Oklahoma

State law allows most authorizers to approve an unlimited number of charter schools. However, in counties with fewer than 500,000 population, the law provides that the state board of education shall not sponsor more than five charter schools per year each year until 2020, with not more than one charter school sponsored in a single school district per year. Statute also limits the state board of education to approving not more than two schools affiliated with the Office of Juvenile Affairs between July 1, 2010, and July 1, 2016.

Oklahoma law allows new start-ups and public school conversions.

Oklahoma law permits the following entities to serve as authorizers:
* Local school districts, provided such charter school shall only be located within the geographical boundaries of the sponsoring district;
* A technology center school district if the charter school is located in a school district served by the technology center school district in which all or part of the district is located in a county having more than 500,000 population;
* A technology center school district if the charter school is located in a school district served by the technology center school district and the district has a school site that has been identified as in need of improvement by the state board of education pursuant to federal law;
* A comprehensive or regional institution that is a member of the Oklahoma state system of higher education or community college if the charter school is located in a school district in which all or part of the district is located in a county having more than 500,000 population;
* A comprehensive or regional institution that is a member of the Oklahoma state system of higher education or community college and has a teacher education program accredited by the Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation and have a branch campus or constituent agency physically located within the school district in which the charter school is located in the State of Oklahoma, if the charter school is located in a school district that has a school site that has been identified as in need of improvement by the state board of education pursuant to federal law;
* A federally recognized Indian tribe, operating a high school under the authority of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as of November 1, 2010, if the charter school is for the purpose of demonstrating native language immersion instruction, and is located within its former reservation or treaty area boundaries;
* The State Board of Education in two instances: (1) when the applicant has first been denied a charter by the local school district in which it seeks to operate; and (2) when the applicant of the charter school is the Office of Juvenile Affairs or the applicant has a contract with the Office of Juvenile Affairs to provide a fixed rate level E, D, or D+ group home service and the charter school is for the purpose of providing education services to youth in the custody or supervision of the state;
* The statewide virtual charter school board when the charter school is for the purpose of establishing a full-time statewide virtual charter school.

If the State Board of Education overturns an authorizer’s decision to renew a school ranked in the bottom 5% of all public schools in the state, the Board may implement one of the following actions:
* Transfer the sponsorship of the charter school to another authorizer;
* Order the closure of the charter school at the end of the current school year;
* Order the reduction of any administrative fee collected by the authorizer that is applicable to the charter school.

If the State Board of Education has closed or transferred authorization of at least 25% of the charter schools chartered by one authorizer, the authority of the authorizer to authorize new charter schools may be suspended by the Board until the Board approves the authorizer to authorize new charter schools. A determination to suspend the authority of an authorizer to authorize new charter schools shall identify the deficiencies that, if corrected, will result in the approval of the authorizer to authorize new charter schools.

Oklahoma law requires the state board of education to issue an annual report to the legislature and the governor outlining the status of charter schools in the state.

Oklahoma law includes a small number of the model law's provisions for adequate authorizer funding.
Oklahoma law permits an authorizer to withhold up to 5% of a school's state aid allocation for administrative purposes.

Oklahoma law outlines the elements to be contained in the charter application. It also contains additional application elements specific to educational service providers and replications that non-school district authorizers must use.
The law requires authorizers to make all charter approval or denial decisions in a public meeting.

Oklahoma law requires the authorizer and charter school governing board to enter into a written contract, but the requirements only concern school roles, powers, and responsibilities and don’t address authorizer roles, powers, and responsibilities.
The law requires charter contracts to define academic and operational performance expectations by which the school will be judged based on a performance framework.

Oklahoma law provides that a charter contract must be for five years.

Oklahoma law requires each charter school to annually file a report with the Office of Accountability. It provides that this report must include such information as requested by the Office of Accountability, including but not limited to information on enrollment, testing, curriculum, finances, and employees.
The law requires charter schools to be subject to the same reporting requirements, financial audits, audit procedures, and audit requirements as school districts.

Oklahoma law requires authorizers to provide oversight of the operations of charter schools through annual performance reviews of charter schools and monitor, in accordance with charter contract terms, the performance and legal compliance of charter schools.

Oklahoma law provides that an authorizer shall not request any metric or data from a charter school that it does not produce or publish for all school sites in the district or under its sponsorship, unless the metric or data is unique to a charter school.

Oklahoma law requires schools seeking renewal to apply for it and requires authorizers to issue school performance renewal reports to schools whose charter will expire the following year and to issue renewal application guidance that provides an opportunity for schools to augment their performance record and discuss improvements and future plans.
Oklahoma law provides that a charter school authorizer may deny the request for renewal if it determines the charter school has failed to complete the obligations of the contract or comply with the provisions of the state's charter schools law. It also provides that a charter school authorizer may terminate a contract during the term of the contract for failure to meet the requirements for student performance contained in the contract, failure to meet the standards of fiscal management, violations of the law, or other good cause.

Oklahoma law provides that at the time of its charter renewal, based on an average of the current year and the two prior operating years, an authorizer may close a charter school site identified as being among the bottom five percent of public schools in the state. In the event that an authorizer fails to close a charter school site, the authorizer shall appear before the State Board of Education to provide support for its decision. The State Board of Education may, by majority vote, uphold or overturn the decision of the authorizer. These provisions do not apply to a charter school that has been designed by the State Department of Education as implementing an alternative education program throughout the charter school.

In making a school site closure decision, the State Board of Education shall consider the following:

* Enrollment of students with special challenges such as drug or alcohol addiction, prior withdrawal from school, prior incarceration or other special circumstances;
* High mobility of the student population resulting from the specific purpose of the charter school;
* Annual improvement in the performance of students enrolled in the charter school compared with the performance of students enrolled in the charter school in the immediately preceding school year;
* Whether a majority of students attending the charter school under consideration for closure would likely revert to attending public schools with lower academic achievement.

If the State Board of Education overturns an authorizer’s decision to renew a school ranked in the bottom 5% of all public schools in the state, the Board may implement one of the following actions:

* Transfer the sponsorship of the charter school to another authorizer;
* Order the closure of the charter school at the end of the current school year;
* Order the reduction of any administrative fee collected by the authorizer that is applicable to the charter school.

Oklahoma law requires an authorizer to give written notice of its intent to deny the request for renewal at least eight months prior to expiration of the contract. It requires an authorizer to give at least 90 days written notice to the governing board prior to terminating the contract.

Under Oklahoma law, a charter contract may be renewed for successive five-year terms of duration, although the sponsor may vary the term based on the performance, demonstrated capacities and particular circumstances of each charter school.

Oklahoma law requires authorizers to provide charter schools with timely notification of potential revocation or non-renewal (including reasons) and reasonable time to respond and to provide charter schools with due process for nonrenewal and revocation decisions (e.g., public hearing, submission of evidence).

Oklahoma law requires authorizers to make all charter approval or denial decisions in a public meeting, state in a resolution the reasons for the revocation or nonrenewal, and provide a public report summarizing the evidence used as the basis for each decision.

Oklahoma law contains school closure protocols that authorizers must use.

According to the law, before an authorizer may issue a charter to a charter school governing body that has had its charter terminated or has been informed that its charter will not be renewed by the current authorizer, the authorizer shall request to have the proposal reviewed by the State Board of Education at a hearing. The State Board of Education shall conduct a hearing in which the authorizer shall present information indicating that the proposal of the organizer is substantively different in the areas of deficiency identified by the current authorizer from the current proposal as set forth within the charter with its current authorizer. After the State Board of Education conducts a hearing, the Board shall either approve or deny the proposal. If the proposal is denied, no authorizer may issue a charter to the charter school governing body.

Oklahoma law allows all types of educational service providers and contains additional application elements specific to educational service providers that non-school district authorizers must use.
Oklahoma law provides that charter school boards have the same statutory conflict of interest requirements as non-charter school boards, which prevent school board members from being affiliated with an ESP.
Oklahoma law provides that any owner of an educational management organization shall be required to disclose to the governing board of the school in a public meeting any ownership position in any business that contracts or proposes to contract with the same public school that the educational management organization is managing.

Oklahoma law provides that a charter school that contracts with an educational management organization shall use the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System (OCAS) to report the total amount paid to an educational management organization as well as itemized expenditure information for the goods or services provided by the management organization as defined by OCAS expenditure codes, including the total compensation package of the superintendent including the base salary, insurance, retirement, and other fringe benefits.

Oklahoma law provides that all employees of charter schools, including employees of an ESP, must have a criminal history records check.

Oklahoma law allows a charter school to enter into contracts and sue or be sued. It also provides that charter schools are considered a school district for purposes of the Governmental Tort Claims Act.
Oklahoma law requires charter schools to provide for a governing body for the school that shall be responsible for the policies and operational decisions of the charter school.

Oklahoma law provides that charter schools must provide open enrollment to any student in the state.
According to the law, a charter school shall not limit admission based on ethnicity, national origin, gender, income level, disabling condition, proficiency in the English language, and measures of achievement, aptitude, or athletic ability.

The law provides that a charter school shall admit students who reside in the attendance area of a school or in a school district that is under a court order of desegregation or that is a party to an agreement with the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights directed towards mediating alleged or proven racial discrimination unless notice is received from the resident school district that admission of the student would violate the court order or agreement.

Oklahoma law requires a charter school to give enrollment preference to eligible students who reside within the boundaries of the school district in which the charter school is located. For schools created in 2010 or later, this required preference includes students who meet this criteria and attend a school on the state’s school improvement list.

Oklahoma law allows a charter school to designate a specific geographic area within the school district in which the charter school is located as an academic enterprise zone and may limit admissions to students who reside within that area (an academic enterprise zone is a geographic area in which 60% or more of the children who reside in the area qualify for the free or reduced school lunch program).

Oklahoma law requires charter schools to select students through a lottery selection process if capacity is insufficient to enroll all eligible students.

Oklahoma law provides that except as provided for in the state's charter school law and a charter school's charter, a charter school is exempt from all statutes and rules relating to schools, boards of education, and school districts.
Oklahoma law exempts charter schools from state teacher certification requirements.

Collective bargaining is required for non-charter public school teachers in Oklahoma. Only four items must be bargained: wages, insurance and fringe benefits, hours, and terms and conditions of employment. Only one additional item, grievance procedures, may be bargained. Two items are expressly excluded from bargaining: extracurricular duties and management rights.Oklahoma law exempts charter schools from participation in district collective bargaining agreements.
Oklahoma’s state law prohibited unions from charging agency fees to non-union members prior to the Janus v. AFSCME decision, so the Supreme Court’s decision has no effect on unions in the state.
In Oklahoma, local boards of education are empowered to recognize an exclusive representative based on a secret ballot vote or evidence with signed authorization of a majority of employees in the unit. For elections, employees must petition with at least 35 percent support calling for an election. Petitions for decertification must also provide signature evidence of 35 percent support. There are no state boards that can grant certification. Note that in July 2017, the Public Employees Labor Relations Board was terminated, repealing most collective bargaining protections for many classes of public employees, but that repeal excluded public school teachers, among others.Oklahoma law exempts charter schools from participation in district collective bargaining agreements.

Oklahoma law provides that a charter contract may provide for one or more schools by an applicant to the extent approved by the authorizer and consistent with applicable law. An applicant or the governing board of an applicant may hold one or more charter contracts. Each charter school that is part of a charter contract shall be separate and distinct from any other charter school under the same charter contract.

Oklahoma law provides that a brick and mortar charter school may sign a co-op agreement with a school district allowing charter school students to play on district teams.
Oklahoma law provides that students enrolled full-time in the statewide virtual charter school governed by the statewide virtual charter school board shall not be authorized to participate in any activities administered by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association. However, it provides that these students may participate in intramural activities sponsored by the statewide virtual charter school, an online provider sponsored by the statewide virtual charter school, or any other outside organization.

Oklahoma law states that charter schools are their own local education agencies and specifies that a charter school must comply with all federal and state laws relating to the education of children with disabilities in the same manner as a school district. The law provides that federal dollars flow directly to charter schools and provides a specific, clearly defined process for state dollars.

Oklahoma law requires the state board of education to determine the policy and procedure for making payments to a charter school.

Oklahoma law requires that charter schools receive state aid, but not local dollars.

The law provides that federal dollars flow directly to charter schools and provides a specific, clearly defined process for state dollars.

Oklahoma law creates a tax credit scholarship program that includes charter schools. Every school district in the state – including charter schools – is eligible to fundraise and offer their donors a tax credit of up to 75% of their donation. Each school district and charter school can provide up to $200,000 in tax credits.
Under Oklahoma law, a charter school may provide transportation. Where it is provided, charters receive the same per-pupil allotment as traditional public schools for transportation.

According to a recent study, Oklahoma’s 22 charter schools received 35.9 percent less funding than district schools: $6,001 vs. $9,366 per pupil, respectively, a difference of $3,366 per pupil.

Oklahoma law establishes the "Redbud Fund." Charter schools and school districts with low property tax revenue will benefit from this fund as it provides funding to "level up" charter schools and school districts to the per pupil average for building fund revenue per pupil. This fund goes into effect this year and is projected to provide approximately $350 per student in facility funding for charter schools and school districts.
Oklahoma law provides the charter school incentive fund, which provides up to $50,000 per school to cover costs associated with renovating or remodeling existing buildings and structures for use by a charter school. The state is not currently funding this program.

The law provides that public charter schools have access to the State Public Common School Building Equalization Fund. It provides that charters must use these funds to acquire buildings, grants can only be awarded to charter schools that have secured matching funds for acquiring buildings in an amount of not less than 10% of the total grant amount, and the amount of each grant cannot exceed $4,000,000. From the total amount available to provide grants to public schools, the law requires that charter schools be allocated the greater of 10% of the total amount or the percent of students enrolled in charter schools that are not sponsored by the statewide virtual charter school board as compared to the student enrollment in school districts which have a total assessed property valuation per average daily membership that is equal to or less than 25% of the state total assessed property valuation per average daily membership. It also provides that the state board of education shall make available to eligible charter schools any unused grant funds that remain after the initial allocation to all eligible public school districts and charter schools. The state is not currently funding this program.

Oklahoma law allows charter schools to access tax-exempt bond financing through the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority.
The law provides that charter schools that choose to lease property are eligible to receive current government lease rates.

Oklahoma law provides charter schools the option to participate in relevant employee retirement systems.

Oklahoma law provides that the statewide virtual charter school board must serve as the authorizer when the charter school is for the purpose of establishing a full-time statewide virtual charter school. It also provides that no school district shall offer full-time virtual education to students who are not residents of the school district or enter into a virtual charter school contract with a provider to provide full-time virtual education to students who do not reside within the school district boundaries.Starting in the 2021-22 school year, all public school students wishing to attend a virtual charter school are considered a transfer student from their resident school district. Such students have only one such transfer per year, unless they change their mind during a 15-day grace period or unless another transfer is agreed to by the resident district and receiving virtual charter school. All virtual charter schools must require students to complete an orientation prior to other instructional activities.
The law requires the governing body of each virtual charter school to adopt an attendance policy. The policy may allow attendance to be a proportional amount of the required attendance policy provisions based upon the date of enrollment of the student. The attendance policy shall include the following provisions:
1. A student who attends a virtual charter school shall be considered in attendance for a quarter if the student:
* completes instructional activities on no less than 90% of the days within the quarter,
* is on pace for on-time completion of the course as defined by the governing board of the virtual charter school, or
* completes no less than seventy-two instructional activities within the quarter of the academic year.
Such instructional activities shall include instructional meetings with a teacher, completed assignments that are used to record a grade for a student that is factored into the student's grade for the semester during which the assignment is completed, testing, school-sanctioned field trips, and orientation.
Any student that is behind pace and does not complete an instructional activity for a fifteen-school-day-period shall be withdrawn for truancy and be taken off the roll beginning the sixteenth day and thereafter is not considered in the virtual charter school's average daily membership calculation until the pupil is placed on the roll in the virtual charter school. A student who is reported for truancy two times in the same school year shall be withdrawn and prohibited from enrolling in the same virtual charter school for the remainder of the school year. Each statewide virtual charter school must also adopt a policy regarding consequences for a student's failure to consistently attend school and complete instructional activities, including withdrawal from the school for truancy. If a statewide virtual charter school withdraws a student, it must immediately notify the student's resident district in writing of the student's disenrollment.
2. For a student who does not meet any of the criteria set forth in paragraph 1 of this subsection, the amount of attendance recorded shall be the greater of:
* the number of school days during which the student completed the instructional activities during the quarter,
* the number of school days proportional to the percentage of the course that has been completed, or
* the number of school days proportional to the percentage of the required minimum number of completed instructional activities during the quarter.
Oklahoma law subjects virtual charter schools to the same reporting requirements, financial audits, audit procedures, and audit requirements as school districts.

Oklahoma law provides that the State Department of Education or State Auditor and Inspector may conduct financial, program, or compliance audits of virtual charter schools.

Oklahoma law requires virtual charter schools to use the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System to report financial transactions to the State Department of Education.

Oklahoma law provides that a virtual charter school governing body shall be responsible for the policies that govern the operational decisions of the virtual charter school, that the governing body of a virtual charter school shall be subject to the same conflict of interest requirements as a member of a local school board, and that members appointed to the governing body of a virtual charter school after July 1, 2019, are subject to the same instruction and continuing education requirements as a member of a local school board, complete 12 hours of instruction within 15 months of appointment to the governing body, and attend continuing education.