CHARTER SCHOOLS: ELIMINATE SINGLE SITE REQUIREMENT

House Bill 4345

Sponsor:  Rep. Matthew Milosch

Committee:  Education

Complete to 9-12-03

A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4345 AS INTRODUCED 3-13-03

         House Bill 4345 would amend the Revised School Code to specify that a public school academy (more customarily called a charter school) and may operate at more than one site.  Currently under the law, a charter school cannot operate at a site other than the single site requested for the configuration of grades that will use the site as specified in the contract issued by its authorizing body.

         Under current law, both an application for, and a contract issued, to organize and administer a public school academy must contain, among other things, a description of and address for the proposed “physical plant” in which the school will be located.  House Bill 4345 would require instead that the application identify the public school “facility or facilities” for the charter school, and further, the bill specifies that the contract could be amended to provide for a different site or additional sites.

         Finally, the law currently caps the number of charters schools authorized by the governing boards of the state public universities at 150 and specifies that the total number of contracts issued by any one state public university cannot “exceed 50 percent of the maximum combined total number that may be issued under the subdivision.”   The bill would retain these provisions, but update the language of the subsection to specify a maximum of 150 charter schools with a limit of 75 for any one state university.

         MCL 380.502 et al

Analyst:  J. Hunault

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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.