Arkansas’ Charter Authorizing Panel on Tuesday denied an application for the 2023 establishment of an open-enrollment charter school in Cabot, citing gaps in the planning for the Omni Classical Prep.
School planners — led by Melissa Bosch who earlier this year got crosswise with Cabot School District leaders over a perceived threat to the district — can now ask the Arkansas Board of Education to conduct its own hearing on the proposed school as soon as next month.
Or, planners can choose to revise and re-submit an application for a school to open in the 2024-25 school year.
“We need quality schools and you have a lot of great qualities that you have identified … but the connections are not all hooked together,” Deborah Coffman, the state’s assistant commissioner for school accountability and chairman of the charter panel, told Bosch about the proposal.
Coffman made the comments after the panel held a nearly three-hour review of the proposal and voted 4-2 to deny it.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more details.