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SPCSA outlines 2023–2025 legislative changes affecting charter schools, including teacher pay funds and board appointments
Summary
SPCSA staff summarized major education bills passed in the 83rd Nevada Legislature affecting charter schools, including a teacher pay fund allocation, changes to SPCSA board appointment qualifications under SB460, and transportation and special education funding adjustments.
The State Public Charter School Authority used its June meeting to summarize legislative changes from the 83rd Nevada Legislature that will affect charter schools and the authorizer’s operations.
Executive Director Melissa Makadan told board members that AB398 establishes a $19.3 million annual allocation for teachers and education support staff raises and that SPCSA staff will report payroll counts and schools’ plans to the interim finance committee later this year. “These dollars must be used to supplement, not supplant salaries,” Makadan said, and charter schools will be required to track the funds in separate budget accounts.
Makadan also reviewed SB460, a complex bill that will change SPCSA board appointments and qualifications effective July 1, 2026. Under the changes described by Makadan, some appointing authorities will gain or lose seats and several seats will now require specific qualifications (for example, appointments that must be parents of charter school students or persons with finance/facilities expertise). Makadan said staff is working with the Legislative Counsel Bureau to interpret transition timelines and the application of new qualifications.
Other bills highlighted by SPCSA staff included SB468, which increased transportation funding and for which SPCSA had already circulated applications; AB571, which provided biennial funding to offset a Title I calculation issue; and AB500, the education budget bill, in which SPCSA staff said a last-minute change improved special education funding formulas for charter schools relative to an earlier subcommittee proposal.
Samantha King Powell, SPCSA general counsel, noted provisions in SB418 permitting PERS to deduct delinquent amounts directly from PCFP payments if schools are delinquent, with alternative arrangements allowed when both parties agree. She also flagged AB420’s new requirement that school districts and charter schools publish annual reports on the use-of-force incidents by school police officers.
Why it matters: the updates affect how SPCSA will administer funds, what information schools must submit, the composition and qualifications of the SPCSA board, and authorizer responsibilities for funds that must be tracked and reported separately.
Board members asked for clarification about how the SPCSA will administer funds and oversight for schools outside its direct portfolio; staff said SPCSA will perform those functions for all charter schools as required by statute. Members also asked whether newly opened schools would be eligible for the teacher-raise funds; staff said new schools will be eligible in the second year but will be “a year in arrears” for the first allocation per the law’s timing.
SPCSA staff said a full digest of education bills (48 in total, according to staff) will be distributed to schools and that staff will follow up with specific implementation guidance in the weeks ahead.
