005.15.12 Ark. Code R. 004
August 31 Deadline for conversion or limited charter letters of intent to be filed with the ADE.
October 31 Deadline for conversion or limited charter applications to be submitted with letter of support from the school board to the ADE.
January/February Tentative date for application submitted to the State Board of Education. (Pending hearing timelines.)
*Note - All information must be received (not postmarked) in the Charter School Office of the Arkansas Department of Education no later than 4:00 p.m. on the date of the deadline. Information received in the Charter School Office after 4:00 p.m. on the established date will not be processed. It is the responsibility of the applicant to strongly adhere to the charter application timeline. Please take into consideration the length of the time that may be required for your application to reach the Charter School Office, particularly when mailing your application. Should the deadline date fall on a weekend, all materials must be received no later than 4:00 p.m. the following Monday.
REQUIREMENTS FOR LETTER OF INTENT
To Apply For A District Conversion or Limited Public School Charter
Applicants for district conversion or limited public charter schools are required to send a one (1) page "Letter of Intent to Apply for a District Conversion or Limited Public School Charter" to the Arkansas Department of Education.
Submit the letter of intent via certified mail to the Department of Education at the following address no later than the close of the business day (4:00 p.m.) on August 31, in order for the application to be considered by the State Board of Education at a later date:
Arkansas Department of Education
Charter School Office
Four Capitol Mall, Room 302-B
Little Rock, AR 72201
Required format to be followed for the letter of intent:
The superintendent of the school district for the proposed district conversion or limited public charter school should sign the letter.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
APPLICATION FOR A DISTRICT CONVERSION OR LIMITED
PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS AND CONTENTS: The total number of pages prepared by the applicant in response to Section D. of this application form plus any attachments used to support those responses cannot exceed 30 pages. Any attachments required by the application form are not to be included in the count for the total number of pages and are indicated by the word "required" in the list of contents below. Do not use dividers or separators noting the various parts of the application. All pages and attachments should be numbered and attachments clearly referred to in the narrative text.
The narrative responses should be given in the order requested. Brevity and clarity are strongly encouraged. The responses and all supporting attachments should be prepared/ typed on white, 8 1/2" x 11" paper (copied on one side only) suitable for reproduction. The type should be in 12 point font or larger and page margins of at least one inch on all sides with page numbers clearly marked.
List of Contents:
The following is a list for the contents of the final application to be submitted to the State Board of Education. The contents must be arranged in the order listed below:
Submit the original copy of the application with original pages for all attachments including original signatures on any attachment requiring a signature. DO NOT STAPLE THE ORIGINAL APPLICATION PAGES OR ANY OF THE ORIGINAL ATTACHMENTS.
In addition to the original unbound copy of the application and all attachments, please submit: Twelve (12) one sided bound/stapled copies (no notebooks); One (1) CD copy of the application in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat PDF file. Please ensure that the information saved on the CD can be accessed. CD should be labeled with the name of the proposed school.
All application materials must be received by the Charter School Office at the Arkansas Department of Education by 4:00 p.m. on October 31. Please make sure that applications being submitted by United States Postal Service are done so in a timely manner as to be received in the Charter School Office by the deadline. Facsimile transmissions (FAX) will not be accepted, and any application received after 4:00 p.m. on October 31 will not be forwarded to the State Board of Education for consideration. Applications should be mailed or hand-delivered to:
Arkansas Department of Education
Charter School Office
Four Capitol Mall, Room 302-B
Little Rock, AR 72201
The applicant for the proposed district conversion or limited public charter, if approved by the State Board of Education, agrees to operate the educational program described below in accordance with the provisions described within this document, Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-23-101 et seq., the Arkansas Department of Education Rules Governing Charter Schools, and the attached assurances. This is a narrative description of various components of the proposed charter school, and the responses to the following inquiries including any supporting attachment pages must be limited to no more than 30 pages.
Application Standards:
Please note that under federal guidelines students with disabilities shall be provided specific services and all aspects of IDEA apply. The public charter school cannot waive the responsibility of providing services for students with disabilities.
