An Act To Allow Charter Schools To Request Waivers from Certain Requirements
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §2412, sub-§5, ¶I is enacted to read:
(1) Financial hardship is one criterion the commissioner must consider in determining whether to grant a waiver to the public charter school.
(2) A public charter school may not apply to the commissioner for a waiver of any of the following requirements:
(a) Civil rights and health and safety requirements as described in paragraph A;
(b) Student assessment and accountability requirements as described in paragraph B;
(c) Conflict of interest and public records and proceedings requirements as described in paragraph C;
(d) Criminal history record checks and fingerprinting requirements as described in paragraph F; and
(e) Special education requirements as described in paragraph G.
(3) By February 1st of each year, the commissioner shall report the number of waivers requested and the number granted and the reason for each waiver request for the prior year to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters and post the report on the department's publicly accessible website.