Senate Bill No. 222–Senators Cegavske, Rawson,
Tiffany and Washington

 

February 27, 2003

____________

 

Joint Sponsors: Assemblymen Andonov, Angle,
Beers, Brown, Hettrick and Weber

____________

 

Referred to Committee on Human Resources and Facilities

 

SUMMARY—Requires school districts to distribute certain portion of general obligation bonds to charter schools. (BDR 34‑112)

 

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: Yes.

                           Effect on the State: No.

 

~

 

EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to education; requiring the governing body of each charter school to establish a charter school buildings and sites fund; requiring the board of trustees of a school district that includes a charter school within its boundaries to distribute a portion of the general obligation bonds issued by the school district to the charter school for deposit in the charter school buildings and sites fund; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

1-1  Section 1. Chapter 386 of NRS is hereby amended by adding

1-2  thereto a new section to read as follows:

1-3  1.  The governing body of each charter school shall establish

1-4  a trust fund to be designated as the charter school buildings and

1-5  sites fund.

1-6  2.  All money received by a charter school from the board of

1-7  trustees of a school district pursuant to NRS 387.335 must be:

2-1  (a) Deposited and maintained in the charter school buildings

2-2  and sites fund.

2-3  (b) Held in trust for the school district until the money is used

2-4  by the charter school, as authorized by NRS 387.335, or until the

2-5  written charter of the charter school is revoked or the charter

2-6  school closes or otherwise ceases to operate as a charter school.

2-7  3.  If the written charter of a charter school is revoked or a

2-8  charter school closes or otherwise ceases to operate as a charter

2-9  school and unencumbered money remains in the charter school

2-10  buildings and sites fund, the remaining money in the fund must be

2-11  paid directly to the school district that distributed the money to the

2-12  charter school pursuant to NRS 387.335.

2-13      Sec. 2.  NRS 386.500 is hereby amended to read as follows:

2-14      386.500  For the purposes of NRS 386.500 to 386.610,

2-15  inclusive, and section 1 of this act, a pupil is “at risk” if he has an

2-16  economic or academic disadvantage such that he requires special

2-17  services and assistance to enable him to succeed in educational

2-18  programs. The term includes, without limitation, pupils who are

2-19  members of economically disadvantaged families, pupils with

2-20  limited proficiency in the English language, pupils who are at risk of

2-21  dropping out of high school and pupils who do not meet minimum

2-22  standards of academic proficiency. The term does not include a

2-23  pupil with a disability.

2-24      Sec. 3.  NRS 386.570 is hereby amended to read as follows:

2-25      386.570  1.  Each pupil who is enrolled in a charter school,

2-26  including, without limitation, a pupil who is enrolled in a program

2-27  of special education in a charter school, must be included in the

2-28  count of pupils in the school district for the purposes of

2-29  apportionments and allowances from the State Distributive School

2-30  Account pursuant to NRS 387.121 to 387.126, inclusive, unless the

2-31  pupil is exempt from compulsory attendance pursuant to NRS

2-32  392.070. A charter school is entitled to receive its proportionate

2-33  share of any other money available from federal, state or local

2-34  sources that the school or the pupils who are enrolled in the school

2-35  are eligible to receive. If a charter school receives special education

2-36  program units directly from this state, the amount of money for

2-37  special education that the school district pays to the charter school

2-38  may be reduced proportionately by the amount of money the charter

2-39  school received from this state for that purpose.

2-40      2.  [All] Except as otherwise provided in section 1 of this act,

2-41  all money received by the charter school from this state or from the

2-42  board of trustees of a school district must be deposited in a bank,

2-43  credit union or other financial institution in this state. The governing

2-44  body of a charter school may negotiate with the board of trustees of

3-1  the school district and the State Board for additional money to pay

3-2  for services which the governing body wishes to offer.

3-3  3.  Upon completion of a school year, the sponsor of a charter

3-4  school may request reimbursement from the governing body of the

3-5  charter school for the administrative costs associated with

3-6  sponsorship for that school year if the sponsor provided

3-7  administrative services during that school year. Upon receipt of such

3-8  a request, the governing body shall pay the reimbursement to the

3-9  board of trustees of the school district, if the board of trustees

3-10  sponsors the charter school, or to the Department if the State Board

3-11  sponsors the charter school. If a governing body fails to pay the

3-12  reimbursement, the charter school shall be deemed to have violated

3-13  its written charter and the sponsor may take such action to revoke

3-14  the written charter pursuant to NRS 386.535 as it deems necessary.

3-15  The amount of reimbursement that a charter school may be required

3-16  to pay pursuant to this subsection must not exceed:

3-17      (a) For the first year of operation of the charter school, 2 percent

3-18  of the total amount of money apportioned to the charter school

3-19  during the year pursuant to NRS 387.124.

3-20      (b) For any year after the first year of operation of the charter

3-21  school, 1 percent of the total amount of money apportioned to the

3-22  charter school during the year pursuant to NRS 387.124.

