.
(f) A charter school entity may be subject to an annual
audit by the Auditor General, in addition to any other audits
required by Federal law or this article.
(g) A charter school entity shall annually provide the
department and, in the case of a charter school, shall annually
provide the school district, with a copy of the annual budget
for the operation of the charter school entity that identifies
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the following:
(1) The source of funding for all expenditures.
(2) Where funding is provided by a charter school
foundation, the amount of funds and a description of the use of
the funds.
(3) The salaries of all administrators of the charter school
entity.
(4) All expenditures to an educational management service
provider.
(h) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
charter school entity and any affiliated charter school
foundation shall make copies of its annual Federal and State tax
filings available upon request and on the charter school
entity's or foundation's publicly accessible Internet website,
if available, including Internal Revenue Service Form 990,
Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax and all related
schedules and appendices.
(2) The charter school foundation shall make copies of its
annual budget available upon request and on the foundation's or
the charter school entity's publicly accessible Internet website
within thirty (30) days of the close of the foundation's fiscal
year.
(3) The annual budget shall include the salaries of all
employes of the charter school foundation.
Section 3. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
Section 1733-A. Authorizer Fee.--(a) An authorizer may
charge each school to which they have granted a charter an
administrative fee of one-half of one per centum of the annual
budget of the school to cover the cost of any administrative
responsibilities related to the authorizer's functions. Each
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charter school shall pay an authorizer fee no later than
November 15 of each year.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "authorizer" shall
mean a school district or other entity who has the authority to
authorize a charter school.
Section 1734-A. Charter School Fund Balance Limit.--(a) For
the 2015-2016 school year and each school year thereafter, a
charter school that is not a cyber charter school may not
accumulate an unassigned fund balance greater than the charter
school fund balance limit, which shall be as follows:
Charter School Entity
Total Budgeted
Expenses
Maximum Unassigned Fund Balance as
Percentage of Total Budgeted
Expenditures:
Less Than or Equal to $11,999,999 12%
Between $12,000,000 and $12,999,999 11.5%
Between $13,000,000 and $13,999,999 11%
Between $14,000,000 and $14,999,999 10.5%
Between $15,000,000 and $15,999,999 10%
Between $16,000,000 and $16,999,999 9.5%
Between $17,000,000 and $17,999,999 9%
Between $18,000,000 and $18,999,999 8.5%
Greater Than or Equal to $19,000,000 8%
(b) Any unassigned fund balance that exists on June 30,
2016, that exceeds the charter school fund balance limit under
subsection (a) shall be refunded on a per student pro rata basis
within ninety (90) days to all school districts that made
payments under section 1725-A in the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016
school years. The funds may not be used to pay a bonus to any
administrator, board of trustees member, employe, staff or
contractor or be transferred to a charter school foundation.
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(c) For the 2016-2017 school year and each school year
thereafter, any unassigned fund balance in excess of the charter
school fund balance limit shall be refunded on a per student pro
rata basis to all school districts that made payments under
section 1725-A in the prior school year.
(d) By August 15, 2016, and by August 15 of each year
thereafter, each charter school shall provide the department
with information certifying compliance with this section. The
information shall be provided in a form and manner prescribed by
the department and shall include information on the charter
school's estimated ending unassigned fund balance expressed as a
dollar amount and as a percentage of the charter school's total
budgeted expenditures for that school year.
(e) As used in this section, "unassigned fund balance" shall
mean that portion of the fund balance which represents the part
of the spendable fund balance that has not been categorized as
restricted, committed or assigned.
Section 1752-A. Cyber charter school fund balance limit.
(a) Limit.--For the 2015-2016 school year and each school
year thereafter, no cyber charter school shall accumulate an
unassigned fund balance greater than the cyber charter school
fund balance limit, which shall be as follows:
Charter School Entity
Total Budgeted
Expenses
Maximum Unassigned Fund Balance as
Percentage of Total Budgeted
Expenditures:
Less Than or Equal to $11,999,999 12%
Between $12,000,000 and $12,999,999 11.5%
Between $13,000,000 and $13,999,999 11%
Between $14,000,000 and $14,999,999 10.5%
Between $15,000,000 and $15,999,999 10%
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Between $16,000,000 and $16,999,999 9.5%
Between $17,000,000 and $17,999,999 9%
Between $18,000,000 and $18,999,999 8.5%
Greater Than or Equal to $19,000,000 8%
(b) Distribution.--Any unassigned fund balance in place on
June 30, 2016, that exceeds the cyber charter school fund
balance limit under subsection (a) shall be distributed by the
cyber charter school on a per student pro rata basis within 90
days to all school districts that made payments under section
1725-A to the cyber charter school in the 2014-2015 and 2015-
2016 school years. The funds may not be used to pay bonuses to
any administrator, board of trustees member, employee, staff or
contractor or be transferred to a charter school foundation.
(c) Refunds.--For the 2016-2017 school year and each school
year thereafter, any unassigned fund balance in excess of the
charter school fund balance limit shall be refunded on a per
student pro rata basis to all school districts that made
payments under section 1725-A in the prior school year.
(d) Certification of compliance.--By August 15, 2016, and by
August 15 of each year thereafter, each cyber charter school
shall provide the department with information certifying
compliance with this section. The information shall be provided
in a form and manner prescribed by the department and shall
include information on the cyber charter school's estimated
ending unassigned fund balance expressed as a dollar amount and
as a percentage of the cyber charter school's total budgeted
expenditures for that school year.
(e) Definition.--As used in this section, "unassigned fund
balance" shall mean that portion of the fund balance which
represents the part of the spendable fund balance that has not
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been categorized as restricted, committed or assigned.
Section 4. This act shall take effect as follows:
(1) The following provisions shall take effect
immediately:
(i) The addition of sections 1733-A, 1734-A and
1752-A of the act.
(ii) This section.
(2) The remainder of this act shall take effect in 60
days.
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