HB 4079

REFERENCE TITLE: charter schools; closure; property transfer
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HB 4079
Introduced by
Representatives
  Gutierrez: Garcia, Simacek
AN
ACT
amending section 15-183, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to charter schools.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 15-183, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE15-183. Charter schools; application; requirements; immunity; exemptions;
renewal of application; reprisal; fee; funds; annual reports; definitions
A. An applicant seeking to establish a charter
school shall apply in writing to a proposed sponsor as prescribed in subsection
C of this section. The application, application process and
application time frames shall be posted on the sponsor's website and shall
include the following, as specified in the application adopted by the sponsor:
1. A detailed educational plan.
2. A detailed business plan.
3. A detailed operational plan.
4. Any other materials required by the sponsor.
B. The sponsor of a charter school may contract with
a public body, private person or private organization for the purpose of
establishing a charter school pursuant to this article.
C. The sponsor of a charter school may be either the
state board of education, the state board for charter schools, a university
under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents, a community college
district or a group of community college districts, subject to the following
requirements:
1. An applicant may not apply for sponsorship to any
person or entity other than those prescribed in this subsection.
2. The applicant may apply to the state board of
education or the state board for charter schools. Notwithstanding
any other law, neither the state board for charter schools nor the state board
of education shall grant a charter to a school district governing board for a
new charter school or for the conversion of an existing district public school
to a charter school. The state board of education or the state board
for charter schools may approve the application if the application meets the
requirements of this article and may approve the charter if the proposed sponsor
determines, within its sole discretion, that the applicant is sufficiently
qualified to operate a charter school and that the applicant is applying to
operate as a separate charter holder by considering factors such as whether:
(a) The schools have separate governing bodies,
governing body membership, staff, facilities and student population.
(b) Daily operations are carried out by different
administrators.
(c) The applicant intends to have an affiliation
agreement for the purpose of providing enrollment preferences.
(d) The applicant's charter management organization
has multiple charter holders serving varied grade configurations on one
physical site or nearby sites serving one community.
(e) The applicant is reconstituting an existing
school site population at the same or new site.
(f) The applicant is reconstituting an existing
grade configuration from a prior charter holder with at least one grade
remaining on the original site with the other grade or grades moving to a new
site. The state board of education or the state board for charter
schools may approve any charter schools transferring charters. If
the state board of education or the state board for charter schools rejects the
preliminary application, the state board of education or the state board for
charter schools shall notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for the
rejection and of suggestions for improving the application. An
applicant may submit a revised application for reconsideration by the state
board of education or the state board for charter schools. The
applicant may request, and the state board of education or the state board for
charter schools may provide, technical assistance to improve the application.
3. The applicant may submit the application to a
university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents, a community
college district or a group of community college districts. A
university, a community college district or a group of community college
districts shall not grant a charter to a school district governing board for a
new charter school or for the conversion of an existing district public school
to a charter school. A university, a community college district or a
group of community college districts may approve the application if it meets
the requirements of this article and if the proposed sponsor determines, in its
sole discretion, that the applicant is sufficiently qualified to operate a
charter school.
4. Each applicant seeking to establish a charter
school shall submit a full set of fingerprints to the approving agency for the
purpose of obtaining a state and federal criminal records check pursuant to
section 41-1750 and Public Law 92-544. If an applicant
will have direct contact with students, the applicant shall possess a valid
fingerprint clearance card that is issued pursuant to title 41, chapter 12,
article 3.1. The department of public safety may exchange this
fingerprint data with the federal bureau of investigation. The
criminal records check shall be completed before the issuance of a charter.
