PRINTER'S NO. 1745

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

356

Session of

2019

INTRODUCED BY DOWLING, REESE, TOPPER, MARSHALL, HARRIS, KAIL,

GROVE AND HICKERNELL, MAY 7, 2019

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MAY 7, 2019

for charter school requirements, for facilities and for

school district and intermediate unit responsibilities.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Section 1715-A of the act of March 10, 1949

(P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, is

amended to read:

Section 1715-A. Charter School Entity Requirements.--(a)

Charter [schools] school entities shall be required to comply

with the following provisions:

schools other than this act.

(2) A charter school entity shall be accountable to the

parents, the public and the Commonwealth, with the delineation

of that accountability reflected in the charter. Strategies for

meaningful parent and community involvement shall be developed

and implemented by each school.

(3) A charter school entity shall not unlawfully

discriminate in admissions, hiring or operation.

(4) A charter school entity shall be nonsectarian in all

operations.

(5) [A] (i) Subject to subparagraph (ii), a charter school

separate entrances to buildings utilized for school purposes

only;

(B) if the religious objects and symbols within the portions

of the facility utilized by the school are covered or removed to

the extent reasonably feasible; or

(C) in which the unused portion of the facility or its

common areas contain religious symbols and objects.

(6) A charter school entity shall not advocate unlawful

behavior.

(7) A charter school entity shall only be subject to the

Pennsylvania State Assessment System as provided for in 22 Pa.

Code Ch. 5 (relating to curriculum), or subsequent regulations

promulgated to replace 22 Pa. Code Ch. 5, in the manner in which

the school district in which the charter school entity is

located is scheduled to participate.

(9) A charter school entity shall provide a minimum of one

hundred eighty (180) days of instruction or nine hundred (900)

hours per year of instruction at the elementary level, or nine

hundred ninety (990) hours per year of instruction at the

secondary level. Nothing in this clause shall preclude the use

of computer and satellite linkages for delivering instruction to

(A) Sections 751 and 751.1.

(B) Sections 756 and 757 insofar as they are consistent with

the act of December 20, 1967 (P.L.869, No.385), known as the

"Public Works Contractors' Bond Law of 1967."

(ii) Section 1 of the act of May 1, 1913 (P.L.155, No.104),

entitled "An act regulating the letting of certain contracts for

the erection, construction, and alteration of public buildings."

(iii) The act of August 11, 1961 (P.L.987, No.442), known as

the "Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act."

(iv) The "Public Works Contractors' Bond Law of 1967."

officials.

(12) A person who serves as an administrator for a charter

school entity shall not receive compensation from another

charter school entity or from a company that provides management

or other services to another charter school entity. The term

"administrator" shall include the chief executive officer of a

charter school entity and all other employes of a charter school

entity who by virtue of their positions exercise management or

operational oversight responsibilities. A person who serves as

an administrator for a charter school entity shall be a public

official under 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 11 (relating to ethics standards

mean a charter school, regional charter school or cyber charter

school.

Section 2. Section 1722-A(a), (b) and (d) of the act are

amended and the section is amended by adding subsections to

read:

Section 1722-A. Facilities.--(a) A charter school entity

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.

(b.1) (1) A charter school entity shall have the right of

first refusal to purchase or lease, for educational purposes

only, a public school building or a part of a public school

building that is no longer in use by a school entity which is

the property titleholder, at the price of one of the following:

(i) The last best offer above fair market value received in

the ninety (90) days preceding the charter school entity's

offer.

(ii) Fair market value, if no offer has been received in the

ninety (90) days preceding the charter school entity's offer.

(iii) Below fair market value, upon the mutual agreement of

part of a public school building that is available for purchase

or lease. A school entity shall submit a notice to the

department on a form developed by the department. The department

shall post the notice within five (5) days of receiving the

form.

(4) The following shall apply to the sale or lease of a

public school building or a part of a public school building by

a school entity:

(i) A school entity may not enter into a contract to sell or

lease a building or part of a building until at least thirty

the same building or part of a building that conforms to the

provisions of this subsection, the school entity shall:

(A) Accept the first offer, if the offers are equal in

dollar amount.

(B) Accept the best offer, if the offers differ in dollar

amount.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, [a

school district of the first class may, in its discretion,

permit a charter school to operate its school at more than one

location.] a charter school or regional charter school that does

not have in the written charter any limits on student enrollment

the administration of standardized testing as follows:

(1) A cyber charter school shall provide an intermediate

unit, school district, community college or institution under

Article XX-A with at least sixty (60) days' notice of the need

for facilities to be used for the administration of standardized

tests.

(2) Within thirty (30) days of the cyber charter school's

request, the intermediate unit, school district, community

college or institution under Article XX-A shall notify the cyber

charter school of the location of the facilities that will be

college or institution under Article XX-A .

(3) An intermediate unit, school district of residence,

community college or institution under Article XX-A shall not be

required to make facilities available to a cyber charter school

on dates and at times that may cause undue interference with the

educational programs of the intermediate unit, school district,

community college or institution under Article XX-A .

(4) Any facilities rental fee charged to the cyber charter

school and the payment thereof shall be in compliance with the

facility rental policy of the intermediate unit, school

district, community college or institution under Article XX-A

Section 1744-A. School district and intermediate unit

An intermediate unit or a school district in which a student

enrolled in a cyber charter school resides shall do all of the

following:

access to its facilities for the administration of

standardized tests required under this subdivision.]