More than half of the nine organizations that have submitted applications to open 10 independently operated public charter schools in 2018-19 are proposing locations in the Greater Little Rock and Pine Bluff areas.
The applications are now in the hands of Arkansas Department of Education staff members, who will review them before the state Charter Authorizing Panel reviews them in August. Those decisions will then go to the state Board of Education, which has the final say on approval, in the fall.
The number of applications is down from the 16 schools originally planned by charter-school organizations for the 2018-19 academic year. Planners in early March sent to the Education Department one-page letters of intent -- a prerequisite -- to apply for charters, which are taxpayer-supported schools operated by a board of directors independent of the locally elected school boards in traditional public school districts.
The state Education Board can only approve five open-enrollment charter schools for the 2018-19 school year because of Arkansas Code Annotated 6-23-304, which sets a formula that allows for an automatic increase of five charter schools each time the number of approved open-enrollment charters is within two of meeting the current limitation or cap.
[DOCUMENTS: Read the charter school applications]
The state cap is now set at 29 for the 2018-19 school year. There are 24 charter schools or charter school systems in operation, and no new kindergarten through 12th grade charter schools have been approved for the upcoming 2017-18 school year.
Scott Smith, executive director of the Arkansas Public School Resource Center group -- which helps rural school systems and charter schools -- said he was excited about the number of applications. His organization has helped two organizations -- Friendship Aspire Academy, which is planning for a campus in Little Rock and another in Pine Bluff, and Einstein Charter Academy, also planning a school for the capital city -- in the application process.
"We've heard numerous success stories regarding both and are impressed by their desire to serve students who would truly benefit from what Friendship and Einstein could offer," he said.
The applications come at a time when the Little Rock School District is under the direction of state Education Commissioner Johnny Key because six of the district's 48 schools had been labeled as being in academic distress for three years of poor performance on state math and literacy tests. Three of the schools have since been removed from that list.
They also come as the state's largest school district has chosen to close three of its schools and repurpose a fourth campus. District administrators have received proposals for use of two campuses -- Franklin Elementary and Woodruff Early Childhood Education Center -- but recently extended the deadline for submissions to 2 p.m. June 16.
District Superintendent Mike Poore will make recommendations for the schools' use to Key, who will ultimately decide what will become of the schools.
If the campuses remain on the Little Rock district's books long enough, they could be subject to Act 308 0f 2017, which gives charter schools greater access to vacant or underused buildings in traditional public school systems.
But, Poore said, he didn't think it would get to that point.
"We felt like the best thing as a consensus of the group -- meaning the district and these neighborhood associations -- was let's let those folks know we are still interested in them and we want them to go deeper in their proposal, give us more information. But, at the same time let's go ahead and make people aware that they can still put in [new proposals] if they want to ...
"We've got time," Poore said. "Really, we have until the following February before we run into a deal where that law really impacts us."
One of the proposed charter organizations, ScholarMade Educational Services Inc., has asked to start a new school on the site of a former Little Rock district elementary. The organization has listed its new location as 2410 S. Battery St., the former Mitchell Elementary, which the district sold in 2008 to Mitchell Elementary LLC, according to the county assessor's office.
In 2012, it was transferred to the Blevins Family Trust, according to the assessor's office. A Walton Family Foundation-related entity bought the property and will lease it to the charter, said Luis Gonzalez, senior communications officer for the Bentonville-based foundation.
"This proposed school will serve a neighborhood that has limited access to high-quality education options," he said. "If approved, it will help develop a strong pipeline to better prepare students for future academic and workforce success. It will also allow for the revitalization of one of Little Rock's historic buildings and its surrounding community."
ScholarMade's chief operating officer, Phillis Nichols-Anderson, who was previously associated with Lighthouse Academy charter schools in Arkansas, said the organization officials want to join school districts in the Little Rock area in helping close achievement gaps.
"Our personalized learning approach and focus on emotional intelligence will produce academic growth and prepare students to be productive citizens," she said. "We believe the education of our children is a collective responsibility and look forward to forming alliances with our city's key stakeholders and community members."
The proposed school would serve up to 520 kindergartners to ninth graders, according to its application, and would have seven "achievement principles," including strategic alliances to talent development.
The other organizations that turned in applications for schools in Little Rock are:
• Einstein Group, Inc., which is planning the Einstein Charter School at Little Rock, which does not have a location. The school would include data-driven personalized learning programs that home in on science, technology and math for up to 700 students in kindergarten through eighth grades. The organization -- which operates four charter schools for 1,400 students in New Orleans -- plans to serve Greater Pulaski County, particularly southwest Little Rock and said it has a "strong reputation of excellent service," especially with English language learners, pupils with special needs and low-income students.
• Friendship Education Foundation, which is planning Friendship Aspire Academy Little Rock in a to-be-determined location for a liberal arts and college preparatory program for up to 600 students in kindergarten through fifth grades. The group operates six charter schools in Washington, D.C., two in Baltimore and one in Baton Rouge, and has submitted a similar application for a school in Pine Bluff.
• Aviate Through Knowledge Inc., which is planning the Prolific Learning Arts Academy at 6210 Baseline Road, a former American Taekwondo Association building. It would "immediately" serve up to 200 students in southwest Little Rock in a ninth-through-12th-grade school, featuring a curriculum in math, literacy, science, the arts, social responsibility and entrepreneurship.
Other groups submitting applications for charter schools are from:
• Focus STEM Academy of Benton County for 352 students in grades five through eight.
• McGehee Desha Alumni Community Center Inc., which is planning the P3 Academy Charter School for 80 students in grades one through four at 500 S. First St. in McGehee.
• NuBridge Charter School that is planning for up to 250 kindergartners through sixth graders in a to-be-determined location in Pine Bluff.
• Southeast Arkansas Preparatory High School Inc. to serve up to 220 high-school students at 1501 W. 73rd Ave. in Pine Bluff.
• ASSET Foundation, which is proposing a 400-student Weiner Academy of Agriculture and Technology at 115 W. Fifth St. in Weiner, serving students in seventh grade through 12th grade.
Poore, the Little Rock district superintendent, said the district would let the process "ride a little bit" and see what ultimately emerges.
"The thing for me right now -- and I think I've been consistent about this -- is that we do everything we can to compete and make our schools better so that parents continue to stay with the school district and parents possibly even choose us as their educational option," he said.
A Section on 05/08/2017