Senate Bill No. 243–Committee on Human
Resources and Facilities
(On Behalf of Clark County School District)
February 26, 2001
____________
Referred to Committee on Human Resources and Facilities
SUMMARY—Makes various changes concerning charter schools. (BDR 34‑348)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
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EXPLANATION
– Matter in bolded italics is new; matter
between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
Green numbers along left margin indicate location on the printed bill (e.g., 5-15 indicates page 5, line 15).
AN ACT relating to public schools; revising provisions governing the reemployment of employees of a charter school by a school district; providing that a certain percentage of the apportionment to a charter school from the state distributive school account must be set aside and paid to the school district that sponsors the charter school for certain administrative costs; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1-1 Section 1. NRS 386.595 is hereby amended to read as follows:
1-2 386.595 1. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and
1-3 subsections 2 and 3, the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement
1-4 entered into by the board of trustees of the school district in which the
1-5 charter school is located apply to the terms and conditions of employment
1-6 of employees of the charter school. If a written charter is renewed, the
1-7 employees of the charter school may, at the time of renewal, apply for
1-8 recognition as a bargaining unit pursuant to NRS 288.160.
1-9 2. A charter school is exempt from the specific provisions of the
1-10 collective bargaining agreement that controls the:
1-11 (a) Periods of preparation time for teachers, provided that the charter
1-12 school allows at least the same amount of time for preparation as the
1-13 school district;
1-14 (b) Times of day that a teacher may work;
1-15 (c) Number of hours that a teacher may work in 1 day;
1-16 (d) Number of hours and days that a teacher may work in 1 week; and
1-17 (e) Number of hours and days that a teacher may work in 1 year.
2-1 If a teacher works more than the number of hours or days prescribed in the
2-2 collective bargaining agreement, the teacher must be compensated for the
2-3 additional hours or days in an amount calculated by prorating the salary for
2-4 the teacher that is set forth in the collective bargaining agreement.
2-5 3. A teacher or a governing body of a charter school may request that
2-6 the board of trustees of the school district and other persons who entered
2-7 into the collective bargaining agreement grant a waiver from specific
2-8 provisions of the collective bargaining agreement for the teacher or
2-9 governing body.
2-10 4. All employees of a charter school shall be deemed public
2-11 employees.
2-12 5. The governing body of a charter school may make all employment
2-13 decisions with regard to its employees pursuant to NRS 391.311 to
2-14 391.3197, inclusive, unless the applicable collective bargaining agreement
2-15 contains separate provisions relating to the discipline of licensed
2-16 employees of a school.
2-17 6. [If] Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, if the written
2-18 charter of a charter school is revoked[,] or if a charter school ceases to
2-19 operate as a charter school, the employees of the charter school must be
2-20 reassigned to employment within the school district in accordance with the
2-21 collective bargaining agreement. A school district shall, as soon as
2-22 practicable, reassign a teacher pursuant to this subsection if a position is
2-23 available for which the teacher is appropriately licensed, regardless of
2-24 whether the teacher requests the reassignment at the beginning of the
2-25 contract year for the school district or during the school year. A school
2-26 district is not required to reassign an employee of a charter school
2-27 pursuant to this subsection if the employee:
2-28 (a) Was not granted a leave of absence by the school district to teach
2-29 at the charter school pursuant to subsection 7; or
2-30 (b) Was granted a leave of absence by the school district and did not
2-31 submit a written request to return to employment with the school district
2-32 in accordance with subsection 7.
2-33 7. The board of trustees of a school district that is a sponsor of a
2-34 charter school shall grant a leave of absence, not to exceed 6 years, to any
2-35 employee who is employed by the board of trustees who requests such a
2-36 leave of absence to accept employment with the charter school. [After the
2-37 first school year in which an employee is on a leave of absence, he may
2-38 return to his former teaching position with the board of trustees. After the
2-39 third school year, an] An employee who is on a leave of absence to teach
2-40 in a charter school may submit a written request to the board of trustees of
2-41 the school district that sponsors the charter school to return to a
2-42 comparable teaching position for which he is qualified with the board of
2-43 trustees. After the sixth school year, an employee shall either submit a
2-44 written request to return to a comparable teaching position for which he is
2-45 qualified or resign from the position for which his leave was granted. [The
2-46 board of trustees shall grant a written request to return to a comparable
2-47 position pursuant to this subsection even if the return of the employee
2-48 requires the board of trustees to reduce the existing work force of the
2-49 school district.] The board of trustees may require that a request to return to
3-1 a teaching position submitted pursuant to this subsection be submitted at
3-2 least 90 days before the employee would otherwise be required to report to
3-3 duty.
