Charter school funding choice

(a) Notwithstanding section 302D-28, charter schools shall elect whether to receive allocations calculated according to the department's procedures and methodology used to calculate the weighted student formula allocation adopted pursuant to section 302A-1303.6; provided that: (1) All charter schools, as a group, with each governing board being accorded one vote, shall elect, by greater than two-thirds agreement among the governing boards, whether to receive allocations calculated through the department's procedures and methodology for the weighted student formula; provided that a nonprofit organization that governs more than one conversion charter school may cast one vote representing each school it governs; and (2) Any election by charter schools to receive allocations, or not to receive allocations, calculated through the procedures and methodology for the department's weighted student formula shall be made by September 1 of each even-numbered year, and the election shall apply to the fiscal biennium beginning July 1 of the following year. (b) The charter schools, through their authorizer, may propose to the board an alternative weighted student formula, approved by more than two-thirds of the governing boards, with each governing board being accorded one vote, to be administered by the commission and to apply to the per-pupil allocation for charter schools.