SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1858        FILED ON: 2/18/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 386

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Bruce E. Tarr

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act ensuring charter school integrity.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1858        FILED ON: 2/18/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 386

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 337 OF 2019-2020.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act ensuring charter school integrity.

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 General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in section (h), the following paragraph: -

Within 30 days of the approval of a new commonwealth charter school in any community, the board shall issue a written confirmation that the school meets all requirements set out in subsection (b), (e) and (f) of this section and in the implementing regulations, and a summary of the reasons therefore.

SECTION 2. Said section 89 of said Chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further amended, in subsection (l), by inserting at the end thereof the following sentence:-

Charter schools shall not solicit applications for enrollment by offering money or gifts of any monetary value as an incentive for application.

SECTION 3. Said section 89 of said Chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further amended, in section (ee), by striking the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence: - The board may revoke a school’s charter if the school has not fulfilled any conditions imposed by the board in connection with the grant of the charter, the school has violated any provision of its charter, or the board has substantially violated any provision of this section or its implementing regulations in granting the charter.

SECTION 4. Said section 89 of said Chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:-

(nn) The board shall develop procedures and guidelines for the waiver of any regulations; provided, however, that no waiver shall be issued except at the written request of the charter applicant or at the written request of the board itself, both of which shall only be for exceptional circumstances.  Said waiver must be accompanied by a written explanation of the reasons for the waiver, and may only be issued by a 2/3 vote of the board.