5. All persons engaged in instructional work
directly as a classroom, laboratory or other teacher or indirectly as a
supervisory teacher, speech therapist or principal and all charter
representatives, charter school governing body members and officers, directors,
members and partners of the charter holder shall have a valid fingerprint
clearance card that is issued pursuant to title 41, chapter 12,
article 3.1, unless the person is a volunteer or guest speaker who is
accompanied in the classroom by a person with a valid fingerprint clearance
card. A charter school shall not employ in any position that
requires a valid fingerprint clearance card a person against whom the state
board of education has taken disciplinary action as prescribed in section 15-505
or whose certificate has been suspended, surrendered or revoked, unless the
person's certificate has been subsequently reinstated by the state board of
education. All other personnel shall be fingerprint checked pursuant
to section 15-512, or the charter school may require those personnel to
obtain a fingerprint clearance card issued pursuant to title 41,
chapter 12, article 3.1. Before employment, the charter school
shall make documented, good faith efforts to contact previous employers of a
person to obtain information and recommendations that may be relevant to the
person's fitness for employment as prescribed in section 15-512,
subsection F, including checking the educator information system that is
maintained by the department of education pursuant to section 15-505. The
charter school shall notify the department of public safety if the charter
school or sponsor receives credible evidence that a person who possesses a
valid fingerprint clearance card is arrested for or is charged with an offense
listed in section 41-1758.03, subsection B. A person who is
employed at a charter school that has met the requirements of this paragraph is
not required to meet any additional requirements that are established by the
department of education or that may be established by rule by the state board
of education. The state board of education may not adopt rules that
exceed the requirements for persons who are qualified to teach in charter
schools prescribed in title I of the every student succeeds act (P.L. 114-95)
or the individuals with disabilities education improvement act of 2004
(P.L. 108-446). Charter schools may hire personnel who have not
yet received a fingerprint clearance card if proof is provided of the
submission of an application to the department of public safety for a
fingerprint clearance card and if the charter school that is seeking to hire
the applicant does all of the following:
(a) Documents in the applicant's file the necessity
for hiring and placing the applicant before the applicant receives a
fingerprint clearance card.
(b) Ensures that the department of public safety
completes a statewide criminal records check on the applicant. A
statewide criminal records check shall be completed by the department of public
safety every one hundred twenty days until the date that the fingerprint check
is completed or the fingerprint clearance card is issued or denied.
(c) Obtains references from the applicant's current
employer and the two most recent previous employers except for applicants who
have been employed for at least five years by the applicant's most recent
employer.
(d) Provides general supervision of the applicant
until the date that the fingerprint card is obtained.
(e) Completes a search of criminal records in all
local jurisdictions outside of this state in which the applicant has lived in
the previous five years.
(f) Verifies the fingerprint status of the applicant
with the department of public safety.
6. A charter school that complies with the
fingerprinting requirements of this section shall be deemed to have complied
with section 15-512 and is entitled to the same rights and protections
provided to school districts by section 15-512.
7. If a charter school operator is not already
subject to a public meeting or hearing by the municipality in which the charter
school is located, the operator of a charter school shall conduct a public
meeting at least thirty days before the charter school operator opens a site or
sites for the charter school. The charter school operator shall post
notices of the public meeting in at least three different locations that are
within three hundred feet of the proposed charter school site.
8. A person who is employed by a charter school or
who is an applicant for employment with a charter school, who is arrested for
or charged with a nonappealable offense listed in section 41-1758.03,
subsection B and who does not immediately report the arrest or charge to the
person's supervisor or potential employer is guilty of unprofessional conduct
and the person shall be immediately dismissed from employment with the charter
school or immediately excluded from potential employment with the charter school.
9. A person who is employed by a charter school and
who is convicted of any nonappealable offense listed in section 41-1758.03,
subsection B or is convicted of any nonappealable offense that amounts to
unprofessional conduct under section 15-550 shall immediately do all of
the following:
(a) Surrender any certificates issued by the
department of education.
(b) Notify the person's employer or potential
employer of the conviction.
(c) Notify the department of public safety of the
conviction.
(d) Surrender the person's fingerprint clearance
card.
D. An entity that is authorized to sponsor charter
schools pursuant to this article has no legal authority over or responsibility
for a charter school sponsored by a different entity. This
subsection does not apply to the state board of education's duty to exercise
general supervision over the public school system pursuant to section 15-203,
subsection A, paragraph 1.
E. The charter of a charter school shall do all of
the following:
1. Ensure compliance with federal, state and local
rules, regulations and statutes relating to health, safety, civil rights and
insurance. The department of education shall publish a list of
relevant rules, regulations and statutes to notify charter schools of their
responsibilities under this paragraph.
2. Ensure that it is nonsectarian in its programs,
admission policies and employment practices and all other operations.
3. Ensure that it provides a comprehensive program
of instruction for at least a kindergarten program or any grade between grades
one and twelve, except that a school may offer this curriculum with an emphasis
on a specific learning philosophy or style or certain subject areas such as
mathematics, science, fine arts, performance arts or foreign language.
