6-23-304. Requirements — Preference for certain districts.

6-23-304. Requirements — Preference for certain districts. (a) The authorizer may approve or deny an application based on: (1) Criteria provided by law or by rule adopted by the State Board of Education; (2) Findings of the authorizer relating to improving student performance and encouraging innovative programs; and (3) Written findings or statements received by the authorizer from any public school district likely to be affected by the open-enrollment public charter school. (b) The authorizer shall give preference in approving an application for an open-enrollment public charter school to be located in any public school district: (1) When the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches is above the average for the state; (2) When the district has been classified by the state board as in need of Level 5 — Intensive support under § 6-15-2915; or (3) When the district has been classified by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education as in some phase of fiscal distress under the Arkansas Fiscal Assessment and Accountability Program, § 6-20-1901 et seq., if the fiscal distress status is a result of administrative fiscal mismanagement, as determined by the state board. (c)(1)(A) The division, the state board, or a combination of the division and state board may grant no more than a total of twenty-four (24) charters for open-enrollment public charter schools except as provided under subdivision (c)(1)(B) of this section. (B) If the cap on the number of charters available for an open-enrollment public charter school is within two (2) charters of meeting any existing limitation or cap on available open-enrollment charters, the number of available charters shall automatically increase by five (5) slots more than the most recent existing limitation or cap on open-enrollment charters. (C) By March 1 each year, the division shall issue a commissioner's memo stating the existing limitation on the number of charters available for open-enrollment public charter schools and the number of charters available for open-enrollment public charter schools during the next application cycle. (2) An open-enrollment public charter applicant's school campus shall be limited to a single open-enrollment public charter school per charter except as allowed in subsection (d) of this section. (3) An open-enrollment public charter school shall not open in the service area of a public school district administratively reorganized under the Public Education Reorganization Act, § 6-13-1601 et seq., until after the third year of the administrative reorganization. (4) A private or parochial elementary or secondary school shall not be eligible for open-enrollment public charter school status. (d) A charter applicant that receives an approved open-enrollment public charter may petition the authorizer for additional licenses to establish an open-enrollment public charter school in any of the various congressional districts in Arkansas if the applicant meets the following conditions: (1) The approved open-enrollment public charter applicant has demonstrated academic success as defined by the state board for all public schools; (2) The approved open-enrollment public charter applicant has not: (A) Been subject to any disciplinary action by the authorizer; (B) Been classified as in need of Level 5 — Intensive support or fiscal distress; and (C) Had its open-enrollment public charter placed on charter school probation or suspended or revoked under § 6-23-105; and (3) The authorizer determines in writing by majority of a quorum present that the open-enrollment public charter applicant has generally established the educational program results and criteria set forth in this subsection.