OAR 581-026-0405: Appeal of Sponsor's Decision Not to Renew a Charter

(1) Within 30 days of receiving notice from a sponsor that the sponsor has decided not to renew the charter (contract) based on a revised request for renewal, a public charter school governing body may request the State Board of Education review the decision by the sponsor not to renew a charter. Any notice of a request for State Board review must be made in writing and be delivered to the State Board of Education and the business address of the sponsor. (2) The decision of a sponsor not to renew a charter must be based on a good faith evaluation of the factors set out in ORS 338.065(6) and must utilize the process set out in 338.065(4) and OAR 581-026-0400. (3) The State Board, Director of the Oregon Department of Education or the director's designee will review the decision of a sponsor not to renew a charter for compliance with the requirements of subsection (2) of this rule. (4) The State Board of Education delegates to the director or the director's designee all administrative functions necessary or reasonable in order to conduct a timely review of the decision of the sponsor to not renew a charter. This delegation to the director or the director's designee includes, but is not limited to: (a) Determining the form, contents, and timelines of the petition for review; (b) Determining the records required for review and ordering the production of those records from either the public charter school governing body or school district board and establishing timelines for the production of those records; (c) Requiring the public charter school governing body or school district board to respond to written or oral inquiries related to board review; (d) Delegating the review function to department staff or a hearings officer conduct the review and issue a proposed order; and (e) Issuing a final order. (5) If the director or the director's designee finds that the sponsor made the decision to not renew a charter based on a good faith evaluation of the factors set out in ORS 338.065(6) and utilized the process set out in 338.065(4), a final order will be issued to uphold the decision of the sponsor. (6) If the director or the director's designee finds that the sponsor did not make the decision to not renew a charter based on a good faith evaluation of the factors set out in ORS 338.065(6), did not utilize the process set out in 338.065(4) or both, a final order will be issued to order the sponsor to reconsider the request for renewal utilizing the process and requirements set out in OAR 581-026-0400. (7) The Director of the Oregon Department of Education or the director's designee shall issue the final order within 60 days from the receipt of the request for review, unless both parties agree to a different timeline. (8) If a school district on reconsideration ordered under subsection (6) of this rule does not renew the charter, the sponsor's decision may be appealed under the provisions of ORS 183.484. (9) A charter school that requested renewal of its charter by the sponsor in writing at least 180 days before expiration of the charter shall remain open under the terms of its charter, unless otherwise agreed to by the charter school and the sponsor, until one or more of the following occurs: (a) The sponsor and the charter school execute a new charter. (b) The sponsor denies the renewal of the charter and the time period for the charter school to resubmit a renewal request or appeal the decision to the State Board of Education has lapsed. (c) The Director of the Oregon Department of Education or the director's designee issues a final order to uphold the decision of the sponsor to not renew. (d) The Director of the Oregon Department of Education or the director's designee issues a final order that orders the school district to reconsider the decision to non-renew and the school district again notifies the charter school of a nonrenewal. (e) A court orders the closure of the school. (f) The charter of the school is terminated under ORS 338.105 and OARs 581-026-0500 and 581-026-0505.