110 STAT. 3009-505 PUBLIC LAW 104-208—SEPT. 30, 1996 under this subtitle. Any such petition shall be approved during the period that begins on January 1 and ends on April 1. "(B) EXCEPTION.— If, by April 1 of any calendar year after 1996, an eligible chartering authority has approved fewer than 10 petitions during such calendar year, any other eligible chartering authority may approve more than 10 petitions during such calendar year, but only if— "(i) the eligible chartering authority completes the approval of any such additional petition before June 1 of the year; and "(ii) the approval of any such additional petition will not cause the total number of petitions approved by all eligible chartering authorities during the calendar year to exceed 20."; and (4) by amending subsection (j) to read as follows: " ( j) AUTHORITY OF ELIGIBLE CHARTERING AUTHORITY.— "(1) IN GENERAL.— Except as provided in paragraph (2), and except for officers or employees of the eligible chartering authority with which a petition to establish a public charter school is filed, no governmental entity, elected official, or employee of the District of Columbia shall make, participate in making, or intervene in the making of, the decision to approve or deny such a petition. " (2) AVAILABILITY OF REVIEW.—^A decision by an eligible chartering authority to deny a petition to establish a public charter school shall be subject to judicial review by an appropriate court of the District of Columbia.", (d) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOL SERVICES TO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.—Section 2209 of the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 (110 Stat. 1321-125) is amended— (1) by inserting "(a) IN GENERAL.— " before "The Superintendent"; and (2) by adding at the end the following: " (b) PREFERENCE IN LEASING OR PURCHASING PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES. — " (1) FORMER PUBLIC SCHOOL PROPERTY.— "(A) IN GENERAL. —Notwithstanding any other provision of law relating to the disposition of a facility or property described in subparagraph (B), the Mayor and the District of Columbia Government shall give preference to an eligible applicant whose petition to establish a public charter school has been conditionally approved under section 2203(d)(2), or a Board of Trustees, with respect to the purchase or lease of a facility or property described in subparagraph (B), provided that doing so will not result in a significant loss of revenue that might be obtained from other dispositions or uses of the facility or property, "(B) PROPERTY DESCRIBED. —^A facility or property referred to in subparagraph (A) is a facility, or real property— "(i) that formerly was under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education; "(ii) that the Board of Education has determined is no longer needed for purposes of operating a District of Columbia public school; and
�
