On May 29, 2020, the California Department of Education (“CDE”) released a memo providing updates pertaining to the implementation of AB 1505. AB 1505, which becomes operational July 1, 2020, changes the submission process for new charter school petitions. Additionally, it drastically alters the charter renewal process, dividing the charters up for renewal into high-performing charters, low performing charters, and middle-performing charters. AB 1505 also modifies the process for appeals to the State Board of Education.
Effects on Regulations
While CDE is considering whether new regulations are needed to address all the procedural changes due to AB 1505, the CDE reached out to charter authorizers, the charter school community, and other stakeholders to solicit written feedback on the areas where regulations may be needed. CDE is in the process of reviewing those comments. This will determine the extent to which new state regulations will be proposed or amended.
Appeal Process
The SBE will not likely consider any charter school appeals under the “abuse of discretion” standard before January 2021. It is not clear as to whether the State Board will continue to authorize charter schools after July 1st, or whether the district or county board that denied the charter will be deemed the authorizer. If you recall, under AB 1505, the State Board of Education is getting out of the charter authorizing business.
SBE Response to COVID-19 Regarding Renewal Classification
The CDE plans to create a data file that includes all charter schools that have been in operation for two or more years and provide each school their status (i.e., high-, middle-, or low-performing) based on 2018 and 2019 Dashboard data. The CDE will post a list of open charter schools and their respective performance tracks regarding renewal.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, administration of statewide assessments in the spring of 2020 were suspended. As a result, the lack of assessment data will impact the calculation of performance levels and colors for the December 2020 California School Dashboard, which will also impact the determination of charter schools on the high-, middle-, and low-performing renewal tracks.
Under AB 1505, a charter school without sufficient performance levels shall be considered in the middle-performing track. It is our understanding that, in 2021, all schools that are up for renewal will be placed in the “middle-performing” track absent the production of a 2020 Dashboard.
– Edward Sklar is a partner and Everett McLean is a post-grad law clerk with Lozano Smith Attorneys at Law.