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Board hears charter-school fall enrollment data and prepares to evaluate seven new applications
Summary
OPI presented preliminary fall A&B counts for first- and second-year charter schools and warned that a new statutory funding cap will likely force the board to approve roughly two of seven high-school charter applications this round.
Office of Public Instruction staff presented preliminary fall enrollment counts for first- and second-year charter schools and told the Board of Public Education that new statutory limits on charter funding will make this round especially competitive.
"We received seven new applications for charter schools," Christie Mockstutz, an OPI assistant program officer, said in a presentation that walked board members through three tables showing budget unit designations, anticipated A&B counts, actual fall counts and how A&B shortfalls affect payments. Mockstutz explained that basic-entitlement payments will be reduced if a school does not meet its A&B threshold and that school finance will send letters in December to districts that currently fall short.
Board members asked whether struggling new schools could form co-learning cohorts or share recruitment practices with more established charters. Mockstutz said webinars and peer Q&A sessions have been used this year to connect first- and second-year charters and that OPI staff and the charter commission are planning more structured opportunities.
Several board members and OPI staff noted a recent statutory change that caps the amount the board may approve for charters at $1,000,000 annually and said that the cap means the board will likely be able to fund only two of the seven high-school-oriented applications in this cycle. The board will hear interviews of applicants on Dec. 1 (publicly streamed) and will individually score and submit rankings to OPI; OPI will compile the results for a January work session.
Board members asked OPI to consider reporting fractional full-time-student equivalency (FSE) in future materials so the board can more clearly see fractional enrollments across part-time students. OPI staff said they would consider adding that column to future reports. The board did not take final action; scoring and selections will be completed after the public interviews and OPI's compilation of board rankings.
