D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10-A, § 1205
1205
EDU-1.3 PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL FACILITIES
1205.1 Public charter schools provide another school choice for families with school-age children. As of SY2016-17, 46 percent of all public-school students were enrolled in public charter schools, and DC PCSB approved the conditional opening of three more public charter schools in SY2018-19.
1205.2 Public charter schools are publicly funded, their daily operations and curriculum are managed by their school leadership and an independent board of trustees, and some offer specialized programs such as dual language, expeditionary learning, International Baccalaureate, and Montessori. The per-pupil facilities allowance from public funds helps public charter schools acquire and renovate space and is intended to cover their facility expenses (see description in the text box entitled Uniform Per Student Funding). Public charter schools are authorized and monitored by DC PCSB and are held accountable for student performance and compliance with local and federal laws in the same way as DCPS schools are by OSSE.
1205.3 As of SY2017-18, there were 121 public charter schools with 135 campuses located in 104 facilities. Of those public charter school campuses, 63 were located in 40 former DCPS buildings through long-term leases or ownership of a surplus facility. These 63 campuses include 10 co-locations of public charter LEAs. Two additional public charter schools are co-located with existing DCPS schools. The remaining 70 public charter school campuses were located in 62 commercial facilities that they either owned or leased from the District; these 70 campuses include six co-locations.
1205.4 Although public charter schools operate in a wide range of facilities, former DCPS school buildings offer attractive solutions due to the ready functionality of their space and to the scarcity of and rising costs for space. To help identify those sites that may be suitable for public charter school use, the D.C. Council adopted a pre-surplus designation of excess in 2014. D.C. Law 20-114 (D.C. Official Code § 38-2803(e)) defines a school site to be designated excess after it has been identified as vacant without a plan for reuse or has been significantly underused for two consecutive years without a plan for reuse. Thirty-nine former DCPS schools have been turned over for use by charter schools. There are very few DCPS school buildings that are not being used, and these sites are needed to ensure there are adequate schools in various geographic locations available, as well as places available for swing space.
1205.5 If a school building has been determined to be excess by DCPS, and the District does not have plans for its public reuse, DME conducts a process to designate the building as surplus, subject to final approval by the Council of the District of Columbia. For surplus buildings, DME develops a Request for Offers (RFO),
which allows public charter schools to submit proposals to lease the space from the District. Public charter schools and charter school incubators, which are nonprofit organizations that provide short-term, transitional, and below-market rent space to public charter schools that may face difficulty in finding and/or financing education facilities, have right of first offer for the use of surplus DCPS school buildings.
1205.6 Since school buildings serve as institutional anchors, the RFO process includes public engagement.
1205.7 Consistent with 110 Stat. 1321, Pub. L. 104-134, as amended (D.C. Official Code § 38-1802.09), the following preferences are used to determine the use of former DCPS schools that are deemed surplus:
1205.7a Uniform Per Student Funding
The Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) is used to help set annual operating funding for DCPS and public charter schools. The requirement that education be funded on a uniform per-student basis was enacted into DC law in 1995 (110 Stat. 1321, Pub. L. 104-134; D.C. Official Code § 38-1804.01). UPSFF allocates funding to DCPS and DC public charter LEAs based on students' grade levels and additional relevant characteristics, such as at-risk status. It applies only to local funding. In addition, public charter schools also receive a per-pupil facility allotment through UPSFF intended for facility funding. DCPS capital expenses are funded from the capital budget. Between FY16 and FY20, UPSFF is expected to increase by 15.7 percent, resulting in the foundation-level per-student rate increasing from $9,492 per public school student in FY16 to $10,980 per public student in FY20.
1205.8 Policy EDU-1.3.1: Planning for Public Charter Schools
Incorporate the needs of public charter schools in public school facility planning, including in MFP efforts, to account for the community's desire for a District-wide system of neighborhood public schools supplemented by school choice that
is equitably invested in and provides predictable and fair access to high-quality schools in all of Washington, DC's communities.
1205.9 Policy EDU-1.3.2: Partnerships for Public Charter School Facilities Explore partnership opportunities to enhance operation, modernization, and/or construction of new public charter school facilities, and strongly encourage the retention and inclusion of actively used recreational areas and/or open space.
1205.10 Policy EDU-1.3.3: Developer Proffers for Public Charter School Facility Needs Explore developer proffers as a way to meet school facility needs through the development process.
1205.11 Policy EDU-1.3.4: Alternative Financing Systems Support the construction and renovation needs of public charter schools, as well as private schools and universities, by allowing them access to low-cost financing programs offered by the District. Examples of these programs include the DC Revenue Bond Program, the Green Bank, and Property Assessed Clean Energy Programs.
SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996, effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996, effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).