{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-160.1596","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 160.1596","heading":"Board of directors of public charter schools -- Required elements of","body":"charter contract with authorizer -- Calculation of daily average attendance --\nProportional transfer of funds -- Services -- Negotiation by collaborative --\nCalculations for fi rst year -- Authorizer fee -- Schedule for funds transfer --\nGrants -- Share of state and federal funds -- Distribution of closed school's\nassets -- Administrative regulations -- Annual report by authorizer.\n(1) (a) For purposes of this section, a member of the board of directors of a public\ncharter school shall be considered an officer under KRS 61.040 and shall,\nwithin sixty (60) days of final approval of an application, take an oath of\noffice as required under KRS 62.010.\n(b) Within seventy -five (75) days of the final approval of an application, the\nboard of directors and the authorizer shall enter into a binding charter contract\nthat establishes the academic and operational performance expectations and\nmeasures by which the public charter school will be evaluated.\n(c) The executed charter contract shall become the final authorization for the\npublic charter school. The charter contract shall include:\n1. The term of the contract;\n2. The agreements relating to each item required under KRS 160.1592(3)\nand 160.1593(3), as modified or supplemented during the approval\nprocess;\n3. The rights and duties of each party;\n4. The administrative relationship between the authorizer and the public\ncharter school;\n5. The allocation of state, local, and federal funds , and the schedule to\ndisburse funds to the public charter school by the authorizer;\n6. The process the authorizer will use to provide ongoing oversight,\nincluding a process to conduct annual site visits;\n7. The specific commitments of the public charter s chool authorizer\nrelating to its obligations to oversee, monitor the progress of, and\nsupervise the public charter school;\n8. The process and criteria the authorizer will use to annually monitor and\nevaluate the overall academic, operating, and fiscal cond itions of the\npublic charter school, including the process the authorizer will use to\noversee the correction of any deficiencies found in the annual review;\n9. The process for revision or amendment to the terms of the charter\ncontract agreed to by the auth orizer and the board of directors of the\npublic charter school;\n10. The process agreed to by the authorizer and the board of directors of the\npublic charter school that identifies how disputes between the authorizer\nand the board will be handled; and\n11. Any other terms and conditions agreed to by the authorizer and the board\nof directors, including pre -opening conditions. Reasonable conditions\nshall not include enrollment caps or operational requirements that place\nundue constraints on a public charter sc hool or are contradictory to the\nprovisions of KRS 160.1590 to 160.1599 and 161.141. Such conditions,\neven when incorporated in a charter contract, shall be considered\nunilaterally imposed conditions.\n(d) 1. The performance provisions within a charter contract shall be based on a\nperformance framework that sets forth the academic and operational\nperformance indicators, measures, and metrics to be used by the\nauthorizer to evaluate each public charter school. The performance\nframework shall include at a minimum indicators, measures, and metrics\nfor:\na. Student academic proficiency;\nb. Student academic growth;\nc. Achievement gaps in both student proficiency and student growth\nfor student subgroups, including race, sex, socioeconomic status,\nand areas of exceptionality;\nd. Student attendance;\ne. Student suspensions;\nf. Student withdrawals;\ng. Student exits;\nh. Recurrent enrollment from year to year;\ni. College or career readiness at the end of grade twelve (12);\nj. Financial performance and sustainability; and\nk. Board of directors' performance and stewardship, including\ncompliance with all applicable statutes, administrative regulations,\nand terms of the charter contract.\n2. The performance framework shall allow the inclusion of additional\nrigorous, valid, and r eliable indicators proposed by a public charter\nschool to augment external evaluations of its performance. The proposed\nindicators shall be consistent with the purposes of KRS 160.1590 to\n160.1599 and 161.141 and shall be negotiated with the authorizer.\n3. The performance framework shall require the disaggregation of student\nperformance data by subgroups, including race, sex, socioeconomic\nstatus, and areas of exceptionality.\n4. The authorizer shall be responsible for collecting, analyzing, and\nreporting to  the state board all state -required assessment and\nachievement data for each public charter school it oversees.\n(e) Annual student achievement performance targets shall be set, in accordance\nwith the state accountability system, by each public charter scho ol in\nconjunction with its authorizer, and those measures shall be designed to help\neach school meet applicable federal, state, and authorizer goals.\n(f) The charter contract shall be signed by the chair of the governing board of the\nauthorizer and the cha ir of the board of directors of the public charter school.\nAn approved charter application shall serve as a charter contract for the public\ncharter school.\n(g) No public charter school may commence operations without a charter contract\nexecuted according t o this section and approved in an open meeting of the\ngoverning board of the authorizer.\n(2) Within five (5) days after entering into a charter contract, a copy of the executed\ncontract shall be submitted by the authorizer to the commissioner of education.\n(3) For the purposes of local and state funding, a public charter school shall serve as a\nschool of the district of location.\n(4) For the purposes of federal funding, a public charter school shall serve as a local\neducation agency.\n(5) All students enroll ed in a public charter school shall be included in the average\ndaily attendance calculation under KRS 157.360 and the aggregate and average\ndaily attendance of transported pupils calculation under KRS 157.370 of the district\nof location in the same manner as any other public schools in the district and shall\nbe reported by the public charter schools to the school district and state Department\nof Education for purposes of calculating the state and local share of funding for\neach public charter school.\n(6) Notwithstanding the formula for allocating district funds under KRS 160.345(8) and\nany other statute governing a district's funding of schools, unless an authorizing\ndistrict agrees to provide a larger sum of funding in the charter contract, after local\ncapital outlay funds that are restricted in use pursuant to KRS 157.420(4) and funds\nunder KRS 157.440(1)(b) and 157.621 necessary to meet debt service obligations\non bonds or other financing mechanisms for new construction and renovation\nprojects for school f acilities are excluded, and before any other funds are budgeted\nfor district use, a district shall transfer to each of the public charter schools located\nwithin the district:\n(a) The amount that is proportional to the public charter school's enrollment or\naverage daily attendance in comparison with the overall district qualifying\nnumbers for:\n1. Funds that are related to students' attendance and enrollment and\nallocated to the district of location pursuant to KRS 157.360;\n2. Any add-on or funding factors provided for in the state budget;\n3. Any add-on or funding factors provided for by the Kentucky Department\nof Education; and\n4. Funds pursuant to KRS 157.360(2)(a) and (b) and (13)(a).\nFor each funding source identified in this paragraph, the transfer amount shall\nbe based on the public charter school's qualifying student enrollment or\naverage daily attendance, depending on the method used in the funding\nsource's calculation;\n(b) On a proportionate per pupil basis:\n1. Education funds allocated to the school district pursuant to KRS\n157.440(1)(a) and (2)(a), or pursuant to any applicable federal statute;\nand\n2. All taxes and payments in lieu of taxes transferred to the district of\nlocation or levied and collected by the district of location; and\n(c) On a proportionate per pupil transported basis, transportation funds calculated\npursuant to KRS 157.360(2)(c) and 157.370 and distributed to the district of\nlocation, unless the school dist rict provides transportation to students\nattending the public charter school under written terms agreed upon by the\ndistrict and the public charter school in either the charter contract or, if the\ndistrict is not the public charter school's authorizer, a separate agreement.\n(7) (a) If transportation funds are transferred under this section to a public charter\nschool, then the public charter school receiving those funds shall provide\ntransportation services to the enrolled students residing within the distri ct of\nlocation.\n(b) If funds designated for providing additional services to specific students are\ntransferred under this section, then the public charter school receiving those\nfunds shall provide those services in the same manner as the district of\nlocation.\n(c) If transportation services are not provided by the public charter school and no\nwritten agreement to provide transportation services with the district of\nlocation exists, then no transportation funds shall be transferred and the\ndistrict of location shall not be responsible for providing transportation to the\npublic charter school's students.\n(8) Notwithstanding the identification of funds to be transferred in this section, a\ncollaborative among local school boards authorizing a public charter scho ol may\nnegotiate among the local boards and a charter applicant to identify the amount of\nfunds to be transferred to the public charter school. The agreement shall be detailed\nin the charter contract.\n(9) (a) For the calculation of amounts under subsection s (6) and (7) of this section\nduring the first school year of operation of a public charter school in a school\ndistrict, beginning with the start of instruction:\n1. The public charter school's average daily attendance shall be calculated\nbased on a project ion of the public charter school's enrollment and the\ndistrict's overall average daily attendance;\n2. The public charter school's aggregate daily attendance of students\ntransported shall be calculated based on a projection of the public\ncharter school's en rollment and transportation plan and the district's\noverall aggregate daily attendance of students transported; and\n3. The amounts attributable to each individual student's attendance at the\npublic charter school shall be calculated based on a projection o f the\npublic charter school's enrollment and demographics and the district's\noverall enrollment and demographics.