4. Ensure that it designs a method to measure pupil
progress toward the pupil outcomes adopted by the state board of education
pursuant to section 15-741.01, including participation in the statewide
assessment and the nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement
test as designated by the state board and the completion and distribution of an
annual report card as prescribed in chapter 7, article 3 of this title.
5. Ensure that, except as provided in this article
and in its charter, it is exempt from all statutes and rules relating to
schools, governing boards and school districts.
6. Ensure that, except as provided in this article,
it is subject to the same financial and electronic data submission requirements
as a school district, including the uniform system of financial records as
prescribed in chapter 2, article 4 of this title, procurement rules as
prescribed in section 15-213 and audit requirements. The
auditor general shall conduct a comprehensive review and revision of the
uniform system of financial records to ensure that the provisions of the
uniform system of financial records that relate to charter schools are in
accordance with commonly accepted accounting principles used by private
business. A school's charter may include exceptions to the
requirements of this paragraph that are necessary as determined by the
university, the community college district, the group of community college
districts, the state board of education or the state board for charter
schools. The department of education or the office of the auditor
general may conduct financial, program or compliance audits.
7. Ensure compliance with all federal and state laws
relating to the education of children with disabilities in the same manner as a
school district.
8. Ensure that it provides for a governing body for
the charter school that is responsible for the policy decisions of the charter
school. Notwithstanding section 1-216, if there is a vacancy or vacancies
on the governing body, a majority of the remaining members of the governing
body constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, unless that quorum is
prohibited by the charter school's operating agreement.
9. Ensure that it provides a minimum of one hundred
eighty instructional days before June 30 of each fiscal year unless it is
operating on an alternative calendar approved by its sponsor. The
superintendent of public instruction shall adjust the apportionment schedule
accordingly to accommodate a charter school utilizing an alternative calendar.
10. Ensure that the charter school, in conjunction
with local law enforcement agencies and emergency response agencies, develop develops an emergency response
plan for each school in accordance with minimum standards developed jointly by
the department of education and the division of emergency management within the
department of emergency and military affairs.� Any emergency response plan
developed pursuant to this paragraph must address how the school and emergency
responders will communicate with and provide assistance to students with
disabilities.
F. A charter school shall collect and maintain
information about each teacher's educational and teaching background and
experience in a particular academic content subject area. A charter
school shall either post the information on the charter school's website or
make the information available for inspection on request of parents and
guardians of pupils enrolled at the charter school. This subsection
does not require any charter school to release personally identifiable information
in relation to any teacher, including the teacher's address, salary, social
security number or telephone number.
G. The charter of a charter school may be amended at
the request of the governing body of the charter school and on the approval of
the sponsor.
H. Charter schools may contract, sue and be sued.
I. The charter is effective for fifteen years from
the first day of the fiscal year as specified in the charter, subject to the
following:
1. At least eighteen months before the charter
expires, the sponsor shall notify the charter school that the charter school
may apply for renewal and shall make the renewal application available to the
charter school. A charter school that elects to apply for renewal
shall file a complete renewal application at least fifteen months before the
charter expires. A sponsor shall give written notice of its intent
not to renew the charter school's request for renewal to the charter school at
least twelve months before the expiration of the charter. The
sponsor shall make data used in making renewal decisions available to the
school and the public and shall provide a public report summarizing the
evidence basis for each decision. The sponsor may deny the request
for renewal if, in its judgment, the charter holder has failed to do any of the
following:
(a) Meet or make sufficient progress toward the
academic performance expectations set forth in the performance framework.
(b) Meet the operational performance expectations
set forth in the performance framework or any improvement plans.
(c) Meet the financial performance expectations set
forth in the performance framework or any improvement plans.
(d) Complete the obligations of the contract.
(e) Comply with this article or any provision of law
from which the charter school is not exempt.
2. A charter operator may apply for early
renewal. At least nine months before the charter school's intended
renewal consideration, the operator of the charter school shall submit a letter
of intent to the sponsor to apply for early renewal. The sponsor
shall review fiscal audits and academic performance data for the charter school
that are annually collected by the sponsor, review the current contract between
the sponsor and the charter school and provide the qualifying charter school
with a renewal application. On submission of a complete application,
the sponsor shall give written notice of its consideration of the renewal
application. The sponsor may deny the request for early renewal if, in the
sponsor's judgment, the charter holder has failed to do any of the following:
(a) Meet or make sufficient progress toward the
academic performance expectations set forth in the performance framework.
