Agenda - Council - 07/12/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Background Checks(Minn.Stat. §123B.03) A charter school, like other public schools, must request a criminal history background check from the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on all individuals who are offered employment in a school and on all individuals,except enrolled student volunteers,who are offered the opportunity to provide athletic coaching services or other extracurricular academic coaching services to a school,regardless of whether any compensation is paid. The superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension shall conduct the background check by retrieving criminal history data as defined in State law. A school hiring authority, at its discretion,may decide not to request a criminal history background check on an individual who holds an initial entrance license issued by the State board of teaching or the commissioner of education within the 12 months preceding an offer of employment. For all nonstate residents who are offered employment in a school,a school hiring authority shall request a criminal history background check on such individuals from the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and from the government agency performing the same function in the resident state or, if no government entity performs the same function in the resident state, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Annual Public Reports and Disclosure(Minn.Stat.§124E.16) A charter school must publish an annual report approved by the board of directors. The annual report must at a minimum include information on enrollment, student attrition, governance and management, staffing, finances, academic performance, innovative practices and implementation, and future plans. A charter school must distribute the annual report by publication,mail,or electronic means to its authorizer, school employees, and parents and legal guardians of students enrolled in the charter school and must also post the report on the charter school's official web site. The annual reports are public data. A charter school is subject to the same financial audits, audit procedures, and audit requirements as a school district. Audits must be performed in accordance with generally accepted governmental auditing standards,the federal Single Audit Act,if applicable,and any prescribed minimum procedures for audits. Review and Comment by an Authorizer(Minn.Stat.§§124E.10,subd. 3;124E.05,subd. 8) An authorizer is required to provide formal written evaluations of the charter school's performance before the renewal of the Charter Contract. The Commissioner must review and comment on the authorizer's evaluation process at the time the authorizer submits its application for approval and each time the authorizer undergoes its five- year review. The authorizer is required to monitor and evaluate the academic, financial, operational and student performance of the charter school and may assess the charter school a monitoring fee for this service. The monitoring fee must be stated in the Charter Contract. The fee that an authorizer may annually assess is the greater of(1)the basic formula allowance for that year, or(2)the lesser of. (a)the maximum fee factor multiplied by the basic formula allowance for the year; or(b)the fee factor multiplied by the basic formula allowance for that year times the charter school's adjusted marginal cost pupil units for that year. The fee factor equals .015. The maximum fee factor equals 4.0. By September 30 of each year, the authorizer must submit to the Commissioner a statement of the income and expenditures related to chartering activities during the previous school year ending June 30. Transportation (Minn.Stat.§124E.15) The State provides a fixed per-pupil amount for transportation aid. By March 1 of each year(or July 1 of the first fiscal year), a charter school must notify the school district in which the charter school is located and the Commissioner if it will provide its own transportation or use the transportation services of the district it is located within. If a charter school elects to use the transportation services of the district, then the charter school's transportation aid is paid directly to the district. If a charter school elects to provide its own transportation to its pupils, the transportation aid is paid directly to the charter school. If the charter school elects to provide transportation to students,the charter school must provide the transportation within the district in which the charter school is located. The charter school may elect to provide transportation beyond its district boundaries; however, the amount of transportation aid to the charter school is not increased. C-4