Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-3-136

contracts.

A. Beginning July 1, 2024, a written contract entered into

between the Statewide Charter School Board and the governing board

of a charter school or statewide virtual charter school or a written

contract entered into between a sponsor and the governing board of a

charter school shall ensure compliance with the following:

1. Except as provided for in the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act,

a charter school and virtual charter school shall be exempt from all

statutes and rules relating to schools, boards of education, and

school districts; provided, however, a charter school or virtual

charter school shall comply with all federal regulations and state

and local rules and statutes relating to health, safety, civil

rights, and insurance. By January 1, 2000, the State Department of

Education shall prepare a list of relevant rules and statutes which

a charter school and virtual charter school must comply with as

required by this paragraph and shall annually provide an update to

the list;

2. A charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs,

admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations.

A sponsor may not authorize a charter school or program that is

affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school or religious

institution;

3. The charter contract shall provide a description of the

educational program to be offered. A charter school or virtual

charter school may provide a comprehensive program of instruction

for a prekindergarten program, a kindergarten program, or any grade

between grades one and twelve. Instruction may be provided to all

persons between four (4) and twenty-one (21) years of age. A

charter school or virtual charter school may offer a curriculum

which emphasizes a specific learning philosophy or style or certain

subject areas such as mathematics, science, fine arts, performance

arts, or foreign language. The charter of a charter school or

virtual charter school which offers grades nine through twelve shall

specifically address whether the charter school or virtual charter

school will comply with the graduation requirements established in

Section 11-103.6 of this title. No charter school shall be

chartered for the purpose of offering a curriculum for deaf or blind

students that is the same or similar to the curriculum being

provided by or for educating deaf or blind students that are being

served by the Oklahoma School for the Blind or the Oklahoma School

for the Deaf;

4. A charter school or virtual charter school shall participate

in the testing as required by the Oklahoma School Testing Program

Act and the reporting of test results as is required of a school

district. A charter school or virtual charter school shall also

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 196

provide any necessary data to the Office of Accountability within

the State Department of Education;

5. A charter school or virtual charter school shall be subject

to the same reporting requirements, financial audits, audit

procedures, and audit requirements as a school district. The State

Department of Education or State Auditor and Inspector may conduct

financial, program, or compliance audits. The Statewide Charter

School Board may request that the State Auditor and Inspector

conduct a financial, program, or compliance audit for any charter

school or virtual charter school it oversees. A charter school or

virtual charter school shall use the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System

to report financial transactions to the State Department of

Education. The charter school or virtual charter school shall be

subject to the limitations on spending, including provisions of the

Oklahoma Constitution, for any funds received from the state, either

through the State Department of Education or other sources;

6. A charter school or virtual charter school shall comply with

all federal and state laws relating to the education of children
of

Education. The charter school or virtual charter school shall be

subject to the limitations on spending, including provisions of the

Oklahoma Constitution, for any funds received from the state, either

through the State Department of Education or other sources;

6. A charter school or virtual charter school shall comply with

all federal and state laws relating to the education of children

with disabilities in the same manner as a school district;

7. A charter school or virtual charter school shall provide for

a governing board for the school which shall be responsible for the

policies and operational decisions of the charter school or virtual

charter school. All of the charter school or virtual charter school

governing board members shall be residents of this state and shall

meet no fewer than ten (10) months of the year in a public meeting

within the boundaries of the school district in which the charter

school is located or within this state if the governing board

oversees multiple charter schools in this state or oversees a

virtual charter school. The governing board of a charter school or

virtual charter school shall be subject to the same conflict of

interest requirements as a member of a school district board of

education including but not limited to Sections 5-113 and 5-124 of

this title. Members appointed to the governing board of a charter

school or virtual charter school shall be subject to the same

instruction and continuing education requirements as a member of a

school district board of education and pursuant to Section 5-110 of

this title shall complete twelve (12) hours of instruction within

fifteen (15) months of appointment to the governing board and

pursuant to Section 5-110.1 of this title shall attend continuing

education;

8. A charter school or virtual charter school shall not be used

as a method of generating revenue for students who are being home

schooled and are not being educated at an organized charter school

site or by a virtual charter school;

9. A charter school or virtual charter school shall be as

equally free and open to all students as traditional public schools

and shall not charge tuition or fees;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 197

10. A charter school or virtual charter school shall provide

instruction each year for at least the number of days or hours

required in Section 1-109 of this title;

11. A charter school or virtual charter school shall comply

with the student suspension requirements provided for in Section 24-

101.3 of this title;

12. A charter school or virtual charter school shall be

considered a school district for purposes of tort liability under

The Governmental Tort Claims Act;

13. Employees of a charter school or virtual charter school may

participate as members of the Teachers’ Retirement System of

Oklahoma in accordance with applicable statutes and rules if

otherwise allowed pursuant to law;

14. A charter school or virtual charter school may participate

in all health and related insurance programs available to employees

of a public school district;

15. A charter school or virtual charter school and their

respective governing boards shall comply with the Oklahoma Open

Meeting Act and the Oklahoma Open Records Act;

16. The governing board of a charter school or virtual charter

school shall notify the sponsor within ten (10) business days in the

instance of any significant adverse actions, material findings of

noncompliance, or pending actions, claims, or proceedings in this

state relating to the charter school, the virtual charter school, or

an educational management organization with which the charter school

or virtual charter school has a contract;

17. No later than September 1 each year, the governing board of

each charter school or virtual charter school formed pursuant to the

Oklahoma Charter Schools Act shall prepare a statement of actual
ceedings in this

state relating to the charter school, the virtual charter school, or

an educational management organization with which the charter school

or virtual charter school has a contract;

17. No later than September 1 each year, the governing board of

each charter school or virtual charter school formed pursuant to the

Oklahoma Charter Schools Act shall prepare a statement of actual

income and expenditures for the charter school or virtual charter

school for the fiscal year that ended on the preceding June 30, in a

manner compliant with Section 5-135 of this title. The statement of

expenditures shall include functional categories as defined in rules

adopted by the State Board of Education to implement the Oklahoma

Cost Accounting System pursuant to Section 5-145 of this title.

Charter schools and virtual charter schools shall not be permitted

to submit estimates of expenditures or prorated amounts to fulfill

the requirements of this paragraph; and

18. A charter school or virtual charter school contract shall

include performance provisions based on a performance framework that

clearly sets forth the academic and operational performance

indicators that shall be used by charter school and virtual charter

school sponsors to evaluate their respective schools. The sponsor

may develop a separate performance framework to evaluate a charter

school or virtual charter school that has been designated by the

State Department of Education as implementing an alternative

education program throughout the school. The sponsor shall require

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 198

a charter school or virtual charter school to submit the data

required in this subsection in the identical format that is required

by the State Department of Education of all public schools in order

to avoid duplicative administrative efforts or allow a charter

school or virtual charter school to provide permission to the

Department to share all required data with the Board. The

performance framework shall serve as the minimum requirement for

charter school and virtual charter school performance evaluation and

shall include, but not be limited to, the following indicators:

a. student academic proficiency,

b. student academic growth,

c. achievement gaps in both proficiency and growth

between major student subgroups,

d. student attendance,

e. recurrent enrollment from year to year as determined

by the methodology used for public schools in

Oklahoma,

f. in the case of high schools, graduation rates as

determined by the methodology used for public schools

in Oklahoma,

g. in the case of high schools, postsecondary readiness,

h. financial performance and sustainability and

compliance with state and Internal Revenue Service

financial reporting requirements,

i. audit findings or deficiencies,

j. accreditation and timely reporting,

k. governing board performance and stewardship including

compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and

terms of the charter contract, and

l. mobility of student population for the virtual charter

school framework.

The sponsor including the Statewide Charter School Board shall

annually evaluate its charter schools or virtual charter schools

according to the performance framework. The results of the

evaluation shall be presented to the governing board of the charter

school or virtual charter school and the governing board of the

charter school sponsor in an open meeting.

B. An applicant or the governing board of an applicant may hold

one or more charter contracts. Each charter school or virtual

charter school that is part of a charter contract shall be separate

and distinct from any other charter school or virtual charter

school. For the purposes of this subsection, “separate and

distinct” shall mean that a charter school or virtual charter school

governing board with oversight of more than one charter school or
may hold

one or more charter contracts. Each charter school or virtual

charter school that is part of a charter contract shall be separate

and distinct from any other charter school or virtual charter

school. For the purposes of this subsection, “separate and

distinct” shall mean that a charter school or virtual charter school

governing board with oversight of more than one charter school or

virtual charter school shall not combine accounting, budgeting,

recordkeeping, admissions, employment, or policies and operational

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 199

decisions of the charter schools or virtual charter schools it

oversees.

C. The charter contract of a charter school or virtual charter

school shall include a description of the personnel policies,

personnel qualifications, and method of school governance. A

charter school or virtual charter school shall not enter into an

employment contract with any teacher or other personnel until a

contract has been executed with its sponsor. The employment

contract shall set forth the personnel policies of the charter

school or virtual charter school including, but not limited to,

policies related to certification, professional development,

evaluation, suspension, dismissal and nonreemployment, sick leave,

personal business leave, emergency leave, and family and medical

leave. The contract shall also specifically set forth the salary,

hours, fringe benefits, and work conditions. The contract may

provide for employer-employee bargaining, but the charter school or

virtual charter school shall not be required to comply with the

provisions of Sections 509.1 through 509.10 of this title.

Upon contracting with any teacher or other personnel, the

governing board of a charter school or virtual charter school shall,

in writing, disclose employment rights of the employees in the event

the charter school or virtual charter school closes or the charter

contract is not renewed.

No charter school or virtual charter school may begin serving

students without a contract executed in accordance with the

provisions of the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act and approved in an

open meeting of the governing board of the sponsor or the Statewide

Charter School Board. The governing board of the sponsor or the

Statewide Charter School Board may establish reasonable preopening

requirements or conditions to monitor the start-up progress of newly

approved charter schools or virtual charter schools and ensure that

each brick-and-mortar school is prepared to open smoothly on the

date agreed and to ensure that each school meets all building,

health, safety, insurance, and other legal requirements for the

opening of a school.

D. The charter of a charter school or virtual charter school

may be amended at the request of the governing board of the charter

school or virtual charter school and upon the approval of the

sponsor.

E. A charter school or virtual charter school may enter into

contracts and sue and be sued.

F. The governing board of a charter school or virtual charter

school shall not levy taxes or issue bonds. A school district that

proposes a bond shall include any charter school established

pursuant to subsection A of Section 3-132 of this title and located

within the school district in planning conversations regarding the

bond.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 200

G. The charter of a charter school or virtual charter school

shall include a provision specifying the method or methods to be

employed for disposing of real and personal property acquired by the

charter school or virtual charter school upon expiration or

termination of the charter or failure of the charter school or

virtual charter school to continue operations. Except as otherwise

provided, any real or personal property purchased with state or

local funds shall be retained by the sponsor. If a charter school
to be

employed for disposing of real and personal property acquired by the

charter school or virtual charter school upon expiration or

termination of the charter or failure of the charter school or

virtual charter school to continue operations. Except as otherwise

provided, any real or personal property purchased with state or

local funds shall be retained by the sponsor. If a charter school

that was previously sponsored by the board of education of a school

district continues operation within the school district under a new

charter sponsored by an entity authorized pursuant to Section 3-132

of this title, the charter school may retain any personal property

purchased with state or local funds for use in the operation of the

charter school until termination of the new charter or failure of

the charter school to continue operations.