(b) Meet the operational performance expectations
set forth in the performance framework or any improvement plans.
(c) Meet the financial performance expectations set
forth in the performance framework or any improvement plans.
(d) Complete the obligations of the contract.
(e) Comply with this article or any provision of law
from which the charter school is not exempt.
3. A sponsor shall review a charter at five-year
intervals using a performance framework adopted by the sponsor and may revoke a
charter at any time if the charter school breaches one or more provisions of
its charter or if the sponsor determines that the charter holder has failed to
do any of the following:
(a) Meet or make sufficient progress toward the
academic performance expectations set forth in the performance framework.
(b) Meet the operational performance expectations
set forth in the performance framework or any improvement plans.
(c) Meet the financial performance expectations set
forth in the performance framework or any improvement plans.
(d) Comply with this article or any provision of law
from which the charter school is not exempt.
4. In determining whether to renew or revoke a
charter holder, the sponsor must consider making sufficient progress toward the
academic performance expectations set forth in the sponsor's performance
framework as one of the most important factors.
5. Before the sponsor adopts a determination of
intent to revoke a charter, the charter holder shall have at least thirty days
to address the problems, as necessary or applicable, associated with the reason
or reasons for the determination of intent to revoke. The sponsor is not
required to provide the charter holder with thirty days to correct the problems
associated with the reason or reasons for adopting a determination of intent to
revoke if the reason or reasons cannot be remedied, including a failure to
submit required financial audits pursuant to subsection E, paragraph 6 of this
section and section 15-914, or for a matter of health or safety, or
both. Before the sponsor adopts a determination of intent to revoke
a charter, the sponsor shall give written notice to the charter holder that
includes the reason or reasons for the sponsor's consideration to revoke the
charter. Notice may be provided by electronic means or by United
States mail and is effective on the date of email or, if sent by United States
mail, the earlier of the date of receipt by the charter holder or within five
days after the notice is mailed. The determination of whether to proceed to
revocation shall be made at a public meeting called for that purpose.
J. The charter may be renewed for successive periods
of twenty years.
K. A charter school that is sponsored by the state
board of education, the state board for charter schools, a university, a
community college district or a group of community college districts may not be
located on the property of a school district unless the district governing
board grants this authority.
L. A governing board or a school district employee
who has control over personnel actions shall not take unlawful reprisal against
another employee of the school district because the employee is directly or
indirectly involved in an application to establish a charter
school. A governing board or a school district employee shall not
take unlawful reprisal against an educational program of the school or the
school district because an application to establish a charter school proposes
to convert all or a portion of the educational program to a charter school. For
the purposes of this subsection, "unlawful reprisal" means an action
that is taken by a governing board or a school district employee as a direct
result of a lawful application to establish a charter school and that is
adverse to another employee or an education program and:
1. With respect to a school district employee,
results in one or more of the following:
(a) Disciplinary or corrective action.
(b) Detail, transfer or reassignment.
(c) Suspension, demotion or dismissal.
(d) An unfavorable performance evaluation.
(e) A reduction in pay, benefits or awards.
(f) Elimination of the employee's position without a
reduction in force by reason of lack of monies or work.
(g) Other significant changes in duties or
responsibilities that are inconsistent with the employee's salary or employment
classification.
2. With respect to an
educational program, results in one or more of the following:
(a) Suspension or
termination of the program.
(b) Transfer or reassignment of the program to a
less favorable department.
(c) Relocation of the program to a less favorable
site within the school or school district.
(d) Significant reduction or termination of funding
for the program.
M. Charter schools shall secure insurance for
liability and property loss. The governing body of a charter school
that is sponsored by the state board of education or the state board for
charter schools may enter into an intergovernmental agreement or otherwise
contract to participate in an insurance program offered by a risk retention
pool established pursuant to section 11-952.01 or 41-621.01 or the
charter school may secure its own insurance coverage. The pool may
charge the requesting charter school reasonable fees for any services it
performs in connection with the insurance program.
