Amendment #57 to H4400

Local Enrollment Preference

Mr. Madaro of Boston moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

"SECTION XXXX. Preference for enrollment in a commonwealth charter school shall be given to students who reside in the city or town in which the charter school is located, provided a first priority for enrollment shall be given to students residing within a 1 mile radius of a commonwealth charter school Priority for enrollment in a Horace Mann charter school shall be given first to students actually enrolled in the school on the date that the application is filed with the board and to their siblings; second to other students actually enrolled in the public schools of the district where the Horace Mann charter school is to be located; and third to other resident students.

If the total number of students who are eligible to attend and apply to a charter school and who reside in the city or town in which the charter school is located or are siblings of students already attending said charter school, is greater than the number of spaces available, an admissions lottery, including all eligible students applying, shall be held to fill all of the spaces in that school from among the students. If there are more spaces available than eligible applicants from the city or town in which the charter school is located and who are siblings of current students and more eligible applicants than spaces left available, a lottery shall be held to determine which of the applicants shall be admitted; provided, however, that a lottery conducted for Horace Mann charter schools shall reflect the enrollment priorities of this section. Notwithstanding this subsection, upon application by the board of trustees of a charter school or by the persons or entities seeking to establish a charter school, the board may amend or grant a charter designating such school a regional charter school; provided, however, that such regional charter school shall be exempt from the local preference provision of this paragraph; provided further, that such regional charter school shall continue to grant a preference of siblings of currently enrolled students and students residing within a 1 mile radius of a commonwealth charter school ; and provided further, that if the number of applicants remaining is greater than the number of spaces available, such regional charter school shall conduct a single lottery to determine which applicants shall be admitted.

In any instance where a charter school approved after January 1, 2011 enrolls more than 20 per cent of its total enrollment from school districts not included in its original charter pursuant to subsection (h) for 2 consecutive years, the charter school shall submit an application to the board for an amendment to its charter that reflects its actual enrollment patterns; provided further that upon renewal of a charter school approved prior to January 1, 2011, the board shall establish a timeline of not less than 5 years for the charter to comply with this requirement.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a charter school to unenroll any student currently in attendance at the time this act takes effect.

When a student stops attending a charter school for any reason, the charter school shall fill the vacancy with the next available student on the waitlist for the grade in which the vacancy occurs and shall continue through the waitlist until a student fills the vacant seat. If there is no waitlist, a charter school shall publicize an open seat to the students of the sending district or districts and make attempts to fill said vacant seat. Charter schools shall attempt to fill vacant seats up to February 15, provided, however, that charter schools may but are not required to fill vacant after February 15. If a vacancy occurs after February 15, such vacancy shall remain with the grade cohort and shall be filled in the following September if it has not previously been filled. A vacancy occurring after February 15 shall not be filled by adding a student to a lower grade level. Charter schools shall attempt to fill vacant seats up to February 15, excluding seats in the last half of the grades offered by the charter school, and grades 10, 11 and 12. Within 30 days of a vacancy being filled, the charter school shall send the name of the student filling such vacancy to the department for the purposes of the department updating its waitlist.

The names of students who entered the lottery but did not gain admission shall be maintained on a waitlist, which shall be forwarded to the department not later than June 1 in the year in which the lottery is held. In addition to the names of students, the school shall supply to the department each student's home address, telephone number, grade level and other information the department deems necessary. The department shall maintain a consolidated waitlist for each municipality in order to determine the number of individual students in each municipality seeking admission to charter schools."