Rhode Island General Laws Title 16. Education § 16-77.3-5. Budgets and funding

(a) It is the intent of the general assembly that funding pursuant to this chapter shall be neither a financial incentive nor a financial disincentive to the establishment of an independent charter school. Funding for each independent charter school shall consist of state revenue and municipal or district revenue in the same proportions that funding is provided for other schools within the sending school district(s).

(b) Funding additional to that authorized from the sending school district(s) by subsection (b) may be allocated to the independent charter school from the sending school district(s) to the extent that the combined percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch, students with limited English proficiency, and students requiring special education exceed the combined percentage of those students in the sending school district(s) as a whole. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations consistent with this section regarding the allocation of funds from sending school districts to independent charter schools.

(c) An independent charter school shall be eligible to receive other aids, grants, Medicaid revenue, and other revenue according to Rhode Island law, as though it were a school district. Federal aid received by the state shall be used to benefit students in the independent charter school, if the school qualifies for the aid, as though it were a school district.

(d) An independent charter school may negotiate and contract directly with third parties for the purchase of books, instructional materials, and any other goods and services that are not being provided by the sending school district(s) pursuant to the charter.