1. (A) A charter must be approved or renewed for a period of ten school years; however, the charter only may be revoked or not renewed under the provisions of subsection (F) of this section. The authorizer annually shall evaluate the conditions outlined in subsection (F). The annual evaluation results must be used in making a determination for nonrenewal or revocation.
2. (B) Prior to the beginning of the second to last year of operation of a charter school, the authorizer may issue a charter school performance report and charter renewal application guidance to the school and the charter school board. The performance report shall summarize the performance record to date of the charter school, based on the data required by this chapter and the charter contract and taking into consideration the percentage of at-risk students enrolled in the school, and shall provide notice of any weaknesses or concerns perceived by the authorizer concerning the charter school that may jeopardize its position in seeking renewal if not timely rectified. The charter school shall have forty-five days to respond to the performance report and submit any corrections or clarifications to the report.

3. (C) Prior to the beginning of the last year of operation of a charter school, the charter school may apply for renewal of the contract with the authorizer. The renewal application guidance shall, at a minimum, provide an opportunity for the charter school to:

   1. (1) present additional evidence, beyond the data contained in the performance report, supporting its case for charter renewal;
   2. (2) describe improvements undertaken or planned for the school; and
   3. (3) detail the plan for the next charter term for the school.
4. (D) The renewal application guidance shall include or refer explicitly to the criteria that will guide the renewal decisions of the authorizer.

5. (E) A charter renewal application must contain:

   1. (1) a report on the progress of the charter school in achieving the goals, objectives, pupil achievement standards, and other terms of the initially approved charter application;
   2. (2) a financial statement that discloses the costs of administration, instruction, and other spending categories for the charter school that is understandable to the general public and that allows comparison of these costs to other schools or other comparable organizations, in a format required by the State Board of Education; and
   3. (3) any proposed material changes to the current charter or charter school contract to be implemented in the next ten-year charter term.

6. (F) A charter may be revoked or not renewed by the authorizer if it, using data that is accessible to the school, determines that the charter school:

   1. (1) committed a material violation of the conditions, standards, performance expectations, or procedures provided for in the charter application or charter school contract, or both, and the charter school failed to cure the violation after written notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure;
   2. (2) failed to meet the academic performance standards and expectations as defined in the charter application or charter school contract, or both;
   3. (3) failed to maintain its books and records according to generally accepted accounting principles or failed to create an appropriate system of internal control, or both; or
   4. (4) materially violated any provision of law from which the charter school was not specifically exempted and failed to cure the violation after written notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure.
7. (G) An authorizer summarily may revoke any charter school that is determined by the authorizer to pose an imminent threat of harm to the health or safety of students, or both, based on documented and clear and convincing data.
8. (H) Any charter school shall automatically and permanently close at the conclusion of the school year in which the school first becomes subject to automatic closure for receiving the lowest performance level rating as defined by the state accountability system for three consecutive years beginning with student achievement data from the 2013-2014 school year. The determination of closure is considered final. Automatic closure shall not apply to any charter school serving fifty percent or more students with disabilities or any charter school designated as an Alternative Education Campus (AEC) by its authorizer as outlined in Section 59-40-111.

9. (I) An authorizer must adopt a publicly accessible and transparent process should it intend to not renew or terminate a charter school. At a minimum, the authorizer must:

   1. (1) at least ninety days before not renewing or terminating a charter school, notify in writing the charter school's governing body of the proposed action. The notification shall state the grounds for the proposed action in reasonable detail;
   2. (2) provide the charter school with fifteen calendar days from the school's receipt of the notice in which to prepare a response, which shall include any supporting documentation, in the school's discretion;
   3. (3) provide the charter school with an opportunity to submit documents and give testimony in a public hearing challenging the rationale for closure and in support of the continuation of the school at an orderly proceeding held for that purpose between fifteen and thirty calendar days after the school submits its response pursuant to item (2), and at such hearing, the school must be permitted to record the proceedings and be allowed access to legal representation to call witnesses; and
   4. (4) within five calendar days of the public hearing, require a final determination to be made and conveyed in writing to the charter school.
10. (J) The existence of another charter granting authority must not be grounds for the nonrenewal or revocation of a charter. Grounds for nonrenewal or revocation must be only those specified of this section.
11. (K) A charter school seeking renewal may submit a renewal application to another charter granting authority if the charter school has not committed a material violation of the provisions specified in this section and the authorizer refuses to renew the charter. In such cases the charter school shall continue to receive local funding pursuant to Section 59-40-140(A). However, the charter school is not eligible to receive one hundred percent of the base student cost from the State. The charter school only is eligible to receive the percentage of the base student cost previously received as a school in its former district.
12. (L) A decision to revoke or not to renew a charter school may be appealed to the Administrative Law Court pursuant to the provisions of Section 59-40-90. Upon appeal to the Administrative Law Court, there is no automatic stay of the revocation or nonrenewal decision. Pending resolution of the appeal, the charter school also may move before the Administrative Law Court for imposition of a stay of the revocation or nonrenewal on the grounds that an unusual hardship to the charter school, its teachers, students, or both, will result from the execution of the authorizer's decision.
13. (M) Prior to any public charter school closure, the authorizer shall develop a public charter school closure protocol to ensure timely notification to parents, orderly transition of students and student records to new schools, and proper disposition of school funds, property, and net assets in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. The protocol shall specify tasks, timelines, and responsible parties, including delineating the respective duties of the school and the authorizer. In the event of a public charter school closure for any reason, the authorizer shall oversee and work with the closing school to ensure a smooth and orderly closure and transition for students and parents, as guided by the closure protocol.

HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 447, SECTION 2; 2002 Act No. 341, SECTION 1; 2006 Act No. 274, SECTION 1, eff May 3, 2006; 2008 Act No. 239, SECTIONS 1, 7, eff May 21, 2008; 2012 Act No. 164, SECTION 10, eff May 14, 2012; 2014 Act No. 288 (H.3853), SECTION 6, eff June 12, 2014; 2026 Act No. 123 (S.454), SECTION 9, eff May 15, 2026.

Effect of Amendment

The 2006 amendment, in subsection (A), added the second and third sentences relating to use of annual evaluation results in making renewal decisions; added subsection (E) relating to existence of another charter granting authority; added subsection (G) relating to seeking renewal by another charter granting authority; and redesignated subsection (E) as subsection (F) and subsection (F) as subsection (H).

The 2008 amendment, in subsection (A), substituted "ten" for "five" in the first sentence; and in subsection (H), substituted "Administrative Law Court" for "state board".

The 2012 amendment substituted "sponsor" for "local school district board of trustee" in subsection (G).

2014 Act No. 288, SECTION 6, rewrote subsections (B) and (C), added subsections (D) and (E), redesignated former subsections (D) through (H) as subsections (F) through (J), rewrote subsections (I) and (J), and added subsection (K).

2026 Act No. 123, SECTION 9, rewrote the section.