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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1119 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 594 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Steven Ultrino and Paul J. Donato |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act ensuring openness and responsibility in the charter school renewals . |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Steven Ultrino33rd Middlesex1/12/2023Paul J. Donato35th Middlesex1/18/2023 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1119 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 594 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representatives Ultrino of Malden and Donato of Medford, a petition (accompanied by bill, |
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| 19 | 19 | | House, No. 594) of Steven Ultrino and Paul J. Donato relative to charter school renewals. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Education. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act ensuring openness and responsibility in the charter school renewals . |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 1F of chapter 15 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 The board shall not authorize the commissioner to act on its behalf in granting charter |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4renewals, including charter renewals that do not involve probation. |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5 SECTION 2. Section 89 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6amended by striking out subsection (dd) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:- |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7 (dd) (1) A charter granted by the board shall be for 5 years. The board shall develop |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8procedures and guidelines for revocation and renewal of a school's charter; provided, however, |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9that a charter for a Horace Mann charter school shall not be renewed by the board without a |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10majority vote of the school committee and local collective bargaining unit in the district where |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11said charter school is located; provided further, that a commonwealth charter shall not be |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12renewed unless the board of trustees of the charter school has documented in a manner approved 2 of 3 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13by the board that said commonwealth charter school has provided models for replication and best |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14practices to the commissioner and to other public schools in the district where the charter school |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15is located. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16 (2) When deciding on charter renewal, the board shall consider progress made in student |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17academic achievement, whether the school has met its obligations and commitments under the |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18charter, the extent to which the school has followed its recruitment and retention plan by using |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19deliberate, specific strategies towards recruiting and retaining the categories of students |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20enumerated in paragraph (3) of subsection (i) and the extent to which the school has enhanced its |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21plan as necessary. The board may impose conditions on the charter school upon renewal if it fails |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22to adhere to and enhance its recruitment and retention plan as required. When deciding on charter |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23renewal, the board shall take into account the annual attrition of students. The board shall also |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24consider innovations that have been successfully implemented by the charter school and the |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25evidence that supports the effectiveness of these practices. Upon renewal of its charter, a school |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26shall update and enhance its recruitment and retention plan as necessary to account for changes |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27in enrollment. |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28 (3) The decision by the board to renew a school’s charter shall be based upon the |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29presentation of affirmative evidence, in accordance with 603 CMR 1.11 (2). The presentation of |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30affirmative evidence shall be made available to the public by the board at least 30 days prior to |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31the vote to renew a school’s charter, in accordance with sections 18 to 25, inclusive, of chapter |
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| 60 | 60 | | 3230A and the clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4. 3 of 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | 33 (4) The board shall solicit public comment for a period of at least 30 days prior to the |
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| 62 | 62 | | 34board’s vote to renew a school’s charter. The board shall review all material submitted in support |
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| 63 | 63 | | 35of or in opposition to the charter renewal prior to a renewal vote. |
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| 64 | 64 | | 36 SECTION 3. The department of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate |
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| 65 | 65 | | 37regulations or amend 603 CMR 1.11 to implement this act within 120 days of its passage. |
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