HF 2730

Introduction - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004)

Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00 a.m.

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; requiring a school board to 
  1.3             lease to an eligible charter school sponsor or charter 
  1.4             school board of directors the real and personal 
  1.5             property of an existing school facility the school 
  1.6             board elects to close; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.7             2002, section 124D.10, subdivision 5. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 124D.10, 
  1.10  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 5.  [CONVERSION OF EXISTING SCHOOLS.] (a) A board may 
  1.12  convert one or more of its existing schools to charter schools 
  1.13  under this section if 60 percent of the full-time teachers at 
  1.14  the school sign a petition seeking conversion.  The conversion 
  1.15  must occur at the beginning of an academic year.  
  1.16     (b) Notwithstanding subdivision 23a, section 123B.51, or 
  1.17  other law to the contrary, a board that formally acts to close 
  1.18  an existing school facility must lease to an eligible charter 
  1.19  school sponsor or eligible charter school board of directors for 
  1.20  $1 annually the real and personal property of that facility if 
  1.21  the charter school sponsor or charter school board of directors 
  1.22  seeks to enter into a lease agreement with the board within one 
  1.23  year of the date on which the board formally closes the 
  1.24  facility.  Unless and until the facility is leased during the 
  1.25  one-year period, the board during that period must: 
  1.26     (1) maintain but not convey or lease any interest in the 
  2.1   facility; and 
  2.2      (2) allow the facility to be used for education and 
  2.3   community-related activities. 
  2.4   The board must continue to lease the facility for $1 at the 
  2.5   request of an eligible charter school sponsor or eligible 
  2.6   charter school board of directors until the sponsor elects to 
  2.7   not renew the charter school contract, the charter school is 
  2.8   closed, or the charter school contract is terminated, consistent 
  2.9   with subdivision 23.  The board must maintain the facility, 
  2.10  including fixtures, while the lease is in effect.  If no 
  2.11  eligible charter school sponsor or eligible charter school board 
  2.12  of directors seeks to enter into a lease agreement with the 
  2.13  board within one year after the date on which the board formally 
  2.14  closes the facility, or at the time the lease is discontinued, 
  2.15  the board may sell or exchange or otherwise dispose of the real 
  2.16  and personal property of the facility, consistent with 
  2.17  applicable law.  This paragraph applies to any elementary school 
  2.18  facility: 
  2.19     (i) located in a metropolitan school district; 
  2.20     (ii) having fewer than 50,000 square feet in the school 
  2.21  building; 
  2.22     (iii) constructed before 1900; and 
  2.23     (iv) serving fewer than 100 students in kindergarten 
  2.24  through grade 3 at the time the board acts to close the facility.
  2.25  A charter school operating under this paragraph is ineligible 
  2.26  for building lease aid under section 124D.11, subdivision 4. 
  2.27     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  2.28  following final enactment.