S 6802: Relates to the establishment, organization, and administration of charter schools.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6802 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 24, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, MAYER, RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Educa- tion AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the enrollment of students at charter schools, the suspension of students at charter schools and the administration of charter schools The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraphs (h) and (j) of subdivision 2 of section 2851 of 2 the education law, as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, are 3 amended to read as follows: 4 (h) The rules and procedures by which students may be disciplined, 5 including but not limited to expulsion or suspension from the school, 6 which shall be consistent with the requirements of [due process] section 7 thirty-two hundred fourteen of this chapter and with federal laws and 8 regulations governing the placement of students with disabilities, and 9 pursuant to subdivision four of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-four 10 of this article. The application shall also include a code of conduct 11 consistent with section twenty-eight hundred one of this title. 12 (j) (i) Information regarding the facilities to be used by the school, 13 including the location of the school, if known, and the means by which 14 pupils will be transported to and from the school. If the facilities to 15 be used by the proposed school are not known at the time the application 16 is submitted, the applicant shall notify the charter entity and, if 17 applicable, the board of regents within ten business days of acquiring 18 facilities for such school; provided, however, that the charter school 19 must obtain a certificate of occupancy for such facilities prior to the 20 date on which instruction is to commence at the school. 21 (ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (i) of this para- 22 graph, an applicant to establish a charter school to be located in New 23 York city shall include the specific community school district such EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10992-01-5 
 S. 6802 2 1 proposed charter school will be located within and whether such appli- 2 cant will request co-location or private space for the facilities to be 3 used by the school. If the application is approved, such charter school 4 shall not be located within any community school district other than 5 such district provided on such application. 6 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 2851 of the education 7 law, as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended and a new 8 paragraph (f) is added to read as follows: 9 (c) Copies of each of the annual reports of the charter school 10 required by [subdivision] subdivisions two and six of section twenty- 11 eight hundred fifty-seven of this article, including the charter school 12 report cards and the certified financial statements. 13 (f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision two of section twen- 14 ty-eight hundred fifty-three of this article, an audit report by an 15 independent certified public accountant or independent public accountant 16 on the operations of the charter school, including compliance with the 17 applicable provisions of this chapter and the not-for-profit corporation 18 law, and with all other applicable laws, regulations and charter 19 provisions. 20 § 3. Section 2851 of the education law is amended by adding a new 21 subdivision 6 to read as follows: 22 6. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision four of this section, 23 no charter shall be renewed if the charter school has failed to: 24 (a) meet the student achievement goals for the school educational 25 program, as required in the application; 26 (b) improve student learning and achievement; 27 (c) materially further the purposes set forth in subdivision two of 28 section twenty-eight hundred fifty of this article; 29 (d) maintain enrollment, suspension and attrition rates of either all 30 students or specifically students who are English language learners, are 31 eligible for the free or reduced price lunch program or are students 32 with disabilities, as reported pursuant to subdivision six of section 33 twenty-eight hundred fifty-seven of this article, which are within five 34 percent of such rates for the school district in which such charter 35 school is located. For the purposes of a charter school located within a 36 city with a population of one million or more the school district used 37 for comparison shall be the community school district in which such 38 charter school is located; 39 (e) pass an audit, carried out pursuant to subdivision six of section 40 twenty-eight hundred fifty-seven of this article, which finds such char- 41 ter school has been encouraging students to leave or pushing students 42 out of the school for illegitimate reasons; or 43 (f) to follow the provisions of articles six and seven of the public 44 officers law. 45 § 4. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 2854 of the education 46 law, as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as 47 follows: 48 (d) A student may withdraw from a charter school at any time pursuant 49 to a written form created by the department in which the parent or legal 50 guardian of the student certifies that the parent or legal guardian is 51 willingly and knowingly withdrawing the student from the charter school 52 without any undue pressure or influence by any owner or employee of the 53 charter school, and enroll in a public school. A charter school may 54 refuse admission to any student who has been expelled or suspended from 55 a public school until the period of suspension or expulsion from the 
