N.J. Admin. Code § 6A:11-2.3

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 23, December 2, 2024

Section 6A:11-2.3 - Renewal of charter

(a) The Commissioner may grant a five-year renewal of a charter following the initial four-year charter.

(b) The Commissioner shall grant or deny the renewal of a charter upon the comprehensive review of the school including, but not limited to:

1. A renewal application submitted by a charter school to the Commissioner, the respective county superintendent of schools, and the district board(s) of education or State district superintendent(s) of the district of residence of the charter school no later than 4:15 P.M. on October 15 of the last school year of the current charter, or on a date prescribed by the Commissioner with no less than 30 days notice;

2. A review of the charter school based on its charter agreement and the Performance Framework;

3. The review of a charter school's annual reports pursuant to 6A:11-2.2(a);

4. Comments of the annual reports from the district board(s) of education or State district superintendent(s) of the district of residence of the charter school;

5. Student performance on the Statewide assessment program pursuant to 6A:8-4.1;

6. Monitoring of the charter school by the executive county superintendent;

7. Monitoring of the charter school by the Commissioner or designee(s);

8. The annual assessments of student composition of the charter school;

9. The recommendation of the district board(s) of education or State district superintendent(s) of the district of residence forwarded to the Commissioner within 30 days of receipt of the renewal application;

10. A structured interview with the Commissioner or designee(s) with:

i. A member of the charter school board of trustees;

ii. The lead person of the charter school;

iii. A teacher at the charter school; and

iv. A parent or other representative of the charter school;

11. The review of the charter school's educator evaluation system; and

12. A review to ensure the charter school has established an escrow account or posted a surety bond of no less than $ 75,000 to pay for legal and audit expenses and any outstanding pension benefit(s) that would be associated with dissolution if it occurs.

(c) Charter schools that have been deemed high performing, based upon the criteria outlined in the Academic Performance Framework, for three consecutive years during the most recent charter term, and have had no major fiscal or compliance issues, shall be eligible for an expedited renewal review process. The Department will notify charter schools prior to October 1 whether they qualify for an expedited review process.

1. The expedited review process shall include the elements set forth in (b) above but may be conducted in an abbreviated format established by the Commissioner.

2. Within 75 days of the renewal application submission, the Commissioner shall notify the charter school of whether it has been granted renewal of its charter.

(d) The Commissioner shall notify a charter school regarding the granting or denial of the renewal on or before February 1 of the last school year of the current charter, or on a date prescribed by the Commissioner. The notification to a charter school that is not granted a renewal shall include reasons for the denial.

N.J. Admin. Code § 6A:11-2.3

Amended by 49 N.J.R. 2521(a), effective 8/7/2017