Include a statement that the facility will comply with all requirements for accessibility in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and all other state and federal laws. The facility will be inspected by staff of the ADE or its designee prior to any State Board of Education action on the application. If the facility does not currently meet these requirements, provide a list of items that will need to be addressed to bring the facility into compliance. Also include a statement of permissible uses for the facility from the local zoning authority, and whether there are any alcohol sales within 1000 feet of the facility.
If the application is for a limited public charter school, the only waivers which may be requested are those waivers listed in Ark. Code Ann. § 6-23-601. This limitation applies only to limited public charter schools.
Standards 15, 16, & 17 apply only to applications for limited public charter schools. They do not apply to applications for district conversion public charter schools.
Attachments must be included in the following order:
* Applicant's attachments (if any) supporting narrative responses
* A copy of the school's calendar and daily schedule (required)
* Proposed two-year budget using worksheet as provided (required)
* Proposed salary schedule for both administrative and teaching positions (required)
* Evidence of parental and community support (required)
* Signed Statement of Assurances Form (required)
Charter School Budget Information
The Budget Worksheet has been developed for application purposes. It is intended to challenge the applicant to consider the many expenses incurred in the operation of a school. It is formatted to expedite the application process. Budget revenues must equal or exceed expenses for each school year.
Upon approval of the District Conversion or Limited Public Charter School, the ADE Public School Finance and Administrative Support Section will provide technical assistance. At that time, a detailed budget will be developed specific to the terms of the Charter. That budget will also meet the data reporting requirements of the Arkansas Public School Computer Network.
The Budget Worksheet is to be used as an estimate of the Revenues and Expenditures associated with the operation of the District Conversion or Limited Public Charter School. The Expenditures section is a comprehensive overview of the normal expenses incurred in the operation of a school.
The following definitions are provided to assist the applicant in the completion of the Budget Worksheet:
The "Number of Students" is the number of students expected to be enrolled in the district conversion or limited public charter school. The description of student numbers including addition of students by year and or grade must clearly be defined within the application.
All public schools in Arkansas receive "foundation funding," a set amount of money per student based upon average daily membership, the amount determined necessary to provide all students with an adequate education. Please note the funding amounts are based on the 2012-2013 amounts, as the General Assembly has not yet determined the funding amounts for future years.
Number of Positions, both certified and non-certified should be stated as the full time equivalent (FTE) of each position. For example, if the Charter will have 5 FTE's position at 1.00 and 3 part-time FTE's positions at .50 employees: the 5.00 FTE's position equal a total of 5.00 FTE's positions, the 3 part-time .50 FTE's positions equal a total of 1.50 FTE's positions, for a grand total of 6.50 FTE's positions.
Fringe Benefits at a minimum should include F.I.C.A., teacher retirement, health insurance, and unemployment obligations.
Two budget worksheets must be completed, one for the school's first year of operation and one for the school's second year of operation. The proposed budget should not rely on one-time grants or other funds that are not presently guaranteed.
Public Charter School Application Estimated Budget Worksheet, Year One (2013-2014)
Public Charter School Application Estimated Budget Worksheet, Year Two (2014-2015)
DISTRICT CONVERSION or LIMITED PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATION STATEMENT OF ASSURANCES
The signature of the Superintendent of the School District of the public charter school certifies that the following statements are and will be addressed through policies adopted by the public charter school and, if the application is approved, the local board, administration, and staff of the district conversion or limited public charter school shall abide by them:
_______________________________ Date:________________
Signature of Superintendent of School District
_______________________________
Print or type name
District Conversion or Limited Public Charter School Application Checklist
[] Submit one (1) page letter of intent, following the letter of intent guidelines, to ADE Charter School Office by certified mail. Letter of intent must be received by the Charter School Office no later than 4:00 p.m., August 31.
[] Notice of the public hearing shall be:
Documentation that these requirements have been met must be included in the charter school application.
[] Conduct the public hearing; include results of the public hearing in the charter school application.
[] Additional check points for the charter application
* Responses to section D of the application, including attachments, cannot exceed 30 pages
* Sections A and B of the application form are completed
* Copy of proposed two-year budget must be included
* Copy of the proposed school calendar must be included
* Copy of the proposed daily schedