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State board confronts Choice Charter27s low assessment participation and high chronic absenteeism; school pledges interventions
Summary
Department data showed Choice Charter had under 50% assessment participation and a 51.37% chronic absenteeism rate in 2025; Charter leaders said the population served is highly disengaged, described new orientation, mentor and RISE programs, and said remote proctoring under new law should substantially raise participation.
Department staff told the State Board that Choice Charter School27s 2025 assessment participation fell below 50% and chronic absenteeism reached 51.37%, both far outside the statewide averages and the performance targets in the school27s contract with the board.
Dr. Cynthia Knight, Choice Charter27s director, said the school enrolls a concentrated population of students who were disengaged in their prior programs and that comparing Choice to other online providers can be "apples and oranges" because attendance is recorded differently across online schools.
"Our kids don't attend," Knight said, describing targeted steps the school is taking: a new orientation program, RISE interventions for students who miss class, a mentor program with twice-weekly check-ins, and an MTSS process to accelerate supports. Knight also said the school will use virtual proctoring (enabled by recent law changes) to expand testing access and expects participation to increase substantially next year.
Department staff flagged the school27s contractual performance framework, noting the board can rely only on the performance metrics in that contract and that changes to voluntary metrics should be addressed before reauthorization. The department recommended monitoring Choice Charter's implementation of its corrective actions and said the school will be up for renewal in 2026-27.
Board members asked how online attendance is being recorded and whether new statewide attendance reporting (exact time-in-class reporting) would change chronic-absenteeism calculations for fully online models. Jay Pennington from the department explained the new statewide reporting requires districts to report actual student time in the classroom, and that will help standardize measures across online providers.
The board approved the department27s recommendation to request further performance updates and to include participation metrics in future legislative reports. Staff also noted that several charter schools are operating at deficits and that financial sustainability will be part of renewal discussions.
What's next: Choice Charter will continue interventions and the department will monitor progress; charter renewal and potential performance-framework adjustments will be considered at reauthorization (2026-27).