N. Charter schools do not have the authority to
acquire property by eminent domain.
O. A sponsor, including members, officers and
employees of the sponsor, is immune from personal liability for all acts done
and actions taken in good faith within the scope of its authority.
P. Charter school sponsors and this state are not
liable for the debts or financial obligations of a charter school or persons
who operate charter schools.
Q. The sponsor of a charter school shall establish
procedures to conduct administrative hearings on determination by the sponsor
that grounds exist to revoke a charter. Procedures for
administrative hearings shall be similar to procedures prescribed for
adjudicative proceedings in title 41, chapter 6, article 10. Except
as provided in section 41-1092.08, subsection H, final decisions of the
state board of education and the state board for charter schools from hearings
conducted pursuant to this subsection are subject to judicial review pursuant
to title 12, chapter 7, article 6.
R. The sponsoring entity of a charter school shall
have oversight and administrative responsibility for the charter schools that
it sponsors. In implementing its oversight and administrative
responsibilities, the sponsor shall ground its actions in evidence of the
charter holder's performance in accordance with the performance framework
adopted by the sponsor. The performance framework shall be publicly
available, shall be placed on the sponsoring entity's website and shall
include:
1. The academic performance expectations of the
charter school and the measurement of sufficient progress toward the academic
performance expectations.
2. The operational expectations of the charter
school, including adherence to all applicable laws and obligations of the
charter contract.
3. The financial expectations of the charter school.
4. Intervention and improvement policies.
S. Charter schools may pledge, assign or encumber
their assets to be used as collateral for loans or extensions of credit.
T. Notwithstanding any other law, all
property accumulated, school buildings and
grounds that are acquired by a charter school shall remain
the property of the charter school with public monies are
transferred to this state on the date that the charter school ceases operations
in this state.
U. Charter schools may not locate a school on
property that is less than one-fourth mile from agricultural land
regulated pursuant to section 3-365, except that the owner of the
agricultural land may agree to comply with the buffer zone requirements of
section 3-365. If the owner agrees in writing to comply with
the buffer zone requirements and records the agreement in the office of the
county recorder as a restrictive covenant running with the title to the land,
the charter school may locate a school within the affected buffer
zone. The agreement may include any stipulations regarding the
charter school, including conditions for future expansion of the school and
changes in the operational status of the school that will result in a breach of
the agreement.
V. A transfer of a charter to another sponsor, a
transfer of a charter school site to another sponsor or a transfer of a charter
school site to a different charter shall be completed before the beginning of
the fiscal year that the transfer is scheduled to become
effective. An entity that sponsors charter schools may accept a
transferring school after the beginning of the fiscal year if the transfer is
approved by the superintendent of public instruction. The
superintendent of public instruction shall have the discretion to consider each
transfer during the fiscal year on a case-by-case
basis. A charter holder seeking to transfer sponsors shall comply
with the current charter terms regarding assignment of the
charter. A charter holder transferring sponsors shall notify the
current sponsor that the transfer has been approved by the new sponsor.
W. Notwithstanding subsection V of this section, a
charter holder on an improvement plan must notify parents or guardians of
registered students of the intent to transfer the charter and the timing of the
proposed transfer. On the approved transfer, the new sponsor shall
enforce the improvement plan but may modify the plan based on performance.
X. Notwithstanding
subsection Y of this section, the state board for charter schools shall charge
a processing fee to any charter school that amends its contract to participate
in Arizona online instruction pursuant to section 15-808. The
charter Arizona online instruction processing fund is established consisting of
fees collected and administered by the state board for charter
schools. The state board for charter schools shall use monies in the
fund only for processing contract amendments for charter schools participating
in Arizona online instruction.� Monies in the fund are continuously
appropriated.
Y. The sponsoring entity may not charge any fees to
a charter school that it sponsors unless the sponsor has provided services to
the charter school and the fees represent the full value of those services
provided by the sponsor.� On request, the value of the services provided by the
sponsor to the charter school shall be demonstrated to the department of
education.
Z. Charter schools may enter into an
intergovernmental agreement with a presiding judge of the juvenile court to
implement a law-related education program as defined in section 15-154. The
presiding judge of the juvenile court may assign juvenile probation officers to
participate in a law-related education program in any charter school in
the county. The cost of juvenile probation officers who participate in the
program implemented pursuant to this subsection shall be funded by the charter
school.
