Bill > S489

This bill allows nonpublic schools, which are private schools not funded by the government, to convert into charter schools, which are publicly funded schools that operate independently. The governing body of a nonpublic school can apply to the Commissioner of Education to become a charter school, and this application must include all the standard information required for any charter school application. Crucially, the application must also certify that the converted school will not offer religious instruction, hold events promoting religious views, or display religious symbols, and its name cannot have any religious references. Existing students of the nonpublic school will be eligible to enroll in the new charter school, and preference for enrollment will follow existing laws, with former students having priority in the first year and then all enrollment spaces in subsequent years being subject to the same preference rules as other charter schools. The bill also permits teaching staff and other employees of the nonpublic school to continue their employment at the charter school under certain conditions, and the charter school can remain in the same building previously occupied by the nonpublic school. This legislation amends existing laws governing charter schools, specifically removing a provision that prevented private or parochial schools from becoming charter schools.