 S. 6802 3 1 public school has expired, consistent with the requirements of due proc- 2 ess. 3 § 5. Section 2854 of the education law is amended by adding three new 4 subdivisions 4, 5 and 6 to read as follows: 5 4. Suspension of a student. (a) A charter school shall suspend an 6 enrolled student pursuant to subdivisions two-a and three of section 7 thirty-two hundred fourteen of this chapter, and only in accordance with 8 the procedures set forth in this subdivision. 9 (b) The principal of the charter school where the student attends 10 shall have the power to suspend the student for a period not to exceed 11 five school days pursuant to the due process procedures set forth in 12 paragraph b of subdivision three of section thirty-two hundred fourteen 13 of this chapter. The student or the person in parental relation to such 14 student may appeal the final decision of the principal to the board of 15 trustees of the charter school. 16 (c)(i) No student enrolled in a charter school may be suspended for a 17 period in excess of five school days unless such student and the person 18 in parental relation to such student shall have had an opportunity for a 19 hearing, upon reasonable notice, at which such student shall have the 20 right of representation by counsel, with the right to question witnesses 21 against such student and to present witnesses and other evidence on the 22 student's behalf. 23 (ii) Where a student has been suspended in accordance with this para- 24 graph, the charter school shall, within five days of the suspension, 25 inform the superintendent of the school district or, in the city school 26 district of the city of New York, of a community school district, where 27 the charter school is located shall, upon being notified of the suspen- 28 sion, who shall forthwith designate a hearing officer to hear and deter- 29 mine the proceeding. The hearing officer shall be authorized to adminis- 30 ter oaths and to issue subpoenas in conjunction with the proceeding 31 before such hearing officer. A record of the hearing shall be main- 32 tained, but no stenographic transcript shall be required and a tape 33 recording shall be deemed a satisfactory record. The hearing officer 34 shall make findings of fact and a recommendation on the appropriate 35 measure of discipline to the chief executive officer of the charter 36 school. The chief executive officer may reject, confirm or modify the 37 conclusions of the hearing officer. A parent may appeal the decision of 38 the chief executive officer to the board of trustees of the charter 39 school. 40 (d) A student with a disability as such term is defined in section 41 forty-four hundred one of this chapter or a student presumed to have a 42 disability for discipline purposes, may be suspended or removed from the 43 student's current educational placement for violation of school rules 44 only in accordance with the procedures established in paragraph g of 45 subdivision three of section thirty-two hundred fourteen of this chap- 46 ter, the regulations of the commissioner implementing such paragraph, 47 and subsection (k) of section 1415 of title 20 of the United States code 48 and the federal regulations implementing such statute, as such federal 49 law and regulations are from time to time amended. 50 (e) Any teacher shall have the power and authority to remove a disrup- 51 tive student pursuant to the procedures set forth in subdivision three-a 52 of section thirty-two hundred fourteen of this chapter. 53 (f) Where a student has been suspended pursuant to this subdivision 54 and such student is of compulsory attendance age, immediate steps shall 55 be taken for the student's attendance upon instruction at home or else- 56 where. A charter school shall provide full-time alternative instruction 
 S. 6802 4 1 for the time period that the student is suspended. The student and the 2 parents or guardians of such student shall be provided notice of the 3 time and location of the alternative instruction. 4 5. Posting of charter and policies. (a) A charter school shall post 5 its charter, including its disciplinary policies, conspicuously on its 6 website, and make such charter and policies available to the parents or 7 guardians of the students upon request free of charge within five days 8 of such request. 9 (b) A charter school shall develop and post conspicuously on its 10 website a clear and simple process for parents or guardians of students 11 to file complaints and appeals. Such process posted shall include at a 12 minimum, contact information, including but not limited to an e-mail 13 address, a description of how to file a complaint and/or appeal a 14 suspension, and a schedule of deadlines for responses by such charter 15 school to complaints and appeals. 16 6. Parent or guardian representation. Within three years from the 17 effective date of this subdivision, half of the membership of the board 18 of a charter school shall be composed of parents or guardians of 19 students enrolled at such charter school. Such parent or guardian board 20 positions shall be elected directly by the parents and guardians of 21 students enrolled at such charter school. The commissioner shall promul- 22 gate rules and regulations regarding the timing and conducting of such 23 elections. 24 § 6. Paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of subdivision 1 of section 2854 of 25 the education law, paragraph (c) as amended by section 10-b of part A of 26 chapter 56 of the laws of 2014, and paragraphs (d) and (e) as added by 27 chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, are amended to read as follows: 28 (c) A charter school shall be subject to the financial audits, the 29 audit procedures, and the audit requirements set forth in the charter, 30 and shall be subject to audits of the comptroller of the city school 31 district of the city of New York for charter schools located in New York 32 city, and to the audits of the comptroller of the state of New York for 33 charter schools located in the rest of the state, at [his or her] the 34 discretion of the comptroller of the state of New York, with respect to 35 the school's financial operations. Any such audits shall include an 36 audit to determine whether the financing received by the charter school 37 pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred fifty-six of this article is 38 consistent with the number of qualified students who are eligible to 39 enroll, and are actually enrolled in such charter school, including 40 whether such enrolled students meet the residency requirements for 41 enrollment. In the event of an overpayment, the office of the state 42 comptroller shall be authorized to recover the excess in payment by 43 deducting from any state funds which become due to such charter school 44 or refer the matter to the state attorney general to initiate a civil 45 action against the charter school to recover the overpayment. Such 46 procedures and standards shall be consistent with generally accepted 47 accounting and audit standards. Independent fiscal audits shall be 48 required at least once annually. 49 (d) A charter school shall design its educational programs to meet or 50 exceed the student performance standards adopted by the board of regents 51 and the student performance standards contained in the charter. Students 52 attending charter school shall be required to take regents examinations 53 to the same extent such examinations are required of other public school 54 students. A charter school shall utilize the same methods as used by 55 the school district such charter school is located in to ensure blind 56 scoring of the mandated state exams, including in New York city, cooper- 
 S. 6802 5 1 ative grading sites, and shall also be subject to any other methods the 2 state or district may use to ensure integrity of results, including, but 3 not limited to, independent monitors and erasure analysis. A charter 4 school offering instruction in the high school grades may grant regents 5 diplomas and local diplomas to the same extent as other public schools, 6 and such other certificates and honors as are specifically authorized by 7 their charter, and in testimony thereof give suitable certificates, 8 honors and diplomas under its seal; and every certificate and diploma so 9 granted shall entitle the conferee to all privileges and immunities 10 which by usage or statute are allowed for similar diplomas of corre- 11 sponding grade granted by any other public school. A charter school 12 shall be subject to performance audits, the audit procedures, and the 13 audit requirements set forth in the charter, and shall be subject to 14 audits of the comptroller of the city school district of the city of New 15 York for charter schools located in New York city, and to the audits of 16 the comptroller of the state of New York for charter schools located in 17 the rest of the state, at the discretion of the comptroller of the state 18 of New York, with respect to the school's performance. 19 (e) (i) A charter school shall be subject to the provisions of arti- 20 cles six and seven of the public officers law. 21 (ii) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the board meetings 22 of a charter school, its networks and charter management organization 23 shall be subject to the provisions of article seven of the public offi- 24 cers law, and shall publicly post in a prominent place on its website 25 the time and location of meetings at least seventy-two hours in advance. 26 A charter school shall also retain a mailing list of persons who request 27 notification of its meetings and send such information to the persons on 28 such list at least seventy-two hours in advance of any meeting. 29 (iii) A charter school and its board shall keep a public archive of 30 all such announcements required under subparagraph (ii) of this para- 31 graph. Board meeting minutes shall be posted online and be available in 32 print upon request. 33 (iv) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any contract 34 between a charter school and a charter management organization shall be 35 subject to the provisions of article six of the public officers law. 36 (v) No charter school shall include a non-disclosure agreement as part 37 of a contract with any employee except in regard to specific curricular 38 proprietary information. 39 § 7. The opening paragraph and paragraphs (a), (d) and (e) of subdivi- 40 sion 1 of section 2855 of the education law, the opening paragraph and 41 paragraphs (a) and (d) as amended and paragraph (e) as added by chapter 42 101 of the laws of 2010, are amended and three new paragraphs (f), (g) 43 and (h) are added to read as follows: 44 The charter entity, or the board of regents, [may] shall terminate a 45 charter upon any of the following grounds: 46 (a) When a charter school's outcome on student assessment measures 47 adopted by the board of regents equals or falls below the level that 48 would allow the commissioner to revoke the registration of another 49 public school, and student achievement on such measures has not shown 50 improvement over the preceding three school years; 51 (d) When the public employment relations board makes a determination 52 that the charter school demonstrates a practice and pattern of egregious 53 and intentional violations of subdivision one of section two hundred 54 nine-a of the civil service law involving interference with or discrimi- 55 nation against employee rights under article fourteen of the civil 56 service law; [or] 
 S. 6802 6 1 (e) [Repeated failure] Failure to comply with the requirement to meet 2 or exceed enrollment and retention targets of students with disabili- 3 ties, English language learners, and students who are eligible appli- 4 cants for the free and reduced price lunch program pursuant to targets 5 established by the board of regents or the board of trustees of the 6 state university of New York[, as applicable] pursuant to subparagraph 7 (i) of paragraph (b) of subdivision nine-a of section twenty-eight 8 hundred fifty-two of this article. Provided, however, if no grounds for 9 terminating a charter are established pursuant to this section other 10 than pursuant to this paragraph, and the charter school demonstrates 11 that it has made extensive efforts to recruit and retain such students, 12 including outreach to parents and families in the surrounding communi- 13 ties, widely publicizing the lottery for such school, and efforts to 14 academically support such students in such charter school, then the 15 charter entity or board of regents may retain such charter[.]; 16 (f) Failure to maintain enrollment, suspension and attrition rates of 17 either all students or specifically students who are English language 18 learners, are eligible for the free or reduced price lunch program or 19 are students with disabilities, as reported pursuant to subdivision six 20 of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-seven of this article, which are 21 within five percent of such rates for the school district in which such 22 charter school is located. For the purposes of a charter school located 23 within a city with a population of one million or more the school 24 district used for comparison shall be the community school district in 25 which such charter school is located; 26 (g) When an audit, carried out pursuant to subdivision six of section 27 twenty-eight hundred fifty-seven of this article, finds such charter 28 school has been encouraging students to leave or pushing students out of 29 the school for illegitimate reasons; or 30 (h) Repeated failure to follow the provisions of articles six and 31 seven of the public officers law. 32 § 8. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2, and subdivisions 4 and 5 of 33 section 2857 of the education law, paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 as 34 amended and subdivision 5 as added by chapter 101 of the laws of 2010, 35 subdivision 4 as added by chapter 4 of the laws of 1998, are amended and 36 two new subdivisions 6 and 7 are added to read as follows: 37 (a) a charter school report card, which shall include measures of the 38 comparative academic and fiscal performance of the school, as prescribed 39 by the commissioner in regulations adopted for such purpose. Such meas- 40 ures shall include, but not be limited to, the total number of openings 41 for new students at the beginning of the school year, by grade; the 42 total number of applicants for each such opening; the total number of 43 students accepted for the school year; the number of students accepted 44 for enrollment who are English language learners, are eligible for the 45 free or reduced price lunch program or are students with disabilities; 46 the number of students who were dismissed, expelled, dropped out or 47 withdrew during the school year, including the reasons for the dismissal 48 or withdrawal, and including the number of such students who were 49 suspended, dismissed, expelled, dropped out or withdrew or are English 50 language learners, are eligible for the free or reduced price lunch 51 program or are students with disabilities; graduation rates[, dropout 52 rates,]; performance of students on standardized tests[,]; college entry 53 rates[,]; the total number of teachers and administrators employed at 54 the school at the beginning of the school year and the number of teach- 55 ers and administrators who were terminated, dismissed or resigned during 56 the reporting period, and the reasons therefor; the annual salary paid 
 S. 6802 7 1 to each teacher and administrator of the school; and total spending per 2 pupil and administrative spending per pupil. Such measures shall be 3 presented in a format that is easily comparable to similar public 4 schools. In addition, the charter school and the commissioner shall 5 ensure that such information is easily accessible to the community 6 including making it publicly available by transmitting it to local news- 7 papers of general circulation, posting it on the department's website 8 and making it available for distribution at board of trustee meetings. 9 4. The board of regents shall review the educational effectiveness of 10 the charter school approach authorized by this article and the effect of 11 charter schools on the public and nonpublic school systems. Not later 12 than December thirty-first, two thousand [three] twenty-six, and every 13 two years thereafter, the [board of regents] commissioner shall report 14 to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of 15 the assembly and the board of regents with recommendations to modify, 16 expand, or terminate that approach. Such report shall include, for each 17 charter school, a copy of the school's mission statement[,]; attendance 18 statistics; dismissal, expulsion and dropout rates[,]; student perform- 19 ance on standardized assessment tests[,]; projections of financial 20 stability[,]; the number of students with disabilities, English language 21 learners and students who are eligible for the free and reduced price 22 lunch program; the total amount spent for administrative expenses; and, 23 wherever practicable, comparisons to other public schools located in the 24 same school district or, in the city school district of New York, the 25 same community school district. 