3-4 8. An employee who is on a leave of absence from a school district
3-5 pursuant to this section shall contribute to and be eligible for all benefits
3-6 for which he would otherwise be entitled, including, without limitation,
3-7 participation in the public employees’ retirement system and accrual of
3-8 time for the purposes of leave and retirement. The time during which such
3-9 an employee is on leave of absence and employed in a charter school does
3-10 not count toward the acquisition of permanent status with the school
3-11 district.
3-12 9. Upon the return of a teacher to employment in the school district, he
3-13 is entitled to the same level of retirement, salary and any other benefits to
3-14 which he would otherwise be entitled if he had not taken a leave of absence
3-15 to teach in a charter school.
3-16 10. An employee of a charter school who is not on a leave of absence
3-17 from a school district is eligible for all benefits for which he would be
3-18 eligible for employment in a public school, including, without limitation,
3-19 participation in the public employees’ retirement system.
3-20 11. For all employees of a charter school:
3-21 (a) The compensation that a teacher or other school employee would
3-22 have received if he were employed by the school district must be used to
3-23 determine the appropriate levels of contribution required of the employee
3-24 and employer for purposes of the public employees’ retirement system.
3-25 (b) The compensation that is paid to a teacher or other school employee
3-26 that exceeds the compensation that he would have received if he were
3-27 employed by the school district must not be included for the purposes of
3-28 calculating future retirement benefits of the employee.
3-29 12. If the board of trustees of a school district in which a charter
3-30 school is located manages a plan of group insurance for its employees, the
3-31 governing body of the charter school may negotiate with the board of
3-32 trustees to participate in the same plan of group insurance that the board of
3-33 trustees offers to its employees. If the employees of the charter school
3-34 participate in the plan of group insurance managed by the board of trustees,
3-35 the governing body of the charter school shall:
3-36 (a) Ensure that the premiums for that insurance are paid to the board of
3-37 trustees; and
3-38 (b) Provide, upon the request of the board of trustees, all information
3-39 that is necessary for the board of trustees to provide the group insurance to
3-40 the employees of the charter school.
3-41 Sec. 2. NRS 387.124 is hereby amended to read as follows:
3-42 387.124 Except as otherwise provided in NRS 387.528:
3-43 1. On or before August 1, November 1, February 1 and May 1 of each
3-44 year, the superintendent of public instruction shall, except as otherwise
3-45 provided in subsections 2 and 3, apportion the state distributive school
3-46 account in the state general fund among the several county school districts
3-47 and charter schools in amounts approximating one-fourth of their
3-48 respective yearly apportionments less any amount set aside as a reserve.
3-49 The apportionment to a school district, computed on a yearly basis, equals
4-1 the difference between the basic support and the local funds available
4-2 pursuant to NRS 387.1235, minus all the funds attributable to pupils who
4-3 reside in the county but attend a charter school. If a school district
4-4 sponsors a charter school, the amount of the apportionment to the school
4-5 district must be increased in accordance with subsection 4. No
4-6 apportionment may be made to a school district if the amount of the local
4-7 funds exceeds the amount of basic support. The apportionment to a charter
4-8 school, computed on a yearly basis, is equal to the sum of the basic support
4-9 per pupil in the county in which the pupil resides plus the amount of local
4-10 funds available per pupil pursuant to NRS 387.1235 and all other funds
4-11 available for public schools in the county in which the pupil resides[.]
4-12 minus the amount set aside pursuant to subsection 4. If the
4-13 apportionment per pupil to a charter school is more than the amount to be
4-14 apportioned to the school district in which a pupil who is enrolled in the
4-15 charter school resides, the school district in which the pupil resides shall
4-16 pay the difference directly to the charter school.
4-17 2. The governing body of a charter school may submit a written
4-18 request to the superintendent of public instruction to receive, in the first
4-19 year of operation of the charter school, an apportionment 30 days before
4-20 the apportionment is required to be made pursuant to subsection 1. Upon
4-21 receipt of such a request, the superintendent of public instruction may
4-22 make the apportionment 30 days before the apportionment is required to be
4-23 made. A charter school may receive all four apportionments in advance in
4-24 its first year of operation.
