a. Mission statement consistent with State and District purposes;

b. Goals, objectives, and pupil performance standards;

c. Evidence of an adequate number of parents, teachers, pupils, or combination thereof to form a school;

d. Description of education program, with pupil performance standards and curriculum that meets or exceeds State and District standards;

e. Plan for evaluating pupil performance with types of assessment, timeline, and procedures for corrective action;

f. Student discipline policies and procedures;

g. Evidence of economical soundness, proposed budget, annual financial and administrative operations audit, and plan for the displacement of pupils, teachers, and other employees who will not attend or be employed in the charter school;

h. Description of governance and operation, including parental, educator, and community involvement;

i. Explanation of relationship between the school and its employees, including evidence that terms and conditions with affected employees and their recognized representative, if any, have been addressed;

j. Description of employment policies, including qualifications, recruitment procedures, compensation, and plans for resolving employment disputes;

k. Agreement between the parties regarding respective legal liability and applicable insurance coverage;

l. Plans for pupil transportation, if any, and, if transportation is to be provided, a plan for addressing low-income, low-achieving pupil needs;

m. Description of enrollment policies;

n. A statement whether or not the school is designed to increase the educational opportunities of at-risk students;

o. A description of the facilities anticipated for the school;

p. A description of requested waivers, including the reason for each waiver and the plan for addressing the subject of the statute, regulation, or policy to be waived;

q. A showing whether or not the proposed program could be achieved through application of the Board policies on educational options and/or alternative schools.

a. Applications for a charter school to commence in the Fall must be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. October 1, or the following Monday if October 1 is on a weekend, of the academic year prior to the academic year in which the charter school anticipates opening;

b. The Board will request additional information if it finds the application incomplete or if additional information will assist in its determination;

c. The application shall be reviewed by District administration and the District accountability committee prior to consideration by the Board;

d. The District also will provide a copy of the application to employee organizations and the parent-teacher association for their review and comment;

e. After giving reasonable public notice, the Board shall hold community meetings in the affected areas or the entire District to obtain information to assist in its decision to grant a charter school application;

f. Within 60 days after the application deadline, the Board shall rule on the application in a public hearing with reasonable notice.

a. Does the application fully address the criteria listed above and those in state law?

b. Have the scheduled deadlines been met?

c. Would establishment or operation of the proposed charter school be inconsistent with the Charter Schools Act or any federal or state laws concerning civil rights or any court order; violate state law prescribing the permissible number of charter schools; or be inconsistent with the best interests of the District, its pupils, or the community?

a. Appeal from Decision to Deny

(1) Within 30 days, the State Board shall conduct a hearing to review the decision. If the State Board finds that the local Board's decision was contrary to the best interests of the pupils, School District, or community, the State Board shall remand such decision to the local Board with written instructions for reconsideration thereof.

(2) Within 30 days, if the State Board remands the decision, the Board shall reconsider its decision and make a final decision.

(3) Within 30 days, if the local Board's decision is still to deny a charter, a second notice of appeal may be filed with the State Board.

(4) Within 30 days, the State Board at a public hearing shall make a final determination.

b. Facilitation

(1) In lieu of a first appeal of a denial of a charter, the District and the charter applicant or other person considering an appeal may agree to initiate facilitation by filing with the State Board a notice of facilitation within 30 days after the denial of application.

(2) Facilitation may continue for as long as both parties agree to its continued use.

(3) If one party rejects facilitation, and the rejection is not reconsidered within seven days, the Board will reconsider the denial and make a final decision in a public hearing within 30 days.

(4) If the Board's decision is to deny the application, the charter applicant may file a notice of appeal with the State Board within 30 days of the final decision.

c. Appeal from Decision to Grant

(1) Within 60 days, the State Board shall review the decision of the local Board and determine whether such decision was arbitrary and capricious or whether the establishment or operation of the proposed charter school would: violate any federal or state laws concerning civil rights or any court order; threaten the health and safety of pupils in the School District; violate provisions prescribing the permissible number of charter schools; or be inconsistent with the equitable distribution of charter schools among Districts.

(2) If such a determination is made, the State Board shall remand such decision to the local Board with instructions to deny the charter.

d. A charter applicant may appeal a decision of the Board that unilaterally imposes conditions unacceptable to the charter applicant. The appeal procedure for appeals of a denial of a charter application shall apply. The appeal rights do not alter the requirement that a charter school be a part of the School District in which it is located and accountable to the local Board of Education.

a. A report on the progress of the school in achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance standards, content standards, and other terms of the initial, approved charter application;

b. A financial statement that discloses the costs of administration, instruction, and other spending categories for the charter school that is understandable to the general public and that will allow comparison of such costs to other schools or other comparable organizations, in a format required by the State Board of Education.

c. The Board may request that the charter school provide additional information to assist it in its determination of the renewal application.

a. Committed a material violation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter application;

b. Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward achievement of the content standards or pupil performance standards identified in the charter application;

c. Failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management; or

d. Violated any provision of law from which the charter school was not specifically exempted.

a. During the first year that a teacher employed by the District is employed by a charter school, such teacher shall be considered to be on a one-year leave of absence from the School District. Such leave shall commence on the first day of services for the charter school. Upon the request of the teacher, the one-year leave of absence shall be renewed for up to two additional one-year periods upon the mutual agreement of the teacher and the School District. At the end of three years, the relationship between the teacher and the School District shall be determined by the School District, and the District shall provide notice to the teacher of the relationship.

b. The employment status of School District employees employed by the charter school who seek to return to employment with public schools in the District will be determined in accordance with the negotiated agreement and District policies. Return of School District employees to the District during an academic year shall be at the sole discretion of the District.

c. Employees of a charter school shall be members of the Public Employees' Retirement Association. The charter school and the teacher shall contribute the appropriate respective amounts as required by the funds of such association.

a. The District of residence shall report to the Department of Education the number of pupils included in the School District of residence's pupil enrollment that are actually enrolled in each charter school.

b. As part of the charter school contract, the school and the District shall agree on funding and any services to be provided by the District to the school. The funding discussions shall begin using eighty percent of the District per pupil operating revenues as defined in C.R.S. 22-53-103.

c. All services provided by the District including, but not limited to, food services,custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services, libraries, and warehousing shall be subject to negotiation between the school and the District and paid for out of the revenues in section b. above.

d. In no event shall the amount of funding negotiated be less than eighty percent of the District per pupil operating revenues multiplied by the number of pupils enrolled in the school.

e. It is intended that funding and service agreements pursuant to these guidelines shall be neither a financial incentive nor a disincentive to the establishment of a charter school.

f. Fees collected from students enrolled at a charter school shall be retained by such charter schools and must be used for the purpose for which they are collected.

g. The proportionate share of state and federal resources generated by students with disabilities or staff serving them shall be directed to charter schools enrolling such students. The proportionate share of moneys generated under other federal or state categorical aid programs shall be directed to charter schools serving students eligible for such aid.

h. Nonresident students may be admitted to charter schools, but priority must be given to admission of resident students. Tuition may not be charged, except in accordance with state law. When a nonresident student with a disability attends a charter school, the district of residence shall be responsible for paying to the charter school the tuition charge for excess costs incurred in educating the child. The amount of the tuition charge shall be determined pursuant to guidelines established by the Colorado Department of Education.

i. The governing body of a charter school is authorized to accept gifts, donations, or grants of any kind made to the charter school and to expend or use said gifts, donations, or grants in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the donor, unless the gifts, donations, or grants are subject to any condition contrary to law or the terms of the contract between the school and the Board.