TOPSHAM

The School Administrative District 75 Board of Directors learned more about the state’s public charter school law Thursday.

Superintendent Brad Smith gave the board an overview of the law that took effect in September 2011, including the ways a charter school can be authorized, how they may enroll students and how they are funded.

What he can’t know yet is how much money the district stands to lose if students opt for charter schools.

One former SAD 75 student currently attends the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences in Hinckley, for which SAD 75 paid just more than $7,000 — about $650 of which was for transportation.

Smith said charter schools can be authorized by a local school board, a combination of school districts that want to set one up together, or by the Maine Charter School Commission, authorized initially to approve up to 10 schools in 10 years.

The commission has already talked about raising that limit, Smith said, and already has approved some charter schools affecting SAD 75 this year.

Smith told board members that charter schools:

— are open to all Maine students, with enrollment allowed to be limited to specific ages and grades;

— may have a theme or focus;

— must accept “any and all students who apply up to the number they were approved for,” and must conduct a lottery if it gets applications above that number;

— is accountable to the entity that authorized it;

— have freedom from many rules and regulations governing public schools;

— have the same accountability requirements as public schools, including state assessments;

— may have uncertified teachers if they obtain certified status within three years, have an advanced degree or are considered expert in their fields;

— must provide transportation within a 20-mile radius, or the next two closest surrounding districts, for which it receives funding from the school district where the student lives;

— must provide special education compliant with state and federal requirements, and can contract with another district for those services; and

— must offer nursing and food service, but not the federal Free and Reduced Price lunch program.

Funding, Smith said, “is sort of a separate subject in and of itself.”

SAD 75 must pay for a charter school student based on the Essential Programs and Services funding model. The price goes up for a student from an economically disadvantaged family, for a student that is an English-language learner and those in special education.

Funds for transportation, technology and assessments also flow from the local school district.

“You lose the student, and the money follows the student,” Smith said.

Board member Kim Totten asked Smith if SAD 75 will know how many students it is losing by January or February, in time for budgeting. Smith said the district will have to count the students not knowing if they will go to the charter schools or not, noting it will be a challenge and dilemma.

About 2 million students attend charter schools across the country — part of a national trend, Smith said.

Students whose families may be considering charter schools are sitting in the classrooms of the district’s elementary schools right now, Smith said: “We know who those children are; we know their struggles. We know the challenges. We know the work that has to be done for those students.”

He noted 45 percent of the students in SAD 75 schools come from economically disadvantaged families. “Our goal in this district has been to get all of our the kids in the boat,” Smith said. “It all comes down to the quality of the teacher you have standing in the front of your child’s classroom.”

Smith said he’s proud of the quality of teachers in SAD 75, “and if we’re going to do a better job, we have to make a commitment to professional development.”

The Maine Charter School Commission has received a proposal from Harpswell Coastal Academy. It can be viewed at www.maine.gov / csc/ requests/ fall2012- 13.html#app.

Charter schools approved for fall 2012 were Cornville Regional Charter School in Cornville and the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences in Hinckley; conditional approval to open in fall 2013 was granted to Baxter Academy for Technology Science in Portland and Fiddlehead School of Arts and Science in Gray.

Harpswell Coastal Academy was among five proposals the commission received in October. More information can be found at www.maine.gov/doe/charterschools/ summary.pdf.