2023 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 70. Schools
§70-3-132. Application of act — Charter schools — Sponsorship — Limitation on establishment of new schools — Conversion school.

A. The Oklahoma Charter Schools Act shall apply only to charter schools formed and operated under the provisions of the act. Charter schools shall be sponsored only as follows:

1. By any school district located in this state, provided such charter school shall only be located within the geographical boundaries of the sponsoring district and subject to the restrictions of Section 3-145.6 of this title;

2. By an accredited comprehensive, regional, or two-year institution that is a member of The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education or by a private institution of higher learning located within this state that is accredited pursuant to Section 4103 of this title;

3. By a federally recognized Indian tribe, operating a high school under the authority of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as of November 1, 2010, if the charter school is for the purpose of demonstrating native language immersion instruction, and is located within its former reservation or treaty area boundaries. For purposes of this paragraph, native language immersion instruction shall require that educational instruction and other activities conducted at the school site are primarily conducted in the native language;

4. Until June 30, 2023, by the State Board of Education and beginning July 1, 2024, by the Statewide Charter School Board when the applicant of the charter school is the Office of Juvenile Affairs or the applicant has a contract with the Office of Juvenile Affairs and the charter school is for the purpose of providing education services to youth in the custody or supervision of the state;

5. By a federally recognized Indian tribe only when the charter school is located within the former reservation or treaty area boundaries of the tribe on property held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior for the benefit of the tribe; or

6. By the Statewide Charter School Board. In counties with a population of fewer than five hundred thousand (500,000) , according to the latest Federal Decennial Census, the Statewide Charter School Board shall not sponsor more than five new charter schools each year. Existing charter schools sponsored by the Statewide Charter School Board shall not apply to the limits prescribed by this paragraph.

B. An eligible non-school-district sponsor shall give priority to opening charter schools that serve at-risk student populations or students from low-performing traditional public schools.

C. An eligible non-school-district sponsor shall give priority to applicants that have demonstrated a record of operating at least one school or similar program that demonstrates academic success and organizational viability and serves student populations similar to those the proposed charter school seeks to serve. In assessing the potential for quality replication of a charter school, a sponsor shall consider the following factors before approving a new site or school:

1. Evidence of a strong and reliable record of academic success based primarily on student performance data, as well as other viable indicators including financial and operational success;

2. A sound, detailed, and well-supported growth plan;

3. Evidence of the ability to transfer successful practices to a potentially different context that includes reproducing critical cultural, organizational, and instructional characteristics;

4. Any management organization involved in a potential replication is fully vetted, and the academic, financial, and operational records of the schools it operates are found to be satisfactory;

5. Evidence the program seeking to be replicated has the capacity to do so successfully without diminishing or putting at risk its current operations; and

6. A financial structure that ensures that funds attributable to each charter school within a network and required by law to be utilized by a school remain with and are used to benefit that school.

Added by Laws 1999, c. 320, § 7, eff. July 1, 1999. Amended by Laws 2000, c. 232, § 5, eff. July 1, 2000; Laws 2001, c. 33, § 67, eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2007, c. 257, § 1; Laws 2010, c. 290, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2010; Laws 2011, c. 1, § 34, emerg. eff. March 18, 2011; Laws 2011, c. 367, § 1; Laws 2012, c. 367, § 1, eff. July 1, 2012; Laws 2013, c. 83, § 3, eff. July 1, 2013; Laws 2013, c. 212, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2013; Laws 2015, c. 170, § 1; Laws 2016, c. 27, § 1, eff. July 1, 2016; Laws 2017, c. 42, § 29; Laws 2022, c. 222, § 1, emerg. eff. May 5, 2022; Laws 2023, c. 323, § 5, eff. July 1, 2024.

NOTE: Laws 2010, c. 288, § 1 repealed by Laws 2011, c. 1, § 35, emerg. eff. March 18, 2011. Laws 2015, c. 205, § 1 repealed by Laws 2016, c. 210, § 42, emerg. eff. April 26, 2016. Laws 2016, c. 210, § 41, emerg. eff. April 26, 2016 repealed by Laws 2017, c. 42, § 30.