33-5204. NONPROFIT CORPORATION — LIABILITY — INSURANCE. (1) A public charter school shall be organized and managed under the Idaho nonprofit corporation act. The board of directors of a public charter school shall be deemed public agents authorized by a public school district, the public charter school commission, or the state board of education to control the public charter school, but shall function independently of any school board of trustees in any school district in which the public charter school is located or independently of the public charter school commission, except as provided in the charter. The nonprofit board as the charter holder may hold multiple charters under the following conditions:

(a) Each public charter school must have its own performance certificate; and

(b) Each public charter school must be independently accountable for its academic, financial and operational outcomes.

(2) For the purposes of section 59-1302(15), Idaho Code, a public charter school created pursuant to this chapter shall be deemed a governmental entity. Pursuant to the provisions of section 63-3622O, Idaho Code, sales to or purchases by a public charter school are exempt from payment of the sales and use tax. A public charter school and the board of directors of a public charter school are subject to the provisions of:

(a) Sections 18-1351 through 18-1362, Idaho Code, on bribery and corrupt influence, except as provided by section 33-5204A(2), Idaho Code;

(b) Chapter 5, title 74, Idaho Code, on prohibitions against contracts with officers;

(c) Chapter 4, title 74, Idaho Code, on ethics in government;

(d) Chapter 2, title 74, Idaho Code, on open public meetings; and

(e) Chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code, on disclosure of public records;

in the same manner that a traditional public school and the board of school trustees of a school district are subject to those provisions.

(3) A public charter school may sue or be sued, purchase, receive, hold and convey real and personal property for school purposes, and borrow money for such purposes, to the same extent and on the same conditions as a traditional public school district, and its employees, directors and officers shall enjoy the same immunities as employees, directors and officers of traditional public school districts and other public schools, including those provided by chapter 9, title 6, Idaho Code. The authorized chartering entity that approves a public school charter shall have no liability for the acts, omissions, debts or other obligations of a public charter school, except as may be provided in the charter. A local public school district shall have no liability for the acts, omissions, debts or other obligations of a public charter school located in its district that has been approved by an authorized chartering entity other than the board of trustees of the local school district.

(4) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the board of directors of a public charter school, operating as a nonprofit corporation, from borrowing money to finance the purchase or lease of school building facilities, equipment and furnishings of those school building facilities. Subject to the terms of a contractual agreement between the board and a lender, nothing herein shall prevent the board from using the facility, its equipment and furnishings as collateral for the loan.

(5) Public charter schools shall secure insurance for liability and property loss.

(6) It shall be unlawful for:

(a) Any director to have pecuniary interest, directly or indirectly, in any contract or other transaction pertaining to the maintenance or conduct of the authorized chartering entity and charter or to accept any reward or compensation for services rendered as a director except as may be otherwise provided in this subsection. The board of directors of a public charter school may accept and award contracts involving the public charter school to businesses in which the director or a person related to him by blood or marriage within the second degree has a direct or indirect interest, provided that the procedures set forth in section 18-1361 or 18-1361A, Idaho Code, are followed. The receiving, soliciting or acceptance of moneys of a public charter school for deposit in any bank or trust company, or the lending of moneys by any bank or trust company to any public charter school, shall not be deemed to be a contract pertaining to the maintenance or conduct of a public charter school and authorized chartering entity within the meaning of this section; nor shall the payment by any public charter school board of directors of compensation to any bank or trust company for services rendered in the transaction of any banking business with such public charter school board of directors be deemed the payment of any reward or compensation to any officer or director of any such bank or trust company within the meaning of this section.

(b) The board of directors of any public charter school to enter into or execute any contract with the spouse of any member of such board, the terms of which said contract require, or will require, the payment or delivery of any public charter school funds, moneys or property to such spouse, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection or in section 18-1361 or 18-1361A, Idaho Code.

(c) No spouse of any director may be employed by a public charter school physically located within the boundaries of a school district with a fall student enrollment population of greater than one thousand two hundred (1,200) in the prior school year. For public charter schools physically located within the boundaries of a school district with a fall student enrollment population of one thousand two hundred (1,200) or less in the prior school year, such spouse may be employed in a nonadministrative position for a school year if each of the following conditions has been met:

(i) The position has been listed as open for application on the public charter school website or in a local newspaper, whichever is consistent with the school’s current practice, and the position shall be listed for at least sixty (60) days, unless the opening occurred during the school year, in which case the position shall be so listed for at least fifteen (15) days. If the position is listed in a newspaper, the listing shall be made in a manner consistent with the provisions of section 60-106, Idaho Code;

(ii) No applications were received that met the minimum certification, endorsement, education or experience requirements of the position other than such spouse;

(iii) The director abstained from voting in the employment of the spouse and was absent from the meeting while such employment was being considered and determined.

The public charter school may employ such spouse for further school years, provided that the conditions contained in this paragraph are met for each school year in which such spouse is employed. The director shall abstain from voting in any decisions affecting the compensation, benefits, individual performance evaluation or disciplinary action related to the spouse and shall be absent from the meeting while such issues are being considered and determined. Such limitation shall include, but not be limited to: any matters relating to negotiations regarding compensation and benefits; discussion and negotiation with district benefits providers; and any matter relating to the spouse and letters of reprimand, direction, probation or termination. Such limitations shall not prohibit the trustee spouse from participating in deliberation and voting upon the district’s annual fiscal budget or annual audit report. Any spouse of a director employed as a certificated employee pursuant to this paragraph shall be employed under a category 1 contract pursuant to section 33-514A, Idaho Code.

(7) When any relative of any director or relative of the spouse of a director related by affinity or consanguinity within the second degree is to be considered for employment in a public charter school, such director shall abstain from voting in the election of such relative and shall be absent from the meeting while such employment is being considered and determined.

History:

[33-5204, added 2014, ch. 252, sec. 9, p. 638; am. 2015, ch. 141, sec. 70, p. 430; am. 2015, ch. 141, sec. 71, p. 432; am. 2016, ch. 271, sec. 3, p. 730; am. 2016, ch. 271, sec. 4, p. 732.]