LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell has named six staff members who will serve with him on a newly formed committee to review charter school applications.
The Charter Authorizing Panel held its first meeting Wednesday at the state Department of Education in Little Rock. The panel was created under a bill signed into law earlier this year that changes the way Arkansas approves charter schools.
The new law requires the state education commissioner to appoint a panel of his staff to review and approve charter school applications. The Board of Education has the power to review that panel's decisions.
Kimbrell will helm the committee, and Assistant Commissioner Megan Witonski will be its vice chairman.
Charter Authorizing Panel members
• Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell, chairman.
• Assistant Commissioner Megan Witonski, vice chairman.
• Jim Boardman, assistant commissioner, Division of Research and Technology.
• Mike Hernandez, assistant commissioner, Fiscal and Administrative Services.
• John Hoy, assistant commissioner, Academic Accountability.
• Karen Walters, assistant commissioner, Human Resources and Licensure.
• Deborah Coffman, chief of staff.
The panel will hear open-enrollment charter applications Nov. 12 and Nov. 13.