AA. The sponsor of a charter school shall modify
previously approved curriculum requirements for a charter school that wishes to
participate in the board examination system prescribed in chapter 7, article 6
of this title.
BB. If a charter school decides not to participate
in the board examination system prescribed in chapter 7, article 6 of this
title, pupils enrolled at that charter school may earn a Grand Canyon diploma
by obtaining a passing score on the same board examinations.
CC. Notwithstanding subsection Y of this section, a
sponsor of charter schools may charge a new charter application processing fee
to any applicant. The application fee shall fully cover the cost of
application review and any needed technical assistance. Authorizers
may approve policies that allow a portion of the fee to be returned to the
applicant whose charter is approved.
DD. A charter school may choose to provide a
preschool program for children with disabilities pursuant to section 15-771.
EE. Pursuant to the prescribed graduation
requirements adopted by the state board of education, the governing body of a
charter school operating a high school may approve a rigorous computer science
course that would fulfill a mathematics course required for graduation from
high school. The governing body may approve a rigorous computer
science course only if the rigorous computer science course includes
significant mathematics content and the governing body determines the high school
where the rigorous computer science course is offered has sufficient capacity,
infrastructure and qualified staff, including competent teachers of computer
science.
FF. A charter school may allow the use of school
property, including school buildings, grounds, buses and equipment, by any
person, group or organization for any lawful purpose, including a recreational,
educational, political, economic, artistic, moral, scientific, social,
religious or other civic or governmental purpose. The charter school
may charge a reasonable fee for the use of the school property.
GG. A charter school and its employees, including
the governing body, or chief administrative officer, are immune from civil
liability with respect to all decisions made and actions taken to allow the use
of school property, unless the charter school or its employees are guilty of
gross negligence or intentional misconduct. This subsection does not
limit any other immunity provisions that are prescribed by law.
HH. Sponsors authorized pursuant to this section
shall submit an annual report to the auditor general on or before October
1. The report shall include:
1. The current number of charters authorized and the
number of schools operated by authorized charter holders.
2. The academic, operational and financial
performance of the sponsor's charter portfolio as measured by the sponsor's
adopted performance framework.
3. For the prior year, the number of new charters
approved, the number of charter schools closed and the reason for the closure.
4. The sponsor's application, amendment, renewal and
revocation processes, charter contract template and current performance
framework as required by this section.
II. The auditor general shall prescribe the format
for the annual report required by subsection HH of this section and may require
that the annual report be submitted electronically. The auditor
general shall review the submitted annual reports to ensure that the reports
include the required items in subsection HH of this section and shall make the
annual reports available on request. If the auditor general finds
significant noncompliance or if a sponsor fails to submit the annual report
required by subsection HH of this section, on or before December 31 of each
year the auditor general shall report to the governor, the president of the
senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the chairs of the
senate and house education committees or their successor committees, and the
legislature shall consider revoking the sponsor's authority to sponsor charter
schools.
JJ. Each charter
representative, charter school governing body member and officer, director,
member and partner of a charter holder, as allowed by the charter holder, may
have:
1. Access to the
charter school's students and student records.
2. Unrestricted access to the charter school's
campuses.
3. Authority to make final decisions regarding
student learning in the charter school.
4. Authority to make final decisions regarding the
safety of the charter school's students and school campuses.
KK. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Charter representative" means an
individual who both:
(a) Has the authority to execute contracts on behalf
of the charter holder in accordance with the charter holder's articles of
incorporation, operating agreement or bylaws.
(b) Represents the charter holder before the state
board for charter schools in matters relating to accountability and compliance
with federal, state and local laws and with the terms and conditions of the
charter.
2. "Charter school governing body member"
means an individual who is a member of a body organized to govern and manage a
charter school.
3. "Officer, director, member or
and partner of a charter holder":
(a) Means an individual who has the authority to
manage the operations and functions of a charter school or to make decisions on
behalf of a charter holder.
(b) Includes:
(i) An individual who possesses an ownership
interest or voting rights, or both, in the charter school.
(ii) An individual who is identified in any of
sections 10-140, 10-801, 10-840, 10-3140, 10-3840,
29-301, 29-1001, 29-3102 and 29-4101. END_STATUTE