(a) (1) The chartering authority shall not renew a charter if either of the following apply for two consecutive years immediately preceding the renewal decision:
(A) The charter school has received the two lowest performance levels schoolwide on all the state indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5 for which it receives performance levels.
(B) For all measurements of academic performance, the charter school has received performance levels schoolwide that are the same or lower than the state average and, for a majority of subgroups performing statewide below the state average in each respective year, received performance levels that are lower than the state average.
(2) A charter school that meets the criteria established by this subdivision and paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 47607 shall only qualify for treatment under this subdivision.
(3) The chartering authority shall consider the following factors, and may renew a charter that meets the criteria in paragraph (1) only upon making a written factual finding, specific to the particular petition, setting forth specific facts to support the finding that the charter school is taking meaningful steps to address the underlying cause or causes of low performance, and those steps are reflected, or will be reflected, in a written plan adopted by the governing body of the charter school.
(4) For a charter renewed pursuant to this subdivision, the chartering authority may grant a renewal for a period of two years.
(b) (1) For all charter schools for which paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 47607 and subdivision (a) of this section do not apply, the chartering authority shall consider the schoolwide performance and performance of all subgroups of pupils served by the charter school on the state indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5 and the performance of the charter school on the local indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5.
(2) The chartering authority shall provide greater weight to performance on measurements of academic performance in determining whether to grant a charter renewal.
(3) The chartering authority may deny a charter renewal pursuant to this subdivision only upon making written findings, setting forth specific facts to support the findings, that the charter school has failed to meet or make sufficient progress toward meeting standards that provide a benefit to the pupils of the school, that closure of the charter school is in the best interest of pupils and, if applicable pursuant to paragraph (2), that its decision provided greater weight to performance on measurements of academic performance.
(4) For a charter renewed pursuant to this subdivision, the chartering authority shall grant a renewal for a period of five years.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2026.
(Repealed (in Sec. 8) and added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 486, Sec. 9. (AB 1505) Effective January 1, 2020. Operative January 1, 2026, by its own provisions.)