HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1709        FILED ON: 1/8/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 638

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to data collection for charter schools..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Section 89 of chapter 71 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 edition, shall be amended by striking subsection (gg) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(gg) Each charter school shall submit to the board of elementary and secondary education, to the local school committee, to each parent or guardian of its enrolled students, and to each parent or guardian contemplating enrollment in that charter school an annual report. The annual report shall be issued no later than August 1 of each year for the preceding school year. The annual report shall be in such form as may be prescribed by the board and shall include at least the following components: (1) discussion of progress made toward the achievement of the goals set forth in the charter; and, (2) a financial statement setting forth, by appropriate categories, the revenue and expenditures for the year just ended, including net assets; the amount of any and all funds transferred to a management company; and, the percentage of the school's budget spent on administration.

SECTION 2.  Section 89 of chapter 71, as so appearing, shall be further amended in subsection (kk) by adding at the end thereof the following sentence:-

In the event that the board revokes a charter, or if a charter ceases to exist for any reason, the charter school shall, within six months of the revocation or dissolution of said charter, submit to the board a detailed financial accounting of all the school’s assets, including all equipment and supplies.

SECTION 3.  Section 89 of chapter 71, as so appearing, shall be further amended by striking subsection (pp) and inserting in place thereof the following:-

(pp) The commissioner of education shall collect data on the racial, ethnic and socio-economic make-up of the student enrollment of each charter school in the commonwealth, including a comparison with each school’s sending district or districts.  This data shall also include the following: the number of students that have left each charter school and the reason for leaving; the number of teachers that have left each charter school and the reason for leaving; the number of administrators that have left each charter school and the reason for leaving; the number of homeless students enrolled in each charter school and in the district in which the charter school is located; the number of students in the care of the Department of Youth Services enrolled in each charter school and in the district in which the charter school is located; the number of students in the care of the Department of  Social Services in each charter school and in the district in which the charter school is located; the number of students on the waiting list in each charter school including how the waiting list is established, how students are selected for enrollment and how students are removed from the waiting list; a comparison of the projected enrollment and the actual enrollment in each charter school; the number of students enrolled in each charter school who have individual education plans pursuant to chapter 71B and those requiring English language learners programs under chapter 71A. Said data shall be filed annually with the clerks of the house and senate and with the joint committee on education not later than December 1.