4-25 3. If the state controller finds that such an action is needed to maintain
4-26 the balance in the state general fund at a level sufficient to pay the other
4-27 appropriations from it, he may pay out the apportionments monthly, each
4-28 approximately one-twelfth of the yearly apportionment less any amount set
4-29 aside as a reserve. If such action is needed, the state controller shall submit
4-30 a report to the department of administration and the fiscal analysis division
4-31 of the legislative counsel bureau documenting reasons for the action.
4-32 4. Each time that an apportionment is paid to a charter school
4-33 pursuant to this section, 3 percent of the amount of that apportionment
4-34 must be set aside and included in the apportionment that is paid to the
4-35 school district which sponsors the charter school for the administrative
4-36 costs associated with sponsoring the charter school.
4-37 Sec. 3. NRS 387.1243 is hereby amended to read as follows:
4-38 387.1243 1. The first apportionment based on an estimated number
4-39 of pupils and special education program units and succeeding
4-40 apportionments are subject to adjustment from time to time as the need
4-41 therefor may appear.
4-42 2. The apportionments to a school district may be adjusted during a
4-43 fiscal year by the department of education, upon approval by the state
4-44 board of examiners and the interim finance committee, if the department of
4-45 taxation and the county assessor in the county in which the school district
4-46 is located certify to the department of education that the school district will
4-47 not receive the tax levied pursuant to subsection 1 of NRS 387.195 on
4-48 property of the Federal Government located within the county if:
5-1 (a) The leasehold interest, possessory interest, beneficial interest or
5-2 beneficial use of the property is subject to taxation pursuant to NRS
5-3 361.157 and 361.159 and one or more lessees or users of the property are
5-4 delinquent in paying the tax; and
5-5 (b) The total amount of tax owed but not paid for the fiscal year by any
5-6 such lessees and users is at least 5 percent of the proceeds that the school
5-7 district would have received from the tax levied pursuant to subsection 1 of
5-8 NRS 387.195.
5-9 If a lessee or user pays the tax owed after the school district’s
5-10 apportionment has been increased in accordance with the provisions of this
5-11 subsection to compensate for the tax owed, the school district shall repay to
5-12 the state distributive school account in the state general fund an amount
5-13 equal to the tax received from the lessee or user for the year in which the
5-14 school district received an increased apportionment, not to exceed the
5-15 increase in apportionments made to the school district pursuant to this
5-16 subsection.
5-17 3. On or before August 1 of each year, the board of trustees of a school
5-18 district shall provide to the department, in a format prescribed by the
5-19 department, the count of pupils calculated pursuant to subparagraph (6) of
5-20 paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 387.1233 who completed at least one
5-21 semester during the immediately preceding school year. The count of
5-22 pupils submitted to the department must be included in the final adjustment
5-23 computed pursuant to subsection 4.
5-24 4. A final adjustment for each school district and charter school must
5-25 be computed as soon as practicable following the close of the school year,
5-26 but not later than August 25. The final computation must be based upon the
5-27 actual counts of pupils required to be made for the computation of basic
5-28 support and the limits upon the support of special education programs,
5-29 except that for any year when the total enrollment of pupils and children in
5-30 a school district or a charter school located within the school district
5-31 described in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of subsection 1 of NRS
5-32 387.123 is greater on the last day of any school month of the school district
5-33 after the second school month of the school district and the increase in
5-34 enrollment shows at least:
5-35 (a) A 3 percent gain, basic support as computed from first month
5-36 enrollment for the school district or charter school must be increased by 2
5-37 percent.
5-38 (b) A 6 percent gain, basic support as computed from first month
5-39 enrollment for the school district or charter school must be increased by an
5-40 additional 2 percent.
5-41 5. If the final computation of apportionment for any school district or
5-42 charter school exceeds the actual amount paid to the school district or
5-43 charter school during the school year, the additional amount due must be
5-44 paid before September 1. If the final computation of apportionment for any
5-45 school district or charter school is less than the actual amount paid to the
5-46 school district or charter school during the school year, the difference must
5-47 be repaid to the state distributive school account in the state general fund
5-48 by the school district or charter school before September 25. For the
5-49 purposes of this subsection, the “actual amount paid”:
6-1 (a) With respect to a charter school, shall be deemed to include the
6-2 amount set aside from the apportionment to the charter school pursuant
6-3 to subsection 4 of NRS 387.124.
6-4 (b) With respect to a school district that sponsors a charter school,
6-5 shall be deemed not to include the amount paid to the school district
6-6 pursuant to subsection 4 of NRS 387.124.
6-7 Sec. 4. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2001.
6-8 H