TEA updates board on 25 Generation 30 charter applications; one high-performing operator advances to due diligence

Texas Education Agency officials told the State Board of Education9s Committee on School Initiatives on Jan. 31, 2025, that the Generation 30 open-enrollment charter application cycle produced 25 submissions and one high-performing entity application that has advanced to a due-diligence stage.

Deputy Associate Commissioner Mary Anne Shetty, who leads authorizing policy at TEA, briefed members on the standard application process and the first run of the high-performing entities pathway. "Our application process is grounded in designing and executing a charter application process that authorizes high quality charter schools," Shetty said, adding the agency expects applicants that launch to be "A or B rated schools."

Shetty told the committee that 25 applications were filed by the December deadline; three were ruled incomplete or late and 22 proceeded to external review after a remedy window. Applicants must score at least 85% of available review points in external review to advance to the capacity interview stage, Shetty said. The agency reported 39 proposed campuses across the submitted applications because several applicants propose more than one campus.

On the separate high-performing-entity track, Shetty told the committee TEA received one eligible application from an operator identified on the agency9s portfolio page as Moder Academy of Texas, partnering with Moder Academy, a charter management organization operating about 40 campuses in Florida, Nevada and Ohio. TEA9s initial data analysis produced an approximate Domain 1 (student achievement) score at the B level, which made the application eligible to move into due diligence. "We are assessing the application components, reviewing their educational plan, their financial plan, and conducting additional reviews," Shetty said, and staff reported recent site visits in Florida and Nevada.

Shetty described the remaining steps: external-review results will be followed by capacity interviews for standard applicants, the commissioner will make recommendations in May, and the State Board of Education will consider standard applications at its June meeting. For the high-performing entity, she said the commissioner may make a recommendation in the week of Feb. 17 and, if he does, the board would consider it at the April meeting.

Board members asked specific procedural questions that Shetty answered. Member Clark asked whether districts9 statements of impact are reviewed and whether TEA evaluates projected revenue loss; Shetty said TEA reviews every statement of impact submitted by a local district but does not perform an independent financial impact analysis. Shetty also described how TEA notifies school districts based on the ZIP code listed by applicants and that any school district may file an impact statement.

Shetty said the standard application materials (full unredacted applications and an info sheet) will be posted to the agency website after redaction; she gave a target posting date of about Feb. 14 for the standard applications and said the single high-performing-entity application is already posted. "We will share those applications with members, like we typically do, the full unredacted applications as well as the info sheet," she said.

Shetty described the high-performing-entity eligibility check: TEA uses submitted state outcome data from affiliated schools in other states to approximate a Domain 1 score under Texas9s accountability calculations. Shetty said TEA used proxies to map out-of-state proficiency bands (for example, Florida9s levels) to Texas performance categories for that analysis and supplemented the data analysis with site visits and conversations with current authorizers.

No formal board action on the Generation 30 standard applications or the high-performing entity was taken at the committee meeting; staff are proceeding with external reviews, due diligence visits and the timeline described.

Ending: TEA will notify applicants that advance to capacity interviews around April 14; the agency expects to present capacity-interview recommendations to the commissioner in May and bring standard applications to the State Board of Education in June. If the commissioner chooses to recommend the high-performing entity, that recommendation would reach the board in April.