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Legal Insights
Publications
An annual compilation reflective of laws effective January 1, 2024. Download »
An annual compilation reflective of laws January 2024. Download »
A compendium of California Government Code Sections 54950-54963. Download »
Two comprehensive guides advising charter schools on all aspects of their facilities.
1)Leasing and Buying Commercial Properties for Charter School Use Download »
2)Planning and Permitting the Construction and Development of Facilities for Charter Schools in California Download »
A conveniently condensed booklet of Proposition 39 and the Implementing Regulations. Download »
Resource Documents
This document is a compendium of the California independent study laws applicable to charter schools. It has been updated to reflect AB 130 Download »
An example of a misleading corporate compliance notice. Download »
The Director of the IRS division handling Exempt Organizations Rulings and Agreements has issued guidelines to assist IRS Exempt Organizations specialists on how to process requests for tax exemption of charter schools. Download »
Designed to assist the IRS Exempt Organizations specialists in the process of Form 1023 applications files by charter schools that are seeking exemption under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). Download »
The State Board of Education (“SBE”) is the governing and policy-making body of the California Department of Education. It has eleven members, including one student member, and sets K-12 education policy in the areas of standards, instructional materials, assessment, and accountability, and can grant waivers from certain educational laws and regulations. The SBE has numerous responsibilities relating to charter schools, including but not limited to:
- Selective granting of charter petitions that have been denied or not renewed by local education agencies, but that the State Board determines to have met statutory requirements;
- Taking appropriate action, including, but not limited to, revocation with respect to State Board-granted and locally-granted charters under specific circumstances set forth in statute;
- Establishing appropriate funding levels for non-classroom-based charter schools;
- Jointly with the State Superintendent, approving district-wide charter petitions when those petitions are determined to be satisfactory;
- Developing and adopting regulations to implement various provisions of the Charter Schools Act of 1992 (Part 26.8 of the Education Code, commencing with Section 47600);
- Approving or denying requests to waive otherwise applicable provisions of law;
- Assigning numbers to charter school petitions to ensure that the statutory cap on the number of charter schools is not exceeded; and
- Following the passage of AB 2030, overturning charter revocations if the SBE determines that the revocation was not based on substantial evidence. Download »
The Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (“ACCS”) was established by the SBE in April of 2002 and is composed of nine members with extensive experience in the field of education. The ACCS advises the SBE on all aspects of the SBE’s duties under the Charter Schools Act of 1992. The ACCS helps with:
- Selective granting of charters;
- Taking appropriate action, including, but not limited to, revocation of charters;
- Establishing appropriate funding levels for non-classroom based charter schools and passing the recommendations on to the SBE for final approval.
- Evaluating the charter schools appealing to the SBE for approval (the ACCS then makes a recommendation to the SBE to approve or deny the petition;
- Developing charter school-specific regulations for approval by the SBE.
Download »
Charter schools approved by the State Board of Education will be required to operate under the conditions set forth in these documents:
Duties of Charter School and Oversight Agent Download »
SBE Expectations for Oversight and Supervision Download »
Legal Templates
This document, newly updated for the 2026-27 school year and beyond, provides charter schools with a template they can use to request facilities from a school district under Proposition 39. It also includes detailed instructions on filling out the template request, what information must be attached to the request, and a sample intent to enroll form.
Form and Instructions Download »
Prop. 39 and Implementing Regulations Download »
Spanish version of re-enroll form Download »
Many charter schools use facilities provided by religious institutions. While this is legal, the charter school’s location in a facility alongside a religious institution can trigger separation of church and state issues (i.e., establishment of religion). This Checklist can be used to assess the facility to determine if changes or modifications need to be made to the facility in order to avoid a lawsuit or legal challenge by the granting agency. Download »
This document can be used in the situation where a charter school agrees to provide directory information on its students to substantiate a request for Proposition 39 facilities. Although not legally required to provide this information to support a Prop. 39 request, should a charter school choose to release information about it students (e.g., name, address, etc.) it should do so only if the receiving school district executes a form of confidentiality agreement. Download »