Opening a Charter School

There is much to consider when a community contemplates establishing a public charter school. A prospective applicant should review the responsibilities and administrative functions that are required to operate a public charter school in order to maintain an informed application development process and assist in identifying the specific areas that will need consideration and inclusion within the Charter Agreement between the applicant and local school system officials.

Potential applicants may submit the Intention Form and application at any time. It is recommended to plan for approximately 1 year to complete the application development phase and allow for another 18–20 months from application submission to opening of school. The opening of the public charter school will depend on the applicant’s ability to complete all necessary tasks required to successfully open a school. The expected opening date should be outlined in the Charter Application but will be specified in the Charter Agreement.

The following document library provides all of the necessary information to apply to open and operate a public charter school.  These documents are also available from the Office of Charter Schools.