First of three charter school-related bills passes full Assembly
Published: May 14, 2019
Legislation to clarify where charter schools and their facilities can be located secured a critical vote in the Assembly this week. On Monday, Assembly Bill 1507 (Smith, D-Santa Clarita) was approved by the Assembly on a vote of 54-18 and now moves to the Senate for further consideration. The bill would eliminate exceptions in law that currently enable a charter school to locate outside of the boundaries of its authorizer’s district if it cannot locate to a single, in-district site to house its entire program, or the out-of-district site is needed temporarily during construction or expansion. Charter school resource centers, meeting spaces or other satellite facilities would be subject to similar location limitations as brick and mortar charter schools under the bill. Recent amendments would enable existing out-of-district charter school and related facilities to continue to operate if prior approval from the school district in which it is located is sought before the next renewal, and would allow for a temporary relocation into another district due to a declared emergency. CSBA supports AB 1507.
The two other measures in the Assembly package of charter school reform bills will also face key votes this week. AB 1505 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), which would make various changes to the Charters Schools Act, and AB 1506 (McCarty, D-Sacramento), the bill to cap the number of charter schools and their enrollment, will be considered by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday. Both bills must be approved by the committee before the May 17th legislative deadline for bills with a fiscal impact in order to remain active. CSBA has a Support if Amended position on both AB 1505 and AB 1506.