FILE: HAA
CHARTER SCHOOL OPERATING AGREEMENT
There shall be a Charter School Operating Agreement executed between the Bogalusa City School Board (BCSB) and the governing board of each BCSB-authorized charter school, which shall define the rights and responsibilities of each party. A charter school without a signed operating agreement does not have legal authority to operate and may be prohibited from opening, receiving student-based funds and/or occupying or continuing to occupy a BCSB facility.
Once a charter school has been approved for an initial or renewal term and has satisfied all conditions established by BCSB, the Superintendent shall develop and ensure the execution of an operating agreement for the charter school prior to July 1st of the school year in which the operating agreement will take effect. The School Board President shall be authorized to sign the charter operating agreement on behalf of BCSB, or, in the absence of the President, the Vice-President, and a duly authorized officer of the governing board shall be authorized to sign the charter agreement on behalf of the charter school.
MATERIAL AMENDMENTS TO INDIVIDUAL CHARTER OPERATING AGREEMENT
Material amendments are amendments to school-specific terms of the charter operating agreement initiated by the charter school’s governing board that fundamentally affect a school’s mission, governance, organizational structure, or education program. For the purposes of this policy, material amendments shall include, but notbe limited to, changes to a charter school’s:
Grade levels served;
Mission;
Essential characteristic(s) of the Educational Program;
Assignment of or changes in contractual relationships with an Educational Management Organization (EMO) or Charter Management Organization (CMO) providing or planning to provide substantially all of the school’s educational services;
Change in Local Education Agency (LEA) status;
Enrollment preferences.
Requests for proposed material amendments must be submitted to BCSB in writing for consideration. Upon recommendation of the Superintendent, the School Board may vote to approve, deny or modify the request for a material amendment by a majority vote at a public meeting, in accordance with La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §17:3992(B).
NON-MATERIAL AMENDMENTS TO INDIVIDUAL CHARTER OPERATING AGREEMENT
Non-material amendments to the charter operating agreement are those that do not fundamentally affect a school’s mission, governance, organizational structure, or education program. For the purposes of this policy, non-material amendments shall include, but not be limited to changes to:
School name;
School location.
Requests for proposed non-material amendments mustbe submitted to the Superintendent in writing, along with a copy of the resolution of the Charter Board authorizing the proposed change, and shall be considered for approval by the Superintendent.
AMENDMENTS TO BCSB CHARTER SCHOOL POLICIES
The School Board recognizes that the development of policies governing its charter schools should be a cooperative and engaging process, to the extent practicable. To ensure that any proposed new charter school policy or policy amendment is carefully vetted and charter operators are provided with a reasonable opportunity to provide feedback, the School Board shall adhere to the following procedures in addition to those set forth in Policy BD, School Board Policy:
The preliminary development of a new policy or policy amendment governing charter schools shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent and staff. The Superintendent shall provide charter schools with notification of his/her intent to propose a new charter school policy or policy amendment affecting charter schools through announcement at a School Board meeting, posting to the School Board website, and/or e-mailed notification to charter school operators.
After the notice of intent is provided to charter operators and prior to presentation of any proposed new policy or policy amendment to the School Board for consideration, the Superintendent shall facilitate a process to engage school operators in the development and review of such policy.
The proposed new policy or policy amendment shall be provided to charter operators no later than seven (7) days prior to its first reading at a public meeting in accordance with Policy BD, School Board Policy.
Fiscal Note: The Superintendent shall provide a fiscal note to quantify the anticipated cost of the proposed policy or policy amendment on the charter schools under the jurisdiction of BCSB. The fiscal note shall be provided to charter operators no later than seven (7) days prior to the second reading of any policy or policy amendment, and shall be presented to the Policy Committee at the second reading of the policy in accordance with Policy BD, School Board Policy.
Charter Operator Statement of Impact: Any charter operator shall be permitted to provide a formal Statement of Impact to the School Board regarding the impact to such operator of a proposed policy or policy amendment subject to this provision. Such statement may be provided either in writing, to be presented to the Policy Committee at the second reading, or through comment at a Policy Committee meeting in which the item is considered. All such statements from charter operators shall be considered by the School Board prior to the adoption of any policy or policy amendment, and the School Board may determine if the presented impact should warrant a temporary suspension of the implementation of the proposed policy or policy amendment, according to the procedures established in Policy BD, School Board Policy, for this purpose.
The School Board shall not consider new policy or policy amendments that alter a charter school’s mission or the essential characteristics of a charter school’s education program, or that impede a charter school’s operational autonomy in the areas specified by La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §17:10.7.1.
New policy: April 26, 2018
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:10.7.1, 17:3971, 17:3991, 17:3992
Charter Schools, Bulletin 126, Louisiana Department of Education
Board minutes, 4-26-18
Bogalusa City School Board