AN ACT to remove certain barriers related to fast‑track replication of high‑quality charter schools.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑218.3 reads as rewritten:

§ 115C‑218.3.  Fast‑track replication of high‑quality charter schools.

Upon recommendations by the Office of Charter Schools and the Charter Schools Advisory Board, the State Board of Education shall adopt a process and rules for fast‑track replication of high‑quality charter schools currently operating in the State. The State Board of Education shall not require a planning year for applicants selected through the fast‑track replication process. In addition to the requirements for charter applicants set forth in this Article, the fast‑track replication process adopted by the State Board of Education shall, at a minimum, require a board of directors of a charter school to demonstrate one of the following in order to qualify for fast‑track replication:

(1)        A The board of directors operates charter schools and can demonstrate both of the following:

a.         The majority of charter school schools in this State governed by the board of directors has student academic outcomes from the three prior school years that are comparable to equal to or greater than the academic outcomes of students student academic outcomes in the local school administrative unit in which the each charter school is located and located.

b.         The board of directors can provide three years of financially sound audits.audits for each school it governs.

(2)        The board of directors agrees to contract with an education management organization or charter management organization that can demonstrate that it can replicate high‑quality both of the following:

a.         The majority of the charter schools in the this State that have proven managed by the organization has student academic success and financial soundness.outcomes from the three prior school years that are equal to or greater than the student academic outcomes in the local school administrative unit in which each charter school is located.

b.         The organization can provide three years of financially sound audits for each school it governs.

The State Board of Education shall ensure that the rules for a fast‑track replication process provide that decisions by the State Board of Education on whether to grant a charter through the replication process are completed in less than 120 days from the application submission date. The State Board shall provide a decision no later than October 15 of the year immediately preceding the year of the proposed school opening.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to applications for fast‑track replication of charter schools submitted on or after that date.