KRS 160.1595: Request for technical assistance -- Appeal of approval or denial to state

board -- Judicial review -- Joint oversight.

(1) Any applicant or board of directors of a public charter school may request technical

assistance from the Kentucky Depa rtment of Education to address deficiencies

identified by an authorizer. The department shall respond within thirty (30) days of

the request.

(2) (a) The state board, upon receipt of a notice of appeal, shall review decisions of

any other authorizer concer ning the approval or denial of a public charter

school application, the nonrenewal or revocation of a public charter school's

contract, the denial of a public charter school's request to consider a charter

amendment, or the unilateral imposition of conditi ons in the charter contract,

in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(b) A charter applicant or approved public charter school who wishes to appeal a

decision of an authorizer concerning a charter application, a charter

amendment, or the nonrene wal or revocation of a charter, or the unilateral

imposition of conditions, shall provide the state board and the authorizer with

a notice of appeal within thirty (30) days after the authorizer's decision. The

appellant shall limit the grounds of the appea l to the grounds for the denial of

or the nonrenewal or revocation of a charter, or the unilateral imposition of

conditions, whichever is being appealed, specified by the authorizer. The

notice shall include a brief statement of the reasons the public char ter school

applicant or public charter school contends the authorizer's denial of or

nonrenewal or revocation of a charter, or imposition of conditions was in

error.

(c) If the notice of appeal relates to an authorizer's decision to deny, refuse to

renew, or revoke a charter or to an authorizer's unilateral imposition of

conditions that are unacceptable to the charter applicant or public charter

school, the appeal and review process shall be as follows:

1. Within forty-five (45) days after receipt of the no tice of appeal and after

reasonable public notice, the state board, at a public hearing which may

be held in the school district in which the proposed public charter school

has applied for a charter or where the public charter school exists, shall

review the decision of the authorizer and make its findings;

2. The state board shall determine:

a. If the final decision of the authorizer was contrary to the best

interest of the students or community; and

b. If the application failed to satisfy the requirements of KRS

160.1593(3) and (4);

3. If the state board finds that the authorizer's decision was contrary to the

best interest of the students or community and the application satisfies

the statutory requirements, the state board shall remand such final

decision to the authorizer with instructions to approve the charter

application or amendment, or to renew or reinstate the charter, or to

approve or disapprove conditions imposed. The decision of the state

board shall be a final action subject to judicial review in the Circuit

Court encompassing the school district in which the public charter

school is located; and

4. Charters granted to applicants by authorizers after a successful appeal to

the state board, as outlined in subparagraph 3. of this paragraph, shall be

provided joint oversight by the authorizer and the state board for, at a

minimum, the first five (5) years of the school's operation, and until the

authorizer, state board, and public charter school agree that charter

oversight may be provided solely by the authorizer. The state board shall

be a formal participant in all authorizing decision making concerning the

public charter school during that period, and shall be included in all

communication between the public charter school and the authorizer.