                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

REVIEW OF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATIONS (§ 22.1-212.9)

A. Public charter school applications shall be received and reviewed by the
Board of Education and local school boards or, in the case of a regional public
charter school, by all of the relevant school boards, as provided in subsection
C. However, no charter school application that is initiated by one or more local
school boards shall be subject to the provisions of subsection C.
			The Board of Education and each local school board shall establish procedures
for receiving, reviewing, and, in the case of local school boards, ruling upon
applications. The Board of Education and local school boards shall post their
procedures on their websites and make a copy of the procedures available to all
interested parties upon request. If any such board finds the public charter
school application is incomplete, the board shall request the necessary
information from the charter applicant.

B. To provide appropriate opportunity for input from parents, teachers,
citizens, and other interested parties and to obtain information to assist local
school boards in their decisions to grant or deny a public charter school
application, local school boards shall establish a procedure for public notice
and to receive comment on public charter school applications. A local school
board shall give at least 14 days&#8217; notice of its intent to receive public
comment on an application.

C. Prior to submission of an application to a local school board for review, the
public charter school applicant shall submit its proposed charter application to
the Board of Education for its review, comment, and a determination as to
whether the application meets the approval criteria developed by the Board. The
Board&#8217;s review shall examine such applications for feasibility,
curriculum, financial soundness, and other objective criteria as the Board may
establish, consistent with existing state law. The Board&#8217;s review and
comment shall be for the purpose of ensuring that the application conforms with
such criteria, and the Board shall make a determination as to whether the
application meets the approval criteria developed by the Board. Nothing in this
section shall prevent a local school division from working with a charter school
applicant before the application is submitted to the Board of Education for
review and recommendation.

HISTORY: 1998, cc. 748, 890; 2000, cc. 631, 1028; 2001, cc. 438, 469; 2002, c.
851; 2004, c. 530; 2010, cc. 393, 650; 2013, cc. 52, 225.