1. A committee to form a charter school or charter management organization may submit the application to the proposed sponsor of the charter school. If an application proposes to convert an existing public school, homeschool or other program of home study into a charter school, the proposed sponsor shall deny the application.
2. The proposed sponsor of a charter school shall, in reviewing an application to form a charter school:
(a) Assemble a team of reviewers, which may include, without limitation, natural persons from different geographic areas of the United States who possess the appropriate knowledge and expertise with regard to the academic, financial and organizational experience of charter schools, to review and evaluate the application;
(b) Conduct a thorough evaluation of the application, which includes an in-person interview with the applicant designed to elicit any necessary clarifications or additional information about the proposed charter school and determine the ability of the applicants to establish a high-quality charter school;
(c) Consider the degree to which the proposed charter school will address the needs identified in the evaluation prepared by the proposed sponsor pursuant to subsection 5 or 6 of NRS 388A.220, as applicable;
(d) If the proposed sponsor is not the board of trustees of a school district, solicit input from the board of trustees of the school district in which the proposed charter school will be located;
(e) Base its determination on documented evidence collected through the process of reviewing the application; and
(f) Adhere to the policies and practices developed by the proposed sponsor pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS 388A.223.
3. The proposed sponsor of a charter school may approve an application to form a charter school only if the proposed sponsor determines that:
(a) The application:
(1) Complies with this chapter and the regulations applicable to charter schools; and
(2) Is complete in accordance with the regulations of the Department and the policies and practices of the sponsor;
(b) The applicant has demonstrated competence in accordance with the criteria for approval prescribed by the sponsor pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS 388A.223 that will likely result in a successful opening and operation of the charter school;
(c) Based on the most recent evaluation prepared by the proposed sponsor pursuant to subsection 5 or 6 of NRS 388A.220, as applicable, the proposed charter school will address one or more of the needs identified in the evaluation; and
(d) It has received sufficient input from the public, including, without limitation, input received at the meeting held pursuant to subsection 1 of NRS 388A.252 or subsection 1 of NRS 388A.255, as applicable.
4. The identity of each member of the team of reviewers assembled by a proposed sponsor of a charter school is confidential for 5 years after the review of an application to form a charter school is complete and must not be disclosed unless ordered by a district court in an action brought pursuant to subsection 3 of NRS 388A.255.
5. On or before January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall submit a written report to the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmission to the next regular session of the Legislature. The report must include:
(a) A list of each application to form a charter school that was submitted to the board of trustees of a school district, the State Public Charter School Authority, a college or a university during the immediately preceding biennium;
(b) The educational focus of each charter school for which an application was submitted;
(c) The current status of the application; and
(d) If the application was denied, the reasons for the denial.
(Added to NRS by 1997, 1846; A 1999, 3295; 2001, 3127; 2005, 1098, 2399, 2537; 2007, 2569; 2011, 2361, 3047; 2013, 1665, 2913; 2015, 3271, 3799; 2017, 3390; 2019, 2010, 2069, 2304, effective January 1, 2020)