1. (1) Within 60 days after the notification to the applicant or tribal applicant of the school district's receipt of a completed proposal or a final order issued by the Director of the Oregon Department of Education or the director's designee remanding the proposal to the school district for consideration, the school district board must hold a public hearing on the proposal in accordance with Oregon public meeting laws (ORS 192.610 through 192.695, 192.710, and 192.990).

2. (2) The school district board must evaluate the proposal in good faith using the following criteria:

   1. (a) Demonstrated, sustainable support for the public charter school by teachers, parents, students and other community members, including comments received at the public hearing held under subsection (1) above;
   2. (b) Demonstrated financial stability of the public charter school, including the demonstrated ability of the school to have a sound financial management system in place at the time the school begins operating;
   3. (c) Capability of the applicant, in terms of support and planning, to provide students with comprehensive instructional programs;
   4. (d) Capability of the applicant, in terms of support and planning, to provide academically low achieving students with comprehensive instructional programs;
   5. (e) The adequacy of the information provided as required by ORS 338.45 (2) and (3);
   6. (f) Whether the value of the public charter school is outweighed by any directly identifiable, significant and adverse impact on the quality of the public education of students residing in the school district where the public charter school is located;
   7. (g) Whether there are arrangements for any special education and related services for children with disabilities pursuant to ORS 338.165;
   8. (h) Whether there are alternative arrangements for students and for teachers and other school employees who choose not to attend or who choose not to be employed by the public charter school; and
   9. (i) The prior history, if any, of the applicant in operating a public charter school or in providing educational services.
3. (3) Within 30 days of the public hearing, the school district board must either approve or deny the proposal. Written notice of the decision must be sent to the applicant or tribal applicant. Such notice must include reasons and suggestions for remediation for all proposals that are denied. The school district board may provide a reasonable opportunity to resubmit the proposal.
4. (4) An applicant or tribal applicant may amend and resubmit the proposal to the school district board.
5. (5) The local school board must approve or disapprove the resubmitted proposal within 30 days of receipt.

6. (6) An applicant or tribal applicant whose resubmitted proposal is not approved by the local school board may request a review of that decision by the State Board of Education within 30 days of the disapproval. When the State Board of Education receives an appeal under this subsection, the board may review the resubmitted proposal only to determine whether:

   1. (a) The school district board used the process required by OAR 581-026-0050 and 581-026-0055 in denying the proposal;
   2. (b) The resubmitted proposal meets the criteria described in subsection (2) of this rule; and
   3. (c) The reasons stated by the school district board for the denial are valid and align with the criteria described in subsection (2) of this rule.

7. (7) The State Board of Education delegates to the director or the director's designee all administrative functions necessary or reasonable in order to conduct a timely appeal process. This delegation includes issuing a final order. An order issued by the director or the director's designee shall be considered an order in other than a contested case under ORS 183.484. The final order shall:

   1. (a) Uphold the decision of the school district board to disapprove the resubmitted proposal; or
   2. (b) Remand the resubmitted proposal to the school district board for reconsideration.
8. (8) The director or the director's designee shall issue a final order within 30 days of receiving the notice of appeal from the applicant or tribal applicant. The director or the director's designee shall send a copy of the final order to the applicant or tribal applicant and the school district.

Statutory/Other Authority

ORS 338.025

Statutes/Other Implemented

ORS 338.055

History

ODE 32-2026, amend filed 06/18/2026, effective 06/19/2026
ODE 62-2025, temporary amend filed 12/19/2025, effective 12/22/2025 through 06/19/2026
ODE 10-2014, f. & cert. ef. 2-19-14