HB 31: Charter School Amendments
2007 General Session

Sponsor: Joint Education Interim Committee

HB 31 amended Wyoming’s charter school law to restrict the frequency with which charter school applications could be filed. Under current law, a person, group or organization that wishes to establish a charter school must submit an application to the local school district board, which must hold a public hearing within 30 days, and either approve or deny the application within 60 days. HB 31 added the stipulation that, if an application was denied, a new application for the same charter could not be considered within the next 12 months.

HB 31 required the local school board to notify applicants within 45 days of a decision to deny an application. Current charter school law allows applicants to appeal a local school board’s decision to deny an application to the Wyoming Board of Education. HB 31 increased the time the applicant had to appeal from 30 days to 45 days following the denial notification.

The bill also clarified that charters, once granted, may be renewed for successive periods up to five years per renewal.

The Wyoming Education Association noted that limiting re-application to once every 12 months would reduce the potential fiscal and administrative drain on school districts. 

The House removed the restriction on frequency of application before unanimously passing HB 31. The Senate reinserted the frequency restriction and passed the bill, 28-1 (1 excused), with Senator Cale Case (R-S25, Lander) casting the single NO vote. After the House did not concur with the Senate’s amendment (by a 26-34 vote), a conference committee proposed a compromise that would retain the 12 month frequency restriction but clarify that computation of the 12 month period would begin when the application was filed with the local school board. This compromise was accepted by both the House and the Senate, and HB 31 was signed into law by the governor.

Engrossed