1. Each sponsor of a charter school shall carry out the following duties and powers:
(a) Evaluating applications to form charter schools as prescribed by NRS 388A.249;
(b) Approving applications to form charter schools that the sponsor determines are high quality, meet the identified educational needs of pupils and will serve to promote the diversity of public educational choices in this State;
(c) Declining to approve applications to form charter schools that do not satisfy the requirements of NRS 388A.249;
(d) Negotiating, developing and executing charter contracts pursuant to NRS 388A.270;
(e) Monitoring, in accordance with this chapter and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable charter contract, the performance and compliance of each charter school sponsored by the entity;
(f) Determining whether the charter contract of a charter school that the entity sponsors merits renewal or whether the renewal of the charter contract should be denied or whether the written charter should be revoked or the charter contract terminated or restarted, as applicable, in accordance with NRS 388A.285, 388A.300 or 388A.330, as applicable;
(g) Determining whether the governing body of a charter school should be reconstituted in accordance with NRS 388A.330;
(h) Adopting a policy for appointing a new governing body of a charter school for which the governing body is reconstituted in accordance with NRS 388A.330; and
(i) Conducting site evaluations of each campus of a charter school it sponsors during the first, third and fifth years after entering into or renewing a charter contract. Such evaluations must include, without limitation, evaluating pupil achievement and school performance at each campus of the charter school and identifying any deficiencies relating to pupil achievement and school performance. The sponsor shall develop a plan with the charter school to correct any such deficiencies. A sponsor may conduct a brief evaluation of a charter school in the third year if the charter school receives, in the immediately preceding year, one of the two highest ratings of performance pursuant to the statewide system of accountability for public schools.
2. Each sponsor of a charter school shall develop policies and practices that are consistent with state laws and regulations governing charter schools. In developing the policies and practices, the sponsor shall review and evaluate nationally recognized policies and practices for sponsoring organizations of charter schools. The policies and practices must include, without limitation:
(a) The organizational capacity and infrastructure of the sponsor for sponsorship of charter schools, which must not be described as a limit on the number of charter schools the sponsor will approve;
(b) The procedure and criteria for soliciting and evaluating charter school applications in accordance with NRS 388A.249, which must include, without limitation:
(1) Specific application procedures and timelines for committees to form a charter school that plan to enter into a contract with an educational management organization to operate the charter school, committees to form a charter school that do not plan to enter into such a contract and charter management organizations; and
(2) A description of the manner in which the sponsor will evaluate the previous performance of an educational management organization or other person with whom a committee to form a charter school plans to enter into a contract to operate a charter school or a charter management organization that submits an application to form a charter school;
(c) The procedure and criteria for evaluating applications for the renewal of charter contracts pursuant to NRS 388A.285;
(d) The procedure for amending a written charter or charter contract and the criteria for determining whether a request for such an amendment will be approved which must include, without limitation, any manner in which such procedures and criteria will differ if the sponsor determines that the amendment is material or strategically important;
(e) If deemed appropriate by the sponsor, a strategic plan for recruiting charter management organizations, educational management organizations or other persons to operate charter schools based on the priorities of the sponsor and the needs of the pupils that will be served by the charter schools that will be sponsored by the sponsor;
(f) A description of how the sponsor will maintain oversight of the charter schools it sponsors, which must include, without limitation:
(1) An assessment of the needs of the charter schools that are sponsored by the sponsor that is prepared with the input of the governing bodies of such charter schools; and
(2) A strategic plan for the oversight and provision of technical support to charter schools that are sponsored by the sponsor in the areas of academic, fiscal and organizational performance; and
(g) A description of the process of evaluation for the charter schools it sponsors in accordance with NRS 388A.351.
3. Evidence of material or persistent failure to carry out the powers and duties of a sponsor prescribed by this section constitutes grounds for revocation of the entity’s authority to sponsor charter schools.
4. The provisions of this section do not establish a private right of action against the sponsor of a charter school.
(Added to NRS by 1997, 1844; A 2001, 3125; 2005, 2398; 2007, 2567; 2011, 2358; 2013, 1662, 2908; 2015, 2460, 3261; 2017, 3385; 2019, 2302) — (Substituted in revision for part of NRS 386.515)