AB 1950 (Brownley): Charter School Facility Grant Program.
AB 1950 (Brownley)
Charter School Facility Grant Program
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1950, as amended, Brownley. Charter School Facility Grant
Program.
(1) Existing law requires the Controller, in consultation with the
Department of Finance and the State Department of Education, to
develop a plan to review and report on financial and compliance
audits. Existing law requires the Controller to propose the content
of an audit guide and authorizes a supplement to the audit guide to
be suggested in the audit year to address issues resulting from new
legislation in that year that changes the conditions of
apportionment. Existing law requires the Controller to submit the
proposed content of the audit guide and any supplement to the
Education Audits Appeal Panel for review and possible amendment, and
requires the Education Audits Appeal Panel to adopt the audit guide
and any supplement pursuant to the rulemaking procedures of the
Administrative Procedure Act.
This bill would require the Controller to propose, and the
Education Audits Appeal Panel to adopt, a charter school supplement
to the audit guide in order to provide guidance to auditors regarding
which sections of the school district and county office audit guide
apply to charter schools and to create specific guidance related to
the unique nature of charter schools. The bill also would make
conforming changes.
(2) The Charter Schools Act of 1992 (Charter Schools Act) allows a
charter school to elect to operate as, or be operated by, a
nonprofit public benefit corporation, as specified.
This bill would expressly prohibit a charter school from operating
as, or from being operated by, a for-profit corporation.
(3) The Charter Schools Act specifies the procedures for the
submission, review, and approval or denial of a petition to establish
a standard or countywide a
charter school. The act allows the governing board of a school
district to deny a charter petition only if the board makes written
factual findings that support certain facts regarding the petition.
The act requires a county board of education to denty
deny a petition to establish a countywide
charter school if the board makes any of several specified factual
findings.
This bill, in addition, would allow a governing board to deny a
petition, and would require a county board of education to deny a
petition for a countywide charter, if it makes a written factual
finding that the petitioner has operated another charter school for
at least 3 consecutive years and one of several specified events has
occurred.
(4) The Charter Schools Act limits the duration of charters to a
period not to exceed 5 years and authorizes the chartering authority
to grant one or more subsequent renewals for an additional period of
5 years. The act prescribes the requirements a charter school must
comply with in order to have its charter renewed, including a
requirement that a charter school that has been in operation for 4
years satisfy at least one of several specified criteria regarding
academic performance.
This bill would authorize a charter renewal to be for a period of
1 to 5 years. The bill would require a chartering authority to
consider, as one factor in determining whether to grant a renewal,
the degree to which a charter school serves pupil populations that
are similar to local school district pupil populations, especially
with regard to high-need pupils, as specified. The bill would delete
one of the criteria for the requirement regarding charter schools in
operation for 4 years. The bill would prohibit a chartering authority
from granting a renewal of a charter school for longer than a 3-year
period if that charter school is in program improvement or
if a charter school
improvement, has not exited program improvement, and did not meet
Adequate Yearly Progress in the year prior to the renewal year.
(5) The Charter Schools Act requires a charter petition to include
a reasonably comprehensive description of the manner in which
annual, independent financial audits will be conducted. The act
requires a charter school to transmit a copy of its annual,
independent financial audit report for the preceding fiscal year to
its chartering entity, the Controller, the county superintendent of
schools of the county in which the charter school is sited, except as
specified, and the department by December 15 of each year.
This bill would require the Controller, by December 31 of each
fiscal year, to publish a directory of certified public accountants
and public accountants , licensed by the California Board of
Accountancy, deemed by the Controller to be qualified to
conduct audits of charter schools. The bill would require each audit
of a charter school to be conducted by a certified public accountant
or public accountant selected by the charter school from the
directory. The bill would specify that it is unlawful for a public
accounting firm to provide audit services to a charter school if the
lead audit partner, or coordinating audit partner, having primary
responsibility for the audit, or the audit partner responsible for
reviewing the audit, has performed audit services for that charter
school in each of the 6 previous fiscal years, except as provided.
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