Present law requires LEAs in which one or more public charter schools operate to annually report underutilized and vacant property belonging to the LEA. A public charter school operating within the geographic boundaries of an LEA, excluding public charter schools in the achievement school district, has a right of first refusal to purchase or lease, at or below fair market value, underutilized or vacant property reported by the LEA. This bill changes present law by requiring all LEAs to annually report underutilized and vacant property belonging to the LEA. This bill adds to present law by extending to the owner of a child care facility that is operating in an LEA that does not have one or more public charter schools operating within its geographic boundaries a right of first refusal to purchase or lease, at or below fair market value, underutilized or vacant property reported by the LEA. If one or more public charter schools operate in the LEA in which a child care facility also operates, then the owner or operator of a child care facility operating in the LEA will have a second right of refusal to purchase or lease vacant or underutilized property from the LEA. The procedure for sales and leases of vacant or underutilized LEA property to owners of child care centers would be substantially similar to the process for such sales and leases to public charter schools under present law. For purposes of this bill, "child care facility" means a child care agency, a child care center, or a drop-in center, but only if the center or agency is owned and operated by one or more individuals who do not own or operate the center or agency as a corporation domiciled in this or another state.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 49-13-136(c)(1), 49-13-136