Act 769 (H.B. 1215) revised multiple aspects of the Charter Schools Act of 1998, as follows:
- The definition of “Charter school” was revised to better distinguish charter schools from a “Charter system” and other types of schools – this definition also better aligns with the federal definition of a public charter school.
- A new definition for a “Charter school governing board” was added – curiously, no such definition was previously included in the Charter Schools Act of 1998
- Clarified the definitions of a “Local charter school” and “State chartered special school” by adding local and state board qualifiers, respectively.
- Authorizes a student to withdraw from a local public school at any time to enroll in a charter school – allowing a charter school to accommodate a transfer student on a waitlist throughout the school year.
- Requires school districts to allocate local revenue at least semiannually for purposes of calculating and structuring local funds to charter schools. This feature bases funding more on collected rather than budged revenues during the year (sometimes referred to as a mid-year “true-up”).
Act 769 amends Ga. Code Ann. Sections 20-2-2062, 2066, 2068.1, and 2031 and repeals Sections 20-2-2076 and 2093.
In addition to the revisions described above, the Legislature also approved an additional $3 million in funding for charter school facilities in the State’s fiscal year 2023 budget.
