RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
Act 467 (SB 267) 2015 Regular Session Claitor
Charter School Enrollment of At-Risk Pupils
Prior law (R.S. 17:3973(1)) defined "at-risk pupil" as any pupil about whom at least one of
the following is true:
(1)Is eligible to participate in the federal free or reduced lunch program.
(2)Is under age 20 and withdrawn from school prior to graduation for not less than one
semester.
(3)Is under age 20 and has failed to achieve the required score on any portion of the
examination required for high school graduation.
(4)Is in the eighth grade or below and is reading two or more grade levels below grade
level as determined by one or more of the tests required pursuant to the state
accountability system.
(5)Has been identified as a student with an exceptionality as defined in R.S. 17:1942,
not including gifted and talented.
(6)Is the mother or father of a child.
Prior law (R.S. 17:1942(B)) defined "student with an exceptionality" as a student with a
disability, who is evaluated according to state and federal regulation or policy and is deemed
to have a mental disability, hearing impairment (including deafness), multiple disabilities,
deaf-blindness, speech or language impairment, visual impairment (including blindness),
emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning
disability, traumatic brain injury, autism, or as deemed to be gifted or talented, and as a
result requires special education and related services.
Prior law (R.S. 17:3991(B)(1)(a)(i) and (b)) provided as follows relative to charter school
enrollment of at-risk pupils:
(1)For Type 1 and Type 2 charter schools created as new schools, the percentage of the
total number of at-risk pupils (by reason of eligibility to participate in the federal free
and reduced cost lunch program) enrolled in the charter school based on the Oct. 1
pupil membership shall be equal to not less than 85% of the average percentage of
pupils enrolled in the local public school districts from which the charter school
enrolls its students who are eligible to participate in the federal free and reduced cost
lunch program. Provided that the remaining number of pupils enrolled in the charter
school which would be required to have the same percentage of at-risk pupils as the
percentage of pupils in the district who are eligible to participate in the federal free
and reduced cost lunch program may be comprised of pupils who are otherwise at
risk as defined in prior law.
(2)For Type 2 charter schools created as the result of a conversion, Type 3, and Type
4 charter schools, the percentage of the total number of at-risk pupils (by reason of
eligibility to participate in the federal free and reduced cost lunch program) enrolled
in the charter school based on the Oct. 1 pupil membership (unless otherwise agreed
to as part of the charter agreement by the chartering authority) shall be equal to not
less than the percentage of the total of pupils enrolled in the school in the school year
prior to the establishment of the charter school that were eligible to participate in the
federal free and reduced cost lunch program.
(3)Notwithstanding the requirements of prior law as delineated in (2) above, for Type
2, Type 3, and Type 4 charter schools in Richland Parish, the percentage of the total
number of pupils enrolled in the charter school based on the Oct. 1 pupil membership
who are at-risk (by reason of eligibility to participate in the federal free and reduced
cost lunch program) shall be, as near as practicable, not more than the percentage of
the total number of pupils enrolled in the public and state approved nonpublic
schools located in the public school district in which the charter school is located
who are eligible to participate in the federal free and reduced cost lunch program. Additionally provided that the initial enrollment of such a school, nor the cohort of
students enrolled for each new school year, have (as near as practicable) fewer than
50% students who are at-risk by reason of eligibility to participate in the federal free
and reduced cost lunch program.
New law additionally requires charter schools to enroll students identified with an
exceptionality (other than gifted and talented) proportionally to the percentage of such pupils
enrolled in the local public school district, in the same manner as pupils eligible to
participate in the federal free and reduced lunch program. Otherwise retains prior law.
New law requires that BESE develop and administer a process for determining if a charter
school is meeting the student enrollment requirements of prior law. Requires that the
process provide for an investigation of a charter school that fails to meet the requirements
to determine the reasons for such failure and all action taken by the school toward meeting
the requirements. Requires that the process also include a clear identification of the
responsibilities of the charter school, the local school board of the district in which the
charter school is located, and BESE for meeting the needs of these students. Requires that
BESE promulgate rules in accordance with the APA.
Charter School Funding
Prior law (R.S. 17:3995(A)(1)) provided that for funding purposes, Types 1, 3, 3B, and 4
charter schools shall be considered approved public schools of the local school board
entering into the charter agreement and shall receive a per pupil amount each year from the
local school board based on the Oct. 1 membership count of the charter school. Provided
that Type 1B and Type 2 charter schools shall receive a per pupil amount each year
authorized by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) as provided
in the minimum foundation program (MFP) formula.
