To ensure transparency with respect to approval, renewal and enforcement related to public charter schools authorized by the district, the board of trustees adopts the procedures set forth herein.
APPLICATION
All applications for approval of a charter school by the board shall include a detailed description of the following key features of the prospective charter school:
1. The educational program, including educational philosophy, student academic proficiency and growth standards, measurement methods, any mission-specific standards that may be unique to the school, and strategies for meeting the needs of specific student populations, including English language learners, at-risk students, and special education and gifted and talented students.
2. The financial and facilities plan with a pre-opening budget, three (3) year operating budget, break-even analysis and cash flow projection, evidence of existing and anticipated funds, and projected facility costs.
3. Board capacity and governance structure, including copies of the articles of incorporation and corporate bylaws.
4. Student demand and primary attendance area, including a description of the population of students the proposed school intends to serve and the target enrollment by grade level.
5. Use of educational service providers, including the contracts, fees and terms, and recent contracts that the entity has executed with other charter schools.
An application for a virtual charter school must also contain statements describing the following:
1. The learning management system by which courses will be delivered.
2. The role of the online teacher, including the consistent availability of the teacher to provide guidance around course material, methods of individualized learning in the online course, and the means by which student work will be assessed.
3. A plan for the provision of professional development specific to the public virtual school environment.
4. The means by which public virtual school students will receive appropriate teacher-to-student interaction, including timely and frequent feedback about student progress.
5. The means by which the public virtual school will verify student attendance and award course credit. Attendance at public virtual schools shall focus primarily on coursework and activities that are correlated to the Idaho thoroughness standards.
6. A plan for the provision of technical support relevant to the delivery of online courses.
7. The means by which the public virtual school will provide opportunity for student-to-student interaction.
8. Any financial agreement that will require an education service provider to assume a virtual school’s financial risk when the virtual school does not have sufficient residual funds to pay the education service provider, to the extent there is such an agreement. Such financial agreement will favorably considered during the application process. Where this paragraph is applicable, the education service provider shall make its audited financial statements available unless the education service provider already makes such audited financial statements publicly available for compliance with other federal or state laws.
9. A plan for ensuring equal access for all students, including the provision of necessary hardware, software, and internet connectivity required for participation in online coursework, and utilization of remote testing, proctoring, and administration procedures for state-required assessments.
Upon review of the completed application, the superintendent or designee(s) may request additional information from the applicants actually necessary to clarify the contents of the application.
REPLICATION CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATIONS
Public charter schools that have successfully completed at least one (1) renewal without condition may apply for fast-tracked replication.
Replication public charter school must serve the same, or a subset of the same, grades as the public charter school being replicated and the operational model must be the same as that of the public charter school being replicated.
An abridged application for replication shall narrowly focus on:
1. A description of the capacity of the charter holder to successfully replicate an additional school;
2. A description of how the charter holder will manage multiple charter schools while maintaining a high level of academic and fiscal performance in the original public charter school and the replication school; and
3. Location-specific information for the new replication charter school.
The board will consider replication applications within forty-five (45) days of submission unless the replication applicant agrees to a later date.
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LEGAL REFERENCE:
Idaho Code Sections
30-3-1 et seq. (Idaho Nonprofit Corporation Act)
33-5201 et seq. (Idaho Charter School Law)
IDAPA 08.02.03 (Rules Governing Thoroughness)
ADOPTED: January 13, 2025
AMENDED: