The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday gave final approval to applications for two new open-enrollment charter schools — one in Springdale and the other in North Little Rock.
The Premier High School of Springdale and the Westwind School of Performing Arts are scheduled to open in the 2021-22 school year.
The two newly approved campuses will be in addition to the 26 open-enrollment schools currently in place, and most of those are in Pulaski County. The state’s soft cap on open-enrollment charter schools is 34.
The state board also upheld the charter panel's decisions to:
• Deny an application for the the Diamond Cut Performing Arts Academy Public Charter School — which was planned for 600 students in seventh-through-12th grades in the former Playtime Pizza restaurant in west Little Rock.
• Approve an increase to the 275-student enrollment cap to 1,000 students at the Van Buren School District’s River Valley Virtual Academy.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more information.