North Carolina General Statutes 115C-218.5. Final approval of applications for charter schools
(a) The Review Board may grant final approval of an application if it finds the following:
(1) The application meets the requirements set out in this Article and such other requirements as may be adopted by the State Board of Education.
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 115C-218.5
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Local school administrative unit: means a subdivision of the public school system which is governed by a local board of education. See North Carolina General Statutes 115C-5
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
(2) The applicant has the ability to operate the school and would be likely to operate the school in an educationally and economically sound manner.
(3) Granting the application would achieve one or more of the purposes set out in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-218
In reviewing applications for the establishment of charter schools within a local school administrative unit, the Review Board is encouraged to give preference to applications that demonstrate the capability to provide comprehensive learning experiences to students identified by the applicants as at risk of academic failure. The Review Board shall not consider any alleged impact on the local school administrative unit or units in the area served by a charter school when deciding whether to grant, renew, amend, or terminate a charter.
(b) The Review Board shall make final decisions on the approval or denial of applications by August 15 of a calendar year on all applications it receives prior to a date established by the Office of Charter Schools for receipt of applications in that application cycle. The Review Board may make the final decision for approval contingent upon the successful completion of a planning period prior to enrollment of students.
(c) The Review Board may authorize a school before the applicant has secured its space, equipment, facilities, and personnel if the applicant indicates the authority is necessary for it to raise working capital. The State Board shall not allocate any funds to the school until the school has obtained space.
(d) The Review Board may grant the initial charter for a period not to exceed 10 years.
(e) , (f) Repealed by Session Laws 2016-79, s. 1.1, effective June 30, 2016, and applicable beginning with the 2016-2017 school year.
(g) A charter school shall be entitled to automatically extend any deadline to begin operations or commence the term of its charter until the next school year if it notifies the Review Board by June 30 that it is seeking land use or development approvals for its selected site or facilities or if it is challenging the denial of any requested land use or development approvals. The term of the charter issued shall be tolled during the period of any extension or extensions issued under this section. (1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 731, s. 2; 1997-430, s. 3; 2000-67, s. 8.23; 2001-424, s. 28.26; 2003-354, s. 2; 2004-203, s. 45(a); 2011-164, ss. 1, 2(a), 3; 2013-355, s. 1(d); 2013-359, s. 2; 2014-101, ss. 1.5, 2, 2.5(a), 7; 2015-248, s. 5; 2016-79, s. 1.1; 2022-75, s. 2; 2023-107, s. 1(b); 2023-110, s. 1(d).)