SB 649 - This act modifies provisions relating to charter schools. CHARTER SCHOOLS (Section 160.400) Under this act, charter schools may be operated in any school district located within a charter county, or in any municipality with a population greater than 30,000 with only one school district, except in a district that is accredited by the State Board of Education and that has a resident pupil enrollment of less than 3,000. Procedures relating to changes in a school district's accreditation status that affect charter schools are repealed under this act. If a charter school fails to receive a renewal of its charter after a three-year term, the sponsor of the charter school at the time of the failure of renewal shall not sponsor any new charter schools until the State Board of Education has completed an evaluation and received a determination of compliance with state law for all charter schools sponsored by the sponsor and meets the state standards of sponsorship. UNDERPERFORMING CHARTER SCHOOLS (Section 160.404): Under this act, a charter school will be classified as underperforming if the charter school has received scores demonstrating that the percentage of students who perform proficient and advanced on the annual statewide system of assessments in English language arts and mathematics in a charter school is lower than the average percentage of grade-level-equivalent students attending nonselective attendance centers in the school district in which the charter school is located who perform proficient and advanced in English language arts and mathematics. A charter school will not be considered underperforming if 50% or more of the school's students were previously considered dropouts, as defined under current law, or the average rate of growth in English language arts and mathematics on the annual statewide system of assessments is higher than the average growth in English language arts and mathematics for grade-level-equivalent students attending nonselective attendance centers in the school district in which the charter school is located. ESTABLISHING A CHARTER (Section 160.405): Current law requires a person, group, or organization seeking to establish a charter school to submit the proposed charter to a sponsor. The charter shall include a legally binding performance contract that describes the obligations and responsibilities of the school and the sponsor and shall, under this act, address the term of the charter, which shall be five years and may be renewed for a three-year term. However, if a charter school underperforms for two of the three consecutive years immediately before a decision whether to renew the school's charter is made, such renewal shall only be for three years. If the charter school again underperforms for two years of the three-year term, the school's charter shall not be renewed. Under current law, a charter school, per its charter, must be financially accountable. A charter school that receives local educational agency status must meet the requirements imposed by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for audits of such agencies and comply with all federal audit requirements for charters with local educational agency status. Under this act, charter schools must make the results of such audits available on their website. A charter school must also seek to ensure that the percentage of its students who perform proficient and advanced on the annual statewide system of assessments in English language arts and mathematics is equal to or higher than the average percentage of grade-level-equivalent students attending nonselective attendance centers in the school district in which the charter school is located who perform proficient and advanced in English language arts and mathematics. A sponsor shall revoke a charter or take other appropriate remedial action, which may include placing the charter school on probationary status for no more than 24 months, at any time if the charter school underperforms for at least two years. Current law requires a sponsor to confirm that each charter school they sponsor is in material compliance and remains in material compliance with the charter and with statute. Under this act, the sponsor's renewal process of the charter school must consider whether or not the charter school has underperformed for two of the three consecutive years immediately before a decision whether to renew the school's charter is made. If a charter school underperforms for two of the three consecutive years immediately before a decision whether to renew the charter is made, any renewal shall be only for a two-year term. If the charter school again underperforms for both years of the two-year term, the charter shall not be renewed. The sponsor of a charter school is required to submit a revised charter application to the State Board for review beginning August first during the year in which a charter is considered for renewal, which shall include a financial audit performed by an independent certified public accountant, and be paid for by the charter school. Information a charter school must currently make available shall, under this act, also be available on the charter school's website. (Section 160.410.4) CHARTER SCHOOL ADMISSION (Section 160.410): If capacity at a charter school is insufficient to enroll all pupils who submit a timely application, the charter school may give preference to students who will be eligible for the free and reduced price lunch program in the upcoming school year. ST. LOUIS DEED RESTRICTIONS (Section 160.422): Under this act, St. Louis City shall not adopt, enforce, impose, or administer an ordinance, local policy, or local resolution that prohibits property sold, leased, or transferred by the city from being used for any lawful education purpose by a charter school. St. Louis City may not impose, enforce, or apply any deed restriction that expressly, or by its operation, prohibits property sold, leased, or transferred by the city from being used for any lawful educational purpose by a charter school. If St. Louis City offers property of the city for sale, lease, or rent, St. Louis shall not refuse to sell, lease, or rent to a charter school solely because the charter school intends to use the property for an educational purpose. Any deeds that have been executed and recorded prior to the effective date of this act shall be exempt from this provision. This act is substantially similar to SB 603 (2020), HB 1917 (2020), SS#2/SCS/SB 292 (2019), SCS/HB 485 (2019), and is similar to HCS/HB 581 (2019), SB 51 (2019), SCS/SB 271 (2019), HCS/HB 924 (2019), HCS/SS/SB 218 (2019) JOSIE BUTLER