                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS; REQUIREMENTS (§
22.1-212.6)

A. Enrollment in a public charter school shall be open to any child who is
deemed to reside within the relevant school division or, in the case of a
regional public charter school, within any of the relevant school divisions, as
set forth in &#xA7; 22.1-3, through a lottery process on a space-available
basis, except that in the case of the conversion of an existing public school,
students who attend the school and the siblings of such students shall be given
the opportunity to enroll in advance of the lottery process. A waiting list
shall be established if adequate space is not available to accommodate all
students whose parents have requested to be entered in the lottery process. Such
waiting list shall also be prioritized through a lottery process and parents
shall be informed of their student&#8217;s position on the list.

B. A public charter school shall be administered and managed by a management
committee, composed of parents of students enrolled in the school, teachers and
administrators working in the school, and representatives of any community
sponsors, in a manner agreed to by the public charter school applicant and the
local school board. Pursuant to a charter contract, a public charter school may
operate free from specified school division policies and state regulations, and,
as public schools, shall be subject to the requirements of the Standards of
Quality, including the Standards of Learning and the Standards of Accreditation.

C. Pursuant to a charter agreement, a public charter school shall be responsible
for its own operations, including, but not limited to, such budget preparation,
contracts for services, and personnel matters as are specified in the charter
agreement. A public charter school may negotiate and contract with a school
division, the governing body of a public institution of higher education, or any
third party for the use of a school building and grounds, the operation and
maintenance thereof, and the provision of any service, activity, or undertaking
which the public charter school is required to perform in order to carry out the
educational program described in its charter. Any services for which a public
charter school contracts with a school division shall not exceed the
division&#8217;s costs to provide such services.

D. As negotiated by contract, the local school board or the relevant school
boards, in the case of regional public charter schools, may allow a public
charter school to use vacant or unused properties or real estate owned by the
school board. In no event shall a public charter school be required to pay rent
for space which is deemed available, as negotiated by contract, in school
division facilities. All other costs for the operation and maintenance of the
facilities used by the public charter school shall be subject to negotiation
between the public charter school and the school division or, in the case of a
regional public charter school, between the regional public charter school and
the relevant school divisions.

E. A public charter school shall not charge tuition.

HISTORY: 1998, cc. 748, 890; 2000, cc. 631, 1028; 2002, c. 851; 2004, c. 530;
2012, cc. 702, 720; 2014, cc. 645, 693; 2016, c. 770.