2011 North Carolina General Statutes
Chapter 115C Elementary and Secondary Education.
Article 16 - Optional Programs.
115C-238.29D. Final approval of applications for charter schools.

115C‑238.29D. Final approval of applications for charter schools.

(a) The State Board may grant final approval of an application if it finds that the application meets the requirements set out in this Part or adopted by the State Board of Education and that granting the application would achieve one or more of the purposes set out in G.S. 115C‑238.29A. The State Board shall act by March 15 of a calendar year on all applications and appeals it receives prior to February 15 of that calendar year.

(b) Repealed by Session Laws 2011‑164, s. 2(a), effective July 1, 2011.

(c) The State Board of Education may authorize a school before the applicant has secured its space, equipment, facilities, and personnel if the applicant indicates the authority is necessary for it to raise working capital. The State Board shall not allocate any funds to the school until the school has obtained space.

(d) The State Board of Education may grant the initial charter for a period not to exceed 10 years and may renew the charter upon the request of the chartering entity for subsequent periods not to exceed 10 years each. The State Board of Education shall review the operations of each charter school at least once every five years to ensure that the school is meeting the expected academic, financial, and governance standards.

A material revision of the provisions of a charter application shall be made only upon the approval of the State Board of Education.

It shall not be considered a material revision of a charter application and shall not require the prior approval of the State Board for a charter school to increase its enrollment during the charter school's second year of operation and annually thereafter (i) by up to twenty percent (20%) of the school's previous year's enrollment or (ii) in accordance with planned growth as authorized in the charter. Other enrollment growth shall be considered a material revision of the charter application, and the State Board may approve such additional enrollment growth of greater than twenty percent (20%) only if the State Board finds that:

(1) The actual enrollment of the charter school is within ten percent (10%) of its maximum authorized enrollment;

(2) The charter school has commitments for ninety percent (90%) of the requested maximum growth;

(3) The board of education of the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is located has had an opportunity to be heard by the State Board of Education on any adverse impact the proposed growth would have on the unit's ability to provide a sound basic education to its students;

(4) The charter school is not currently identified as low‑performing;

(5) The charter school meets generally accepted standards of fiscal management; and

(6) It is otherwise appropriate to approve the enrollment growth. (1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 731, s. 2; 1997‑430, s. 3; 2000‑67, s. 8.23; 2001‑424, s. 28.26; 2003‑354, s. 2; 2004‑203, s. 45(a); 2011‑164, ss. 1, 2(a), 3.)