| (a) Prior to each selection cycle, the commissioner
of education shall approve an application form for submission by applicants
seeking to operate a high quality open-enrollment charter school.
The application form shall address the content requirements specified
in Texas Education Code (TEC), §12.111, and contain the following:
(1) the timeline for selection;
(2) required applicant conferences and training prerequisites;
(3) scoring criteria and procedures for use by the
review panel selected under subsection (d) of this section;
(4) selection criteria, including the minimum score
necessary for an application to be eligible for selection; and
(5) the earliest date an open-enrollment charter school
selected in the cycle may open.
(b) The Texas Education Agency (TEA) shall review applications
submitted under this section.
(1) If the TEA determines that an application is not
complete, the TEA shall notify the applicant and allow five business
days for the applicant to submit the missing documents. If the documents
are not timely submitted, the TEA shall remove the application without
further processing.
(2) If the TEA determines that an application does
not meet the standards in TEC, §12.101, and §100.1015 of
this title (relating to Applicants for an Open-Enrollment Charter,
Public Senior College or University Charter, or Public Junior College
Charter), the TEA shall remove the application without further processing.
(3) The TEA shall establish procedures and schedules
for returning applications without further processing.
(4) Failure of the TEA to identify any deficiency,
or notify an applicant thereof, does not constitute a waiver of the
requirement and does not bind the commissioner.
(c) Upon written notice to the TEA, an applicant may
withdraw an application.
(d) Applications that are determined to meet the standards
established under TEC, §12.101, and §100.1015 of this title
shall be reviewed and scored by an external application review panel
selected by the commissioner from a pool of qualified candidates identified
through a request for qualification (RFQ) process. The panel shall
review and score applications in accordance with the procedures and
criteria established in the application form. Review panel members
shall not discuss applications with anyone except the TEA staff. Review
panel members shall not accept meals, entertainment, gifts, or gratuities
in any form from any person or organization with an interest in the
results of the selection process for open-enrollment charters. Members
of the review panel shall disclose to the TEA immediately the discovery
of any past or present relationship with an open-enrollment charter
applicant, including any current or prospective employee, agent, officer,
or director of the sponsoring entity, an affiliated entity, or other
party with an interest in the selection of the application.
(e) Applications that are not scored at or above the
minimum score established in the application form are not eligible
for commissioner selection during that cycle. The commissioner may,
at the commissioner's sole discretion, decline to grant an open-enrollment
charter to an applicant whose application was scored at or above the
minimum score. No recommendation, ranking, or other type of endorsement
by a member or members of the review panel is binding on the commissioner.
(f) All parts of the application are releasable to
the public under the Texas Public Information Act and will be posted
to the TEA website; therefore, the following must be excluded or redacted:
(1) personal email addresses;
(2) proprietary material;
(3) copyrighted material;
(4) documents that could violate the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) by identifying potential students of
the charter school, including, but not limited to, sign-in lists at
public meetings about the school, photographs of existing students
if the school is currently operating or photographs of prospective
students, and/or letters of support from potential charter school
parents and/or students; and
(5) any other information or documentation that cannot
be released in accordance with Texas Government Code, Chapter 552.
(g) The commissioner or the commissioner's designee(s)
in coordination with the TEA staff shall interview applicants whose
applications received the minimum score established in the application
form. The commissioner may specify individuals required to attend
the interview and may require the submission of additional information
and documentation prior or subsequent to an interview.
(h) The commissioner may consider criteria that include,
but are not limited to, the following when determining whether to
grant an open-enrollment charter:
(1) indications that the charter school will improve
student performance;
(2) innovation evident in the program(s) proposed for
the charter school;
(3) indications that the charter school will be fiscally
viable from its inception;
(4) impact statements from any school district whose
enrollment is likely to be affected by the proposed charter school,
including information relating to any financial difficulty that a
loss in enrollment may have on a district;
(5) evidence of parental and community support for
or opposition to the proposed charter school;
(6) the qualifications, backgrounds, and histories
of individuals and entities who will be involved in the management
and educational leadership of the proposed charter school;
(7) the history of the sponsoring entity of the proposed
charter school, as defined in the application form;
(8) indications that the governance structure proposed
for the charter school is conducive to sound fiscal and administrative
practices; and
(9) indications that the proposed charter school would
expand the variety of charter schools in operation with respect to
the following:
(A) representation in urban, suburban, and rural communities;
(B) instructional settings;
(C) types of eligible entities;
(D) types of innovative programs;
(E) student populations and programs; and
(F) geographic regions.
(i) In addition to the criteria specified in subsection
(h) of this section, the commissioner shall approve or deny an application
based on:
(1) documented evidence gathered through the application
review process;
(2) merit; and
(3) other criteria, including:
(A) criteria related to capability of carrying out
the responsibilities as provided in the charter; and
(B) the likelihood of operating a high-quality charter,
including previous experience operating a public school(s).
(j) Priority shall be given to an applicant that proposes
a school in an attendance zone of a school district campus assigned
an unacceptable performance rating under TEC, §39.054, for two
preceding years.
(k) An applicant or any person or entity acting on
behalf of an applicant for an open-enrollment charter shall not knowingly
communicate with any member of an external application review panel
concerning a charter school application beginning on the date the
application is submitted and ending 90 days after the commissioner's
proposal. State Board of Education (SBOE) members and/or the TEA staff
may initiate communications with an applicant. On finding a material
violation of the no-contact period, the commissioner shall reject
the application and deem it ineligible for award.
(l) The commissioner shall notify the SBOE of each
charter the commissioner proposes to grant under this subchapter.
A charter proposed by the commissioner will be granted on the 90th
day after the date on which the SBOE receives the notice from the
commissioner unless:
(1) the SBOE votes against the charter in accordance
with TEC, §12.101(b-0); or
(2) the commissioner withdraws the proposal.
(m) The commissioner may defer granting an open-enrollment
charter subject to contingencies and shall require fulfillment of
such contingencies before the charter school is issued a contract.
Such conditions must be fulfilled by the awardee, as determined by
the commissioner, no later than two months after the date of the notification
of contingencies by the commissioner or the proposal of the charter
is withdrawn. The commissioner may establish timelines for submission
by the awardee of any documentation to be considered by the commissioner
in determining whether contingencies have been met. An applicant that
is not granted a charter may reapply.
Cont'd... |
