2018 -- H 7884

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LC004407

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION – MAYORAL ACADEMIES

     Introduced By: Representatives Barros, Shanley, Cunha, Amore, and Blazejewski

     Date Introduced: February 28, 2018

     Referred To: House Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 16-77.4-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-77.4 entitled

"Mayoral Academies [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is

hereby amended to read as follows:

     16-77.4-1. Entities eligible to apply to become, or for the expansion of, a mayoral

academy.

     (a) A "mayoral academy" means a charter school created by a mayor of any city or town

within the State of Rhode Island, acting by, or through, a nonprofit organization established for

said purpose (regardless of the time said nonprofit organization is in existence), that enrolls

students from more than one city or town, including both urban and non-urban communities, and

that offers an equal number of enrollments to students on a lottery basis; provided, further, that

such mayoral academies shall have a board of trustees or directors that is comprised of

representatives from each included city or town and is chaired by a mayor of an included city or

town. The mayor from each city or town, or in the absence of a mayor, the city or town council

via a resolution or ordinance, shall approve the participation in the mayoral academy's catchment

area for a proposed charter or an amendment to a charter for expansion. For purposes of this

chapter, the term "mayor" shall include any elected town administrator.

     (b) No child shall be required to attend a mayoral academy, nor shall any teacher be

required to teach in a mayoral academy. The school committee of the district in which a mayoral

academy is located shall make accommodations to facilitate the transfer of students who do not

wish to participate in a mayoral academy into other public schools. It shall also make

accommodations for those students who wish to transfer into the mayoral academy as space

permits. If the total number of students who are eligible to attend and apply to a mayoral academy

is greater than the number of spaces available, the mayoral academy shall conduct a lottery to

determine which students shall be admitted.

     (c) If any proposed mayoral academy or any proposed expansion of any mayoral

academy is part of a network of charter schools or a charter management organization currently

operating within or outside of the state, the mayoral academy proposal shall provide evidence of

the following:

     (1) That across all affiliated network schools in Rhode Island, or any other state in which

the network is operating, attrition rates are within a plus or minus five percent (+/-5%) range of

the sending attrition rates; and

     (2) That across all affiliated network schools operating in Rhode Island or any other state

in which the network is operating, special education enrollment numbers are within a plus or

minus five percent (+/- 5%) range of state special education averages; and

     (3) That across all affiliated network schools in Rhode Island or any other state in which

the network is operating, student suspension rates are within a plus or minus five percent (+/- 5%)

range of state averages.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION – MAYORAL ACADEMIES

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     This act would require any mayoral academy which is part of a network of charter

schools that seeks to be established or expanded in Rhode Island to provide evidence that its

attrition rates, its special education enrollment numbers and its suspension rates are within a plus

or minus five percent (+/- 5%) range of the state average.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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