1. Within the later of thirty days following approval of a charter school application or upon the satisfaction of all reasonable conditions imposed on the applicant in the charter school approval, if any, an enforceable and renewable charter school contract shall be executed between the founding group and the state board setting forth the academic and operational performance expectations and measures by which the charter school will be evaluated pursuant to sections 256E.9 and 256E.10 and the other rights and duties of the parties.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 256E.6

  • Charter school: means a school established in accordance with this chapter. See Iowa Code 256E.2
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Department: means the department of education. See Iowa Code 256E.2
  • Education service provider: means an education management organization, charter school management organization, or other person with whom a charter school contracts for educational program implementation or comprehensive management. See Iowa Code 256E.2
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Founding group: means a person, group of persons, or education service provider that develops and submits an application for a charter school to the state board under this chapter. See Iowa Code 256E.2
  • School: means an agency of the state or political subdivision of the state, individual, partnership, company, firm, society, trust, association, corporation, or any combination which meets any of the following criteria:
     a. See Iowa Code 261B.2
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • State board: means the state board of education. See Iowa Code 256E.2
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. An initial charter school contract shall be granted for a term of five school budget years. The charter school contract shall include the beginning and ending dates of the charter school contract term. An approved charter school may delay its opening for a period of time not to exceed one school year in order to plan and prepare for the charter school’s opening. If the charter school requires an opening delay of more than one school year, the charter school may request an extension from the state board.
 3. Each charter school contract shall be signed by the president of the state board and the president or appropriate officer of the governing body of the founding group.
 4. Within fifteen days of the execution of a charter school contract entered into by the state board, the state board shall notify the department and the department of management of the name of the charter school and any applicable education service provider, the proposed location of the charter school, and the charter school’s first year projected enrollment.
 5. A charter school approved under this chapter shall not commence operations without a valid charter school contract executed in accordance with this section and approved in an open session of the state board.
 6. The contract may provide for requirements or conditions to govern and monitor the start-up progress of an approved charter school prior to the opening of the charter school including but not limited to conditions to ensure that the charter school meets all building, health, safety, insurance, and other legal requirements.
 7. A charter school contract may be amended to govern multiple charter schools operated by the same applicant and approved by the state board. However, each charter school that is part of a charter school contract shall be separate and distinct from any other charter school governed by the contract.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 256E Contents