A.__Establishing a process for receiving and reviewing applications for public charter schools on an annual or semiannual basis, taking into account the deadlines required by the United States Department of Education for applications for the federal charter school grant program.__ A decision on a charter school application must be made within 90 days of receipt of the application and conveyed in writing to the applicant.__A decision may grant approval or conditional approval, request resubmission or reject the application and must include written reasons for the decisions;

B.__Monitoring the operations of each charter school to which the chartering authority has granted a charter, including an annual site visit and requiring an annual report, periodic financial reports and periodic enrollment reports;

C.__Ensuring that each charter school to which the chartering authority has granted a charter complies with applicable laws and the charter;

D.__Monitoring the progress of each charter school to which the chartering authority has granted a charter in meeting student academic expectations specified in the charter; and

E.__Placing a charter school on probation if there is evidence that the school is not performing according to its charter.__A school must be given 30 days' notice before being placed on probation, and the chartering authority shall hold a public hearing within 30 days of placing a school on probation.

The chartering authority may require a charter school to which the chartering authority has granted a charter to produce any book, record, paper or document the chartering authority determines necessary for carrying out its functions under this chapter.

4.__Number and distribution of public schools.__Chartering authorities are encouraged to ensure that__charter schools are distributed throughout the State.

5.__Initial phase.__The charter school program established in section 2411 begins with a 2-year initial phase.

A.__During the initial phase the following limits apply: