10 Miss. Code. R. 402-2.2
Guidance
The 80% Rule
The Rule and Definitions
One of the important aspects of Mississippi's charter school law is its sensitivity to concerns that charters will under-enroll students with the greatest need to be served. As a result, the legislature added the 80% rule to the law. Mississippi Code § 37-28-23(5) reads, "The underserved student composition of a charter school's enrollment collectively must reflect that of students of all ages attending the school district in which the charter school is located, to be defined for the purposes of this chapter as being at least eighty percent (80%) of that population."
The term "underserved" is defined in Mississippi Code § 37-28-5 as 'students participating in the federal free lunch program who qualify for at-risk student funding under the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and students who are identified as having special educational needs."
What does this mean?
Essentially, a charter school's percentage of underserved students (students qualifying for free lunch and/or special education services) must be at least 80% of the percent of underserved students of every age within the traditional school district in which the charter resides.
For example, if 60% of students in a district are underserved, a charter school's enrollment of underserved students must equal 60% X 80%, or 48%.
Calculating a Proposed Charter School's 80% Target of Underserved Students
Step 1: Gather the appropriate data.
* Publicly available data does not differentiate between students who are only receiving free lunch or special education services versus students who receive both. You will need to know these exact percentages in order to correctly calculate the 80% target. The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board will provide the correct data to all applicants who have properly completed a Letter of Intent by the deadline.
Step 2: Find the district's total population of underserved students.
* Complete the chart below to correctly calculate the district's total underserved population.
| % of students qualifying for FREE LUNCH ONLY | % of students qualifying for SPECIAL EDUCATION ONLY | % of students qualifying for BOTH FREE LUNCH AND SPECIAL EDUCATION | Add boxes 1-3 together to find the TOTAL % of underserved students |
Step 3: Calculate the charter school's minimum percentage of underserved students.
* Total District % of Underserved Students:
* Multiply the number above by 80% (remember to move decimal places since you are finding a percent of a percent):
Step 4: In the application, project the demographics of your proposed school.
* Make sure that the projected demographics satisfy the 80% rule.
Does a charter school's free lunch percentage and special education percentage separately have to equal 80% of the district's population of both of these groups?
No. The legislation requires that the underserved population at the charter school collectively reflect that of the district's. Therefore, a charter could serve a population of students receiving special education services that is exactly equal to that of the district's while serving a smaller percentage of students who qualify for free lunch, as long as the total underserved population is at least 80% of the district's underserved population. However, if the percentage of students in either category is very different from that of the district, a charter school could be investigated to determine if it engaged in any unlawful practice to bring about that result.
What happens if a charter school does not enroll an appropriate underserved population? Mississippi Code § 37-28-5 states, "If the underserved student composition of an applicant's or charter school's enrollment is less than eighty percent (80%) of the enrollment of students of all ages in the school district in which the charter school is located, despite the school's best efforts, the authorizer must consider the applicant's or charter school's recruitment efforts and the underserved student composition of the applicant pool in determining whether the applicant or charter school is operating in a nondiscriminatory manner. A finding by the authorizer that a charter school is operating in a discriminatory manner justifies the revocation of a charter."
10 Miss. Code. R. 402-2.2