26 5. The [board of regents] commissioner shall on an annual basis review 27 and make available to school districts best educational practices 28 employed by charter schools. If the commissioner fails to identify any 29 best practices employed by charter schools, the commissioner shall 30 report such absence or lack of best practices in the report required 31 pursuant to subdivision four of this section. 32 6. (a) Each charter school shall submit to the department an annual 33 report on or before the first day of August each year for the preceding 34 school year. Such report shall be in such form as shall be prescribed by 35 the commissioner and shall at a minimum include: 36 (i) enrollment, suspension and attrition rates of all students, 37 including the reasons for the suspension, dismissal or withdrawal. 38 (ii) enrollment, suspension and attrition rates of students who are 39 English language learners, are eligible for the free or reduced price 40 lunch program or are students with disabilities, including the reasons 41 for the suspension, dismissal or withdrawal. 42 (b) Reporting of suspension rates as required pursuant to paragraph 43 (a) of this subdivision shall specify the number of out-of-school 44 suspensions and in-school suspensions, and shall include both the total 45 number of suspensions and the number of individual students who receive 46 suspensions. 47 (c) Not later than December thirty-first, annually, the commissioner 48 shall submit a report to the governor, the temporary president of the 49 senate, the speaker of the assembly and the board of regents containing 50 the information received pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision 51 and such report shall include a comparison of the rates reported by a 52 charter school to such rates of the school district in which such char- 53 ter school is located. 54 (d) Not later than December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-six, and 55 every two years thereafter, the comptroller shall audit the information 56 reported by each charter school pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdi- 
 S. 6802 8 1 vision, provided, however, that for a charter school located in New York 2 city, such audit shall be carried out by the New York city comptroller. 3 A component of such audit shall include selecting a sample of students 4 who were dismissed or withdrew from such charter school and assess the 5 accuracy of the reported reasons for such dismissal or withdrawal. 6 7. The department shall appoint an ombudsperson whose responsibilities 7 shall be to support and advise parents and guardians of charter school 8 students who have specific issues and complaints, and to investigate and 9 resolve such complaints. Such ombudsperson shall regularly report to 10 the board of regents the number of complaints received, the types of 11 complaints, and if and how such complaints were resolved. 12 § 9. Paragraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision 2 of section 2852 of the 13 education law, as amended by section 4-a of part A of chapter 56 of the 14 laws of 2023, are amended and a new paragraph (f) is added to read as 15 follows: 16 (d) in a school district where the total enrollment of resident 17 students attending charter schools in the base year is greater than five 18 percent of the total public school enrollment of the school district in 19 the base year (i) granting the application would have a significant 20 educational benefit to the students expected to attend the proposed 21 charter school or (ii) the school district in which the charter school 22 will be located consents to such application; [and] 23 (e) for applicants for an initial charter pursuant to paragraph (b-1) 24 of subdivision nine of this section in a school district located in a 25 city with a population of one million or more, the total enrollment of 26 students attending charter schools within the community district in 27 which the charter school will be located in the base year is less than 28 or equal to fifty-five percent of the total public school enrollment 29 attending within such community district in the base year[.]; and 30 (f) the charter school described in the application has received the 31 approval of the local board of education where such proposed charter 32 school shall be located prior to submitting such application, provided, 33 however, that in the case of a proposed charter school to be located in 34 New York city, such approval shall be from the community education coun- 35 cil of the district in which such proposed school shall be located. 36 § 10. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdi- 37 vision, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 38 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 39 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 40 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 41 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 42 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 43 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 44 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 45 § 11. This act shall take effect immediately.