¶0 This office has received three requests for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you each ask, in effect, the following questions:
1. Does the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act, 70 O.S.2011, § 3-130 through 3-144, prohibit a group of students enrolled in a charter school sponsored by a local school district from collectively gathering from time to time or on a regular basis at a location outside the sponsoring school district boundaries to receive online or face-to-face instruction from a teacher provided by the charter school?
2. Does the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act, at 70 O.S.2011, § 3-136(A)(2), prohibit a student enrolled in an Oklahoma charter school from accessing or receiving instruction online or supplemental face-to-face instruction at a community faith-based institution from a teacher provided by the charter school, if the charter school has not contracted with the faith-based institution?

¶1 In 1999, the Oklahoma Legislature enacted the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act ("Act"). See 1999 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 320, §§ 5 to 18 (codified as amended at 70 O.S.2011, §§ 3-130 to 3-144).¹ The Act authorized the creation of charter schools, which are public schools established by contract with a sponsoring entity. 70 O.S.2011, § 3-132(C).

¶2 The Act had a number of stated purposes, including "encourag[ing] the use of different and innovative teaching methods," "provid[ing] additional academic choices for parents and students," "creat[ing] different and innovative forms of measuring student learning," and "creat[ing] new professional opportunities for teachers and administrators including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning programs at the school site." 70 O.S.2011, § 3-131.

¶3 The Act exempts charter schools from "all statutes and rules relating to schools, boards of education, and school districts." 70 O.S.2011, § 3-136(A)(5). Instead, a charter school must adopt a charter which will ensure compliance with specific requirements set forth in the Act. 70 O.S.2011, § 3-136.

¶4 Under the Act, "sponsorship" by a sponsoring entity is a prerequisite to the creation of a charter school. Prior to the amendment to the Act in 2012 there were eight sponsorship methods that a charter school could use, two of which authorized the sponsoring of charter schools by school districts. 70 O.S.2011, § 3-132.² Those districts include (1) districts with an average daily membership of 5,000 or more and which all or part of the school district is located in a county having more than 500,000 population, and (2) districts that have a "school site listed on the school improvement list as determined by the State Board of Education." Id. § 3-132(A)(1)-(2). Your first question relates to a charter school sponsored by a school district that has a school site on the school improvement list. 70 O.S.2011, § 3-132(A)(2). Accordingly, the first part of this Opinion will address the provisions of the Act governing charter schools sponsored in that manner.

¶5 You ask whether students enrolled in such a charter school may gather from time to time or on a regular basis at a location outside the sponsoring school district boundaries to receive online or face-to-face instruction from a teacher provided by the charter school. Your question involves a combination of several potential factual scenarios: meeting from time to time, meeting on a regular basis, receiving online instruction, receiving face-to-face instruction, and receiving instruction from a teacher provided by the charter school.

¶6 We begin our analysis, as with any other statutory analysis, with the recognition that the fundamental rule of statutory interpretation is to ascertain the meaning of the words used by the Legislature. We recognize that in ascertaining this meaning, the purpose and object of the Act are to be considered. Sullivant v. City of Okla. City, 940 P.2d 220, 224 (Okla. 1997). Thus, at the outset, we note that a particularly relevant purpose of the Act is to promote innovative learning methods and increase learning opportunities for students, and we accordingly interpret the Act cognizant of that purpose.

II.
The Physical Location of a Charter School Sponsored by a School District Must be Within the Boundaries of the School District.

¶7 The provision of the Act most relevant to your first question is found at § 3-134(D), which provides that "[t]he physical location of a charter school sponsored by a board of education of a school district or a technology center school district shall be within the boundaries of the sponsoring school district." 70 O.S.2011, § 3-134(D). This mandatory provision places a geographic limitation on school district-sponsored charter schools.

¶8 This geographic limitation comes into play throughout the Act. For instance, 70 O.S.2011, § 3-140(A) describes enrollment requirements for charter school students:

Id. (emphasis added). This provision requires that students either transfer to, or reside in, the boundaries of the school district in which the charter school is located. If the geographic limitation placed on the "physical location of a charter school" did not require all physical locations of the charter school to be within the confines of the sponsoring school district, this residence and transfer requirement would make little sense. For example, suppose a charter school was sponsored by a school district in Tulsa, but had a second location in an Oklahoma City school district. If a student living in Edmond wished to attend that second location in Oklahoma City, § 3-140(A) requires that student to "transfer to the district in which the charter school is located." Id. In this case, that would mean that the student would be required to transfer to the Oklahoma City school district, a district that has not sponsored the charter school, and which has no nexus to the charter school.

¶9 The factual scenarios in your question thus raise the question of what constitutes a "physical location of a charter school." The Act uses a number of different terms in describing the "physical location of a charter school," referring to the physical location of the charter school as the charter school's "school site," "organized school site," and "facility or location." For example, in 70 O.S.2011, § 3-131(A)(7) the Legislature found that one purpose of the Act was to "[c]reate new professional opportunities for teachers and administrators including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site." Id. (emphasis added). In Section 3-132(D), the Legislature provided that, "[a] charter school may consist of a new school site, new school sites or all or any portion of an existing school site." Id. (emphasis added). In Section 3-136(A)(9) the Legislature prohibited a charter school from being "used as a method of generating revenue for students who are being home schooled and are not being educated at an organized charter school site." Id. (emphasis added). And lastly, in Section 3-134(B), "an applicant seeking to establish a charter school" is required to "submit a written application to the proposed sponsor." Id. The application must meet a number of requirements including describing "the facility and location of the charter school." Id. § 3-134(B)(6) (emphasis added).

