Per Arizona law, schools must apply for a renewal of their charter at least 15 months before its expiration. It also allows schools to apply for early renewal at least nine months before the charter school’s intended renewal consideration.
The law requires authorizers to make a renewal application available to schools facing renewal. ASBCS policies include detailed renewal application requirements for schools approved by them, including the ability to offer supplementary performance information and future plans. However, the law does not require authorizers to issue performance reports to schools whose charter will expire the following year.
Arizona law provides that an authorizer may deny a request for renewal if, in its judgment, the charter holder has failed to do any of the following: meet or make sufficient progress toward the academic performance expectations set forth in the performance framework; meet the operational performance expectations set forth in the performance framework or any improvement plans; meet the financial performance expectations set forth in the performance framework or any improvement plans; complete the obligations of the contract; or comply with the charter school statutes or any provision of law which the charter school is not exempt. ASBCS regulations note that renewals may be granted to schools based on assessment results, financial audit reports, enrollment reports, and complaint records.
The law allows an authorizer to revoke a charter at any time if the charter school breaches one or more provisions of its charter or if the authorizer determines that the charter holder has failed to do any of the following: meet or make sufficient progress toward the academic performance expectations set forth in the performance framework; meet the operational performance expectations set forth in the performance framework or any improvement plan; meet the financial performance expectations set forth in the performance framework or any improvement plans; or comply with the charter school statutes or any provision of law which the charter school is not exempt.
The law also provides that in determining whether to renew or revoke a charter holder, the authorizer must consider making sufficient progress toward the academic performance expectations set forth in the authorizer’s performance framework as one of the most important factors.
Statute requires 20-year renewal intervals, with no ability to vary those terms.
Arizona law requires timely notification of potential non-renewal and revocation, including written reasons, with any such non-renewals and revocations occurring at a public hearing.
Neither statutes nor regulations detail school closure protocols, although revocation orders and surrender agreements issued by the ASBCS include such information for schools supervised by that board.
In reference to transfers, the law requires approval by the state superintendent of public instruction if a transfer is done after the beginning of a fiscal year. For other transfers, no state approval is required.
Overall, many of the pieces within this section have been implemented for schools supervised by ASBCS, but these policies are not required for all authorizers nor are they yet codified in Arizona law or Arizona Administrative Code.