160.1595 Appeal of approval or denial to state board -- Judicial review -- Report of reconsideration

(1) The state board, upon receipt of a notice of appeal or upon its own motion, shall review decisions of any authorizer concerning the approval or denial of a public charter school application, the nonrenewal or revocation of a public charter school's contract, the denial of a public charter school's request to consider a charter amendment, or the unilateral imposition of conditions, in accordance with the provisions of this section

(3) an authorizer concerning a charter application, (2) A charter applicant or approved public charter school who wishes to appeal a decision of a charter amendment, or the nonrenewal or revocation of a charter, or the unilateral imposition of conditions, shall provide the state board and the authorizer with a notice of appeal within thirty (30) days after the authorizer's decision. The person bringing the appeal shall limit the grounds of the appeal to the grounds for the denial of or the nonrenewal or revocation of a charter, or the unilateral imposition of conditions, whichever is being appealed, specified by the authorizer. The notice shall include a brief statement of the reasons the public charter school applicant or public charter school contends the authorizer's denial of or nonrenewal or revocation of a charter, or imposition of conditions was in error. If the notice of appeal, or the motion to review by the state board, relates to an authorizer's decision to deny, refuse to renew, or revoke a charter or to an authorizer's unilateral imposition of conditions that are unacceptable to the charter applicant or public charter school, the appeal and review process shall be as follows: (a) Within forty-five (45) days after receipt of the notice of appeal or the making of a motion to review by the state board and after reasonable public notice, the state board, at a public hearing which may be held in the school district in which the proposed public charter school has applied for a charter, shall review the decision of the authorizer and make its findings. If the state board finds that the authorizer's decision was contrary to the best interest of the students or community, the state board shall remand such decision to the authorizer with written instructions for reconsideration thereof

include specific recommendations concerning the matters requiring reconsideration; The instructions shall (b) Within thirty (30) days following the remand of a decision to the authorizer and after reasonable public notice, the authorizer, at a public hearing, shall reconsider its decision and make a final decision; If the authorizer's final decision is still to deny, refuse to renew, or revoke a charter or to unilaterally impose conditions unacceptable to the charter applicant, a second notice of appeal may be filed with the State Board of Education within thirty (30) days following such final decision; (c) (d) Within thirty (30) days following receipt of the second notice of appeal or the making of a motion for a second review by the State Board of Education and after reasonable public notice, the state board, at a public hearing shall determine if the final decision of the authorizer was contrary to the best interest of the students or community. If such a finding is made, the state board shall remand such final decision to the authorizer with instructions to approve the charter application or amendment, or to renew or reinstate the charter, or to approve or disapprove conditions imposed. The decision of the state board shall be a final action subject to judicial review in the Circuit Court encompassing the school district in which the public charter school is located; and (e) Charters granted to applicants by authorizers after a successful appeal to the state board, as outlined in paragraph (d) of this subsection, shall be provided joint oversight by the authorizer and the state board for, at a minimum, the first five (5) years of the school's operation, and until the authorizer, state board, and public charter school agree that charter oversight may be provided solely by the authorizer. The state board shall be a formal participant in all authorizing decision making concerning the public charter school during that period, and shall be included in all communication between the public charter school and the authorizer

(a) Within ten (10) days of taking action to approve or deny a charter application that has been remanded back to the authorizer for reconsideration, the authorizer shall notify the state board of the action taken. and the Education and Workforce Development (b) The authorizer shall provide a report to the charter applicant, the state board, Cabinet simultaneously and shall include a copy of the resolution adopted by the authorizer's board of directors identifying any action taken, the reason for the decision, and an assurance as to compliance with all of the procedural requirements and application elements found in this section and KRS 160.1591 and 160.1593

Effective:June 29, 2017 History: Created 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 102, sec. 6, effective June 29, 2017

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