Prior law specified that the per pupil amount provided to Type 1, 1B, 2, 3, and 4 charter
schools shall be computed annually and shall be equal to no less than the per pupil amount
received by the school district in which the charter school is located from the following
sources based on the district's Oct. 1 membership count:
(1)The state-funded per pupil allocation received by the district pursuant to the most
recent legislatively approved MFP formula, including all levels.
(2)Local revenues received during the prior year by the school district from the
following sources:
(a)Sales and use taxes, less any tax collection fee paid by the school district.
(b)Ad valorem taxes, less any tax collection fee paid by the school district.
(c)Earnings from 16th section lands owned by the school district.
Relative to local revenues received during the prior year from the specified sources (see (2)
above), prior law provided that such revenues shall exclude any portion which has been
specifically dedicated by the legislature or by voter approval to capital outlay and debt
service. Further provided that such exclusion shall be applicable only to a charter school
housed in a facility or facilities provided by the district in which the charter school is
located.
Relative to local revenues received during the prior year from the specified sources (see (2)
above), prior law additionally provided that such revenues received by the Orleans Parish
School Board also shall exclude certain other amounts.
New law specifies that a Type 3B charter school not acting as its own local education
agency, instead of all 3B schools, is considered an approved public school of the local board.
Adds requirement that a Type 3B not acting as its own local education agency shall receive
a per pupil amount each year authorized by BESE as provided in the MFP formula.
New law specifies that the per pupil amount provided to Type 1, 1B, 2, 3, and 4 charter
schools shall be equal to the per pupil amount provided through the MFP formula
determined by the allocation weights in the formula based upon student characteristics or
needs. Further specifies that the per pupil amount provided to such charter schools shall be the per pupil amount received by the school district in which the student resides instead of
the district in which the charter school is located and requires that it be based on the
membership count used in the MFP instead of the Oct. 1 membership count. New law
specifies that the state-funded per pupil allocation used for computing the per pupil amount
for charter schools will be based upon the weighted student membership count received by
the district pursuant to the most recent legislatively approved MFP formula including all
levels and allocation weights based upon student characteristics or needs as provided in the
formula except any supplementary allocations for specific purposes. Requires that
supplementary allocations be provided to charter schools based solely on the funds generated
by the charter school within each specific allocation. Otherwise retains prior law.
Prior law (R.S. 17:3995(A)(3)) required a district with one or more Type 3B charter schools
to distribute MFP funds to each Type 1, 3, 3B, and 4 charter school using the weighted
allocations provided for in the most recently adopted MFP formula, but exempted the school
board in a parish that contains a municipality of 300,000 or more persons from using this
weighted funding distribution requirement until the 2018-2019 fiscal year for Type 1 and
Type 3 charter schools in operation prior to the 2013-2014 school year. Specified that until
that time, these schools shall be funded as provided in prior law. Further specified that for
all other Type 1, 3, and 4 charter schools in such a parish, the school board may request the
use of a differentiated distribution methodology to be approved by the state Dept. of
Education prior to implementation.
New law provides that unless otherwise provided for in the approved minimum foundation
program formula:
(1)Through June 30, 2016, Type 3B charter schools shall receive funds according to the
district-level allocation formula based on weights for student characteristics or needs
used for Type 5 charter schools within the same geographic boundaries as
determined by the state board.
(2)Beginning July 1, 2016, for a district with one or more Type 3B charter schools the
total amount of minimum foundation program formula funds allocated to the local
school board and to Type 1, 1B, 3, 3B, 4, and 5 charter schools that are allocated
within the district shall be allocated using a district-level computation based on
student characteristics or needs as determined by the state board. The state
Department of Education shall facilitate a collaborative process that includes
representatives from the Recovery School District, the Louisiana Association of
Public Charter Schools, any affected local school board and any organization
representing its authorized charter schools, and advocates for students with
disabilities in the development of the district-level allocation policy that shall take
effect on July 1, 2016.
Effective upon signature of the governor (July 1, 2015).
(Amends R.S. 17:3991(B)(1)(a)(i) and (b) and 3995(A)(1)(intro para) and (a) and (3); adds
R.S. 17:3991(B)(1)(e))