Amendment ID: S2262-25

Amendment 25

Opt-Out for All

Ms. Jehlen moves to amend the bill by striking Section 42 and inserting the following:

SECTION 42. Subsection (m) of said section 89 of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraphs:-

A school district may establish procedures for student assignment to district and charter students that allows for an opt-out lottery for charter enrollment consistent with the district’s student assignment plan.

Each charter school shall conduct an opt-out lottery at least 1 time per academic year. Through the lottery, the charter school shall randomly select a number of students equal to the number of anticipated enrollment spaces and shall randomly select a number of additional students to be placed on a waitlist. The charter operator, who shall maintain the waitlist, shall determine the number of students randomly selected for the waitlist in order to fill any open enrollment spaces that become available throughout the year. A charter school may conduct additional opt-out lottery draws during an academic year if the school determines that its waitlist will be exhausted prior to the fulfillment of all midyear enrollment spaces. An additional opt-out lottery shall place any students not immediately placed in an open enrollment space on the waitlist. If a student randomly selected through an opt-out lottery remains on a waitlist at the close of the academic year in which the student was randomly selected, the student shall have the option to receive preference placement of the next available enrollment space in the next highest grade level, unless the next highest grade level is not offered by the charter school.

Notwithstanding subsection (n), charter schools shall have a rolling enrollment policy in which the school shall attempt to fill vacant seats throughout the school year for all grade levels offered by the school. Charter schools shall also adhere to the same quality measures, at a minimum, used by the district to the extent that such measures are necessary under subsection (i).