3-23      4.  To determine the amount of money for distribution to a

3-24  charter school in its first year of operation, the count of pupils who

3-25  are enrolled in the charter school must initially be determined 30

3-26  days before the beginning of the school year of the school district,

3-27  based on the number of pupils whose applications for enrollment

3-28  have been approved by the charter school. The count of pupils who

3-29  are enrolled in the charter school must be revised on the last day of

3-30  the first school month of the school district in which the charter

3-31  school is located for the school year, based on the actual number of

3-32  pupils who are enrolled in the charter school. Pursuant to subsection

3-33  5 of NRS 387.124, the governing body of a charter school may

3-34  request that the apportionments made to the charter school in its first

3-35  year of operation be paid to the charter school 30 days before the

3-36  apportionments are otherwise required to be made.

3-37      5.  If a charter school ceases to operate as a charter school

3-38  during a school year, the remaining apportionments that would have

3-39  been made to the charter school pursuant to NRS 387.124 for that

3-40  year must be paid on a proportionate basis to the school districts

3-41  where the pupils who were enrolled in the charter school reside.

3-42      6.  The governing body of a charter school may solicit and

3-43  accept donations, money, grants, property, loans, personal services

3-44  or other assistance for purposes relating to education from members

3-45  of the general public, corporations or agencies. The governing body

4-1  may comply with applicable federal laws and regulations governing

4-2  the provision of federal grants for charter schools. The State Board

4-3  may assist a charter school that operates exclusively for the

4-4  enrollment of pupils who receive special education in identifying

4-5  sources of money that may be available from the Federal

4-6  Government or this state for the provision of educational programs

4-7  and services to such pupils.

4-8  7.  If a charter school uses money received from this state to

4-9  purchase real property, buildings, equipment or facilities, the

4-10  governing body of the charter school shall assign a security interest

4-11  in the property, buildings, equipment and facilities to the State of

4-12  Nevada.

4-13      Sec. 4.  NRS 387.335 is hereby amended to read as follows:

4-14      387.335  1.  The board of trustees of a county school district

4-15  may issue its general obligations to raise money for the following

4-16  purposes, and no others:

4-17      (a) Construction, design or purchase of new buildings for

4-18  schools, including, but not limited to, teacherages, dormitories,

4-19  dining halls, gymnasiums and stadiums.

4-20      (b) Enlarging, remodeling or repairing existing buildings or

4-21  grounds for schools, including, but not limited to, teacherages,

4-22  dormitories, dining halls, gymnasiums and stadiums.

4-23      (c) Acquiring sites for building schools, or additional real

4-24  property for necessary purposes related to schools, including, but

4-25  not limited to, playgrounds, athletic fields and sites for stadiums.

4-26      (d) Paying expenses relating to the acquisition of school

4-27  facilities which have been leased by a school district pursuant to

4-28  NRS 393.080.

4-29      (e) Purchasing necessary furniture and equipment for schools. If

4-30  money from the issuance of general obligations is used to purchase

4-31  furniture and equipment to replace existing furniture and equipment

4-32  [,] and that existing furniture and equipment subsequently is sold,

4-33  the proceeds from the sale must be applied toward the retirement of

4-34  those obligations.

4-35      2.  If the board of trustees of a school district issues a general

4-36  obligation on or after July 1, 2003, the board of trustees shall, on

4-37  or before January 31 of each year, divide the total number of

4-38  pupils enrolled in the school district, including, without limitation,

4-39  pupils enrolled in each charter school located within the school

4-40  district, by the amount of the proceeds that the bonded

4-41  indebtedness is estimated to produce that year to calculate an

4-42  estimated per pupil share of the proceeds. On or before June 30 of

4-43  each year, the board of trustees of each school district shall

4-44  distribute to each charter school located within the school district

4-45  an amount equal to the estimated per pupil share of these proceeds

5-1  for the year for each pupil who was enrolled in the charter school

5-2  on January 31 of that year. A charter school that receives a

5-3  distribution of money pursuant to this subsection shall not use the

5-4  money for any purpose other than those listed in subsection 1. The

5-5  money must be deposited in the charter school buildings and sites

5-6  fund established pursuant to section 1 of this act.

5-7  3.  Any one or more of the purposes enumerated in subsection 1

5-8  may, by order of the board of trustees entered in its minutes, be

5-9  united and voted upon as one single proposition.

5-10      [3.] 4.  Any question submitted pursuant to this section and any

5-11  question submitted pursuant to NRS 387.3285 may, by order of the

5-12  board of trustees entered in its minutes, be united and voted upon as

5-13  a single proposition.

5-14      Sec. 5.  1.  This section and sections 1, 2 and 3 of this act

5-15  become effective on July 1, 2003.

5-16      2.  Section 4 of this act becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. on

5-17  July 1, 2003.

 

5-18  H