2020 Georgia Code
Title 20 - Education
Chapter 2 - Elementary and Secondary Education
Article 31 - Charter Schools Act of 1998
§ 20-2-2076. Annual Report on State Chartered Special Schools That Offer Virtual Instruction; Requirements; Publication on Website

1. 1. The Department of Audits and Accounts shall develop an annual report on state chartered special schools that offer virtual instruction. The Department of Audits and Accounts may consult with the State Board of Education to develop and collect information for the report.
   2. The annual report shall include at a minimum: school enrollment, including special education population and other subgroups; attendance rate and method of measurement; attrition rate; course segment completion rates; academic performance, including College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores, value-added analysis, Beating the Odds analysis, and student engagement and persistence; other academic performance as it relates to the goals of the school's charter; comparison of student academic growth and achievement prior to placement; governance and management; staffing and teacher qualification data; school finances, including actual income and expenditures for the prior fiscal year; operational performance, including analysis of academic performance as a ratio of per student expenditures; innovative practices and implementation; analysis of alternate academic options for enrolled students; and future plans. The annual report shall also include information on the implementation of professional development plans for persons in administrative, supervisory, or instructional leadership roles who do not hold a valid administrative license; a copy of all charter school agreements for corporate management services, including the company's parent corporation; and agreements for other administrative, financial, and staffing services.
   3. The Department of Audits and Accounts shall submit the annual report on each state chartered special school that offers virtual instruction to the State Board of Education, the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Lieutenant Governor by December 1 of each year. The annual report shall also be posted on the state chartered special school's official website.
2. 1. Every four years or the year before a charter for a state chartered special school that offers virtual instruction becomes eligible for renewal, whichever is earlier, the Department of Audits and Accounts shall compile the data included in the annual reports for such state chartered special school and identify any long-term trends regarding academic performance, financial data, and governance data. Such comprehensive report shall outline how the state chartered special school's actual performance compared to the goals outlined in its charter.
   2. The Department of Audits and Accounts shall submit the comprehensive report of each such state chartered special school to the State Board of Education, the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Lieutenant Governor by January 1 of the year in which the state chartered special school becomes eligible for renewal. The comprehensive report shall also be posted on the state chartered special school's official website.

(Code 1981, §20-2-2076, enacted by Ga. L. 2018, p. 650, § 7/HB 787.)

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2018, Code Section 20-2-2075, as enacted by Ga. L. 2018, p. 650, § 7/HB 787, was redesignated as Code Section 20-2-2076.

ARTICLE 31A STATE CHARTER SCHOOLS

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2012, p. 1298, § 3/HB 797, not codified by the General Assembly, provided that this article shall be repealed effective January 1, 2013, and that a new article shall be enacted, only if a Constitutional amendment expressly authorizing the General Assembly to create state charter schools as special schools was ratified at the November 2012, general election. Ga. L. 2012, p. 1364/HR 1162 was ratified at the election held on November 6, 2012.

Ga. L. 2012, p. 1298, § 1/HB 797, repealed the Code sections formerly codified at this article and enacted the current article. The former article consisted of Code Sections20-2-2080 through20-2-2092, relating to the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, and was based on Code 1981, §§ 20-2-2080 -20-2-2092, enacted by Ga. L. 2008, p. 603, § 1/HB 881; Ga. L. 2009, p. 8, § 20/SB 46.

- For article on the 2012 enactment of this article, see 29 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1 (2012).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Article 31A, Code Section 20-2-2080 et seq., which was subsequently repealed but was succeeded by provisions in this article, are included in the annotations for this article.

- Georgia Charter Schools Commission Act, O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2081 et seq., violated the special schools provision of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VIII, Sec. V, Para. VII(a) by authorizing a state commission to establish competing state-created general K-12 schools under the guise of being special schools. The special schools authorized by the constitution were not competitors with locally controlled schools in regard to the education of general K-12 students; rather, the constitutionally significant matters that made a school "special" were directly related to the school itself, the school's student body and the school's curriculum. Gwinnett County Sch. Dist. v. Cox, 289 Ga. 265, 710 S.E.2d 773 (2011) (decided under former O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2080 et seq.)

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, opinions under former Article 31A, Code Section 20-2-2080 et seq., which was subsequently repealed but was succeeded by provisions in this article, are included in the annotations for this article.

- Unless and until the General Assembly adopts clarifying legislation, it is within the sound discretion of the Teachers Retirement System Board of Trustees to determine whether teachers who are employed not less than half-time by commission charter schools must be members of the Teachers Retirement System. 2010 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 2010-5 (decided under former O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2080 et seq.).