\n(b) The calculations shall be adjusted in January of the first school year of\noperation to reflect the first semester's actual data. Subsequen t years of\noperation shall be calculated using actual data from the prior school year.\n(10) (a) Funds identified for transfer under this section shall be transferred by a district\nof location to each of the public charter schools located within the distric t.\nHowever, up to three percent (3%) of the funds identified under this section\nfor transfer to a public charter school may be retained by an authorizer as an\nauthorizer fee.\n(b) If the authorizer of a public charter school does not include the local boar d of\neducation of the district of location, then the district of location shall transfer\nthe authorizer fee to the public charter school's authorizer.\n(c) If the Kentucky Board of Education requires the authorization of a public\ncharter school on appeal fr om an authorizer, the board shall receive twenty -\nfive percent (25%) of the authorizing fee for the duration of joint oversight\nrequired by KRS 160.1595.\n(11) Funds identified for transfer by a district of location to a public charter school under\nthis section shall be transferred throughout the school year according to a schedule\ndetermined by the state board. The scheduled dates shall be within thirty (30) days\nof the dates of state disbursement of funds to school districts. Failure to transfer\nrequired funds shall, for every five (5) days late, result in a fine to the violator of not\nless than five percent (5%) of the total funds per funding period to be transferred.\nFines imposed shall be transferred to the public charter school affected by the delay.\n(12) A public charter school shall be eligible for federal and state competitive grants and\nshall not be excluded from an opportunity to apply or participate so long as the\npublic charter school meets the criteria established for the respective grants. Each\npublic charter school that receives grant aid shall comply with all requirements to\nreceive such aid.\n(13) A public charter school shall receive a proportionate per pupil share of any state\nmoneys not otherwise identified in this section that is received by the school district\nof location. The public charter school shall also receive, according to federal law,\nmoneys generated under federal categorical aid programs for students that are\neligible for the aid and attending the public charter school. Each publi c charter\nschool that receives such aid shall comply with all requirements to receive such aid.\n(14) The commissioner of education shall apply for all federal funding that supports\ncharter school initiatives for which a state must be the applicant and shall cooperate\nwith any public charter school in its efforts to seek federal funding.\n(15) If a public c harter school closes for any reason, the assets of the school shall be\ndistributed first to satisfy outstanding payroll obligations for employees of the\nschool, then to the creditors of the school, then to the district of location or\nauthorizing districts if authorized by a collaborative of local boards of education. If\nthe assets are insufficient to satisfy outstanding obligations, the authorizer shall\npetition to Circuit Court of the county in which the public charter school is located\nto prioritize the distribution of assets.\n(16) The state board shall promulgate administrative regulations to:\n(a) Establish the process to be used to evaluate the performance of a charter\nschool authorizer, based upon the requirements of KRS 160.1590 to 160.1599\nand 161.141 , and the actions to be taken in response to failures in\nperformance; and\n(b) Govern the calculation and distribution of funds due to public charter schools\nfrom school districts, the schedule of distribution of funds, and the imposition\nof fines for late distribution of funds.\n(17) By August 31, 2023, and annually thereafter, each public charter school authorizer\nshall submit to the commissioner of education, the secretary of the Education and\nLabor Cabinet, and the Interim Joint Committee on Education a report to include:\n(a) The names of each public charter school operating under contract with the\nauthorizer during the previous academic year that:\n1. Closed during or after the academic year; or\n2. Had the contract nonrenewed or revoked;\n(b) The names of e ach public charter school operating under contract with the\nauthorizer during the previous academic year that have not yet begun to\noperate;\n(c) The number of applications received, the number reviewed, and the number\napproved;\n(d) A summary of the academi c and financial performance of each public charter\nschool operated under contract with the authorizer during the previous\nacademic year; and\n(e) The authorizing duties and functions performed by the authorizer during the\nprevious academic year.","path":["KRS Chapter 160"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53120","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:07Z","sha256":"1d710b998485121206ce122623c5cc4bae5ac179310421e8cd49b935be4c9f4f","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-160.1595","next":"us-ky/krs-160.1597"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}