Eleven individuals or organizations have sent notice to the state that they plan to apply to establish as many as 13 open-enrollment charter schools in the 2021-22 school year.
The letters of intent to apply for state charters — sent this week to the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education — describe plans for six new charter schools in Pulaski County as well as three schools in not-always-specified northwest Arkansas cities, plus one each in Hot Springs, Hope, Osceola and Weiner, which is in the Harrisburg School District.
Even if all the school planners follow through with detailed applications by a June 1 deadline, no more than eight of the 13 proposals can actually be approved by the Arkansas Board of Education for 2021-22 without exceeding the state’s current cap of 34 open-enrollment charters.
The state currently has 25 charter schools or charter systems and with one more recently approved charter school to open in this coming 2020-21 school year.
Open-enrollment charter schools are taxpayer-funded schools that are operated by not-for-profit organizations other than traditional public school districts. The school planners can seek and obtain waivers from some state laws and rules that apply to traditional districts but then are supposed to be held to a stricter level of accountability for student learning.