USA Statutes : arizona
Title : Education
Chapter : LOCAL EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY PROGRAM
15-2201 Local education accountability program; phase-in A. The local education accountability program is established to provide direct funding associated with teacher salaries, average daily membership, and transportation of pupils to local individual schools. B. By January 1 of each year, principals of schools not participating in the local education accountability program may provide written notice to the district superintendent of schools and the department of education of intent to apply for participation in the program. C. Each school district shall, from the applications made and by March 1 of each year, select at least one school to participate in the program and shall select additional schools as necessary to reach ten per cent of the number of schools in the district. If applications are received from more than ten per cent of the schools, the district may, at its sole option, determine the schools making up ten per cent of the schools in the district which shall participate in the program. Nothing in this section shall be construed as a limitation of the number of schools which the district may admit to the program in any one year. D. The principal of each school selected to participate in the program may: 1. Adopt a corporate seal. 2. Contract, except that the principal shall not enter into any contract for goods or services in which the total cost of the transaction exceeds five thousand dollars without written approval from the school district governing board. The school district governing board shall approve any proposed contract submitted by the principal pursuant to this paragraph if the contract is in proper form and if the contract is for a lawful purpose. The principal shall honor any existing contractual obligations between the school district and any provider of goods or services to the school. 3. Sue and be sued. E. The principal of each financially and operationally independent school shall negotiate employment contracts with teachers who provide instruction at the school, except that the principal shall honor any existing employment agreements between those teachers and the school district. The salary paid to a teacher who provides instruction at a financially and operationally independent school shall not be less than the salary earned by that teacher before the school became financially and operationally independent and shall not be less than the salary offered by that school district to teachers with comparable work experience and a comparable level of education. F. Each financially and operationally independent school shall procure liability insurance, property damage insurance, workers' compensation insurance and any other forms of insurance deemed necessary or desirable by the principal of the school. G. Taxpayers are eligible to receive a tax credit pursuant to section 43-1089.01 for contributions to financially and operationally independent schools. H. A school district governing board shall not take any personnel action against a principal applying to participate in the local education accountability program. I. A school district governing board shall not take any personnel action against a principal of a financially and operationally independent school that is directly or indirectly contingent on the amount of services that the school will contract to purchase from the school district. As used in this subsection "personnel action" means any of the following: 1. A disciplinary or corrective action. 2. A transfer or reassignment. 3. A suspension, demotion or dismissal. 4. An unfavorable performance evaluation. 5. A reduction in pay, benefits or awards. 6. Other significant changes in duties or responsibilities that are inconsistent with the principal's salary or employment classification. 15-2202 Responsibilities of principals
A. The principal of each financially and operationally independent school shall
follow existing school district policies unless the principal provides written
notification to the school district governing board of any modifications to existing
district policies that will be in effect at the school.
B. The principal of each financially and operationally independent school may:
1. Renew or decline to renew teacher employment contracts. The dismissal of
teachers employed at the school shall conform to chapter 5 of this title and rules
adopted by the state board of education for the evaluation and dismissal of teachers.
2. Approve, adopt and purchase academic curricula, publications and supporting
materials, notwithstanding any curriculum adopted by the school district to the contrary.
Any curricula adopted by the principal shall be in accordance with the academic standards
adopted by the state board of education.

15-2203 Distribution of monies from school districts to schools
A. By April 1 the governing board of each school district shall provide a detailed
written menu of services that the district will offer to provide to financially and
operationally independent schools. The cost charged to the financially and operationally
independent schools for services provided by the school district shall not exceed the
costs charged to other schools in the school district.
B. After deducting necessary expenses that are directly related to the
administration of the school district, each school district shall distribute all monies
that are associated with teacher salaries, average daily membership and transportation of
pupils directly to the principal of each school in the school district in the same manner
as prescribed for school districts pursuant to section 15-973, subsection B, except that
special education weighted funding prescribed pursuant to section 15-943 shall be
distributed to and administered by the school district. The school district shall enter
into a good faith agreement with the principal for the distribution of special education
monies. The distribution of special education monies to the financially and operationally
independent school need not necessarily conform to the amount of the group B weights
prescribed in section 15-943.
C. By June 1 the principal of each individual school shall notify the governing
board of the school district which, if any, services that the school will contract to
purchase from the school district.
D. On July 1 of the first year of each school's financial and operation
independence from the school district, the department of education shall apportion to the
school one-third of the total amount of the monies to be apportioned during the fiscal
year that are associated with average daily membership and transportation of pupils.
E. If the qualified electors of the school district approve a school district
budget override pursuant to section 15-481, a financially and operationally independent
school is entitled to the same amount of proceeds from the override election that the
school would be entitled to receive if the school were not financially and operationally
independent from the school district.
F. The school district is responsible for providing interscholastic athletic
services for financially and operationally independent schools. The school district may
charge the costs of providing interscholastic athletic services to financially and
operationally independent schools that participate in interscholastic athletic
activities.