¶10 Although the Act does not define what constitutes a "physical location of a charter school," its repeated use of the term "school site" indicates that, at the very least a "school site" is to be considered a "physical location of a charter school." Even then, the term "school site" is undefined by the Act. Because the Act does not define "school site," we must give that term its plain and ordinary meaning. See Ashikian v. State ex rel. Okla. Horse Racing Comm'n, 188 P.3d 148, 156 (Okla. 2008) ("In absence of a contrary definition, words are to have the same meaning as that attributed to them in ordinary and usual parlance.") In doing so, we turn to the dictionary definitions. "School" is defined as, "an organization that provides instruction." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 1111 (11th ed. 2003). "Site" is defined as, "the spatial location of an actual or planned structure or set of structures." Id. at 1166. Based on these definitions, a "school site" would include the structure or structures, or location, where the charter school is providing instruction.

¶11 In most instances, a charter school's "school site" will be obvious. Your question, however, raises a less obvious scenario where students are meeting under a number of different factual circumstances at a location to receive instruction from a teacher provided by the charter school. Determining whether instruction is being provided at a "school site" depends on the totality of the circumstances surrounding the location and activities being conducted. For instance, students might receive face-to-face instruction from a teacher provided by the charter school while on an annual field trip to a science museum. The mere fact that face-to-face instruction occurs at the museum does not transform the museum into a "school site." But if face-to-face instruction is occurring on a regular basis at a facility over which the charter school exercises control, that facility might well be a "school site."

¶12 A number of factors make up the totality of the circumstances that guide the determination of whether a particular site is a "school site." These factors are not meant to be exhaustive, as other factors may be relevant in any particular situation. But it is the presence of some or all of these factors that indicate whether the location is a "school site," and thus a physical location of a charter school that must be within the geographic boundaries of the sponsoring school district. These factors include, but are not limited to: (1) whether the location is holding itself out to be a school, i.e. a sign labeling the location as "ABC Charter School"; (2) whether the charter school has a possessory interest or has entered into a similar agreement with the proprietor of the physical location for use of the location; (3) whether instruction is provided in person at the location by teachers provided by the charter school; (4) whether the charter school is responsible for the management of the facility with regard to health and safety requirements mandated by the school district; (5) whether the charter school has control over the children while they are at the site; and (6) the frequency and regularity of the charter school's use of the site.

¶13 In one fact scenario you provide, students regularly meet at a facility to receive instruction from a teacher provided by the charter school. While you do not provide the level of detail necessary for us to conclusively say whether this facility is a "school site," we find it difficult to imagine many, if any, circumstances where such a facility would not be a "school site." On the other hand, a location where students meet from time to time to assess or receive online instruction most likely would not be a "school site."

¶14 As explained above, the Act requires that the "physical location of a charter school" must be within the geographic boundaries of the sponsoring school district. "The physical location of a charter school sponsored by a board of education of a school district . . . shall be within the boundaries of the sponsoring school district." 70 O.S.2011, § 3-134(D). We cannot provide a definitive conclusion that will control every factual scenario that exists or may exist in the future. We conclude, however, that if any particular facility or location is a "school site," applying the factors set above, that site is a "physical location of a charter school," and must be located within the geographic boundaries of the sponsoring school district.

¶15 With the Act and with the recent amendments authorizing full-time virtual charter schools, the Legislature has recognized the need for innovative forms of instruction to increase opportunities and improve student learning. As charters schools continue to increase in number, complex legal issues will necessarily emerge. The geographic limitations on charter schools that chose to be sponsored by local school districts do not prevent those schools from practicing innovative teaching methods and creating different and innovative forms of measuring student learning.

¶16 Additionally, a charter school that wishes to provide students learning opportunities through a full-time statewide virtual charter school may do so through the State Board of Education when the applicant of the charter school is the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. See 2012 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 367, §§ 1-10.

¶17 You next ask whether the Act prohibits a student enrolled in an Oklahoma charter school from accessing or receiving instruction online or supplemental face-to-face instruction at a community faith-based institution from a teacher provided by the charter school, if the charter school has not contracted with the faith-based institution.

¶18 The short answer is no. Section 3-136(A)(2) of the Act requires that a "charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations." Id. This prohibition is aimed at preventing the charter school from operating as a sectarian institution, but places no direct limitation on the type of facility where a charter school operates. Section 3-136(A)(2) goes one step further, and also prohibits a charter school from being "affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school or religious institution." Id. (emphasis added). The Act does not define "affiliated," but the plain dictionary meaning of the word is "closely associated with another typically in a dependent or subordinate position." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 21 (11th ed. 2003). Therefore, as a general matter, being affiliated with a faith-based institution would require more than non-contracted for use of the faith-based institution's facility. The Act requires a charter school to be nonsectarian in its operations and affiliation, but does not prohibit a charter school student from assessing or receiving instruction at a faith-based institution.

E. SCOTT PRUITT
Attorney General of Oklahoma

GLEN D. HAMMONDS
Assistant Attorney General

¹ The Oklahoma Charter Schools Act was amended by 2012 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 367, §§ 1-10. Those amendments are relevant only to the extent they are discussed herein.

² The Oklahoma Charter Schools Act was amended in 2012 to include the opportunity for a charter school to be created "[b]y the State Board of Education when the applicant of the charter school is the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board . . . and the charter school is for the purpose of establishing a full-time statewide virtual charter school." 2012 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 367, § 1(A)(9). The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board is the "governing body of the statewide virtual charter school" and "provide[s] oversight of the operations of the statewide virtual charter school." Id. § 5(A)(1)-(2).