On Oct. 3, 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1505 (O’Donnell) and Assembly Bill 1507 (Smith), amending the requirements related to charter petitions, renewals, and location requirements applicable to charter schools. Overall, these changes constitute the most significant charter school legislation since the enactment of the Charter Schools Act of 1992 and, consequently, will change the entire landscape of how charter petitions are received and processed. This article discusses AB 1507’s changes to the location requirements and their potential impact on school districts and county boards. Background The act requires a charter school to operate within the geographic boundaries of its charter authorizer unless certain conditions are met. In Anderson Union High School District v. Shasta Secondary Home School, the court held that these geographic restrictions apply to all charter schools, whether classroom-based or nonclassroom-based.  Notably, until the Anderson decision, there was a disagreement between charter authorizers and charter schools as to whether these geographic restrictions applied to nonclassroom-based charter schools. Changes to Education Code Section 47605.1 Education Code Section 47605.1, as amended by AB 1507, no longer allows a charter school to operate a site outside of the geographic boundaries of a charter school’s charter authorizer. Instead, a charter school may only establish one resource center or satellite facility within the charter authorizer’s jurisdiction if two conditions are met. First, the facility is used exclusively for nonclassroom-based independent study and second, the majority of the students enrolled are residents of the county in which the charter school is authorized. Additional resource centers, meeting spaces, or other satellite facilities can operate within the authorizing district only with the written approval of the authorizing agency. However, Section 47605.1(c), as amended by AB 1507, will allow charter schools, including countywide benefit schools, that are operating resource centers, meeting spaces, or other satellites in adjacent counties in accordance with the law prior to Jan. 1, 2020 to continue operating these facilities until renewal. At the time of charter petition renewal, to continue operating these sites, charter schools must obtain written approval from the district in which the site is located, or from the county office of education where it is physically located in the case of a countywide charter school. 

Importantly, written approval must be obtained prior to seeking renewal. Alternatively, a charter school operating a site outside of the geographic boundary of its charter authorizer may submit a petition to the school district or COE in which that site is located, seeking to establish a new charter school that would operate out of that site. Section 47605.1(c), as amended by AB 1507, also provides an exception for a charter school to operate outside the geographic boundaries of its charter authorizer if four very specific conditions are met: 1) it is authorized by and located in a school district adjacent to a school district with an enrollment of at least 500,000 pupils, 2) the charter school was established before Jan. 1, 2009, 3) the resource center is located in a district with an enrollment of at least 500,000 pupils and was established before Jan. 1, 2011, and 4) at least 50 percent of the pupils served by the resource center are currently or formerly on probation or were formerly incarcerated individuals. Notably, AB 1507 does not change the exception for charter schools that offer instruction exclusively in partnership with any of the following: the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 3101 et seq.), federally affiliated Youth Build programs, federal job corps training or instruction provided pursuant to a memorandum of understanding with a federal provider, the California Conservation Corps or local conservation corps certified by the California Conservation Corps pursuant to Sections 14507.5 or 14406 of the Public Resources Code, and instruction provided to juvenile court pupils pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 42231.18 or pursuant to Section 1981 for individuals who are placed in a residential facility. As such, charter schools providing instruction exclusively in partnership with a specified program may operate sites outside of the geographic boundaries of its charter authorizer under this exception. Impact on charter schools and authorizing agencies In light of these changes, school districts and county boards that have authorized charter schools, particularly nonclassroom-based charter schools, should determine whether the charter schools are operating sites outside of their geographic boundaries, and determine the timeline for bringing the charter into compliance with these new changes. School districts and county boards that are aware of charter schools operating within their geographic boundaries that they did not authorize should anticipate receiving requests for permission to continue operating these facilities. In considering these requests, it is important to note that denying these requests to continue operating these facilities may result in the charter school submitting a petition for the establishment of new charter schools operating at these sites. Therefore, while granting permission means that a charter school will continue operating the facility, a school district or county board would not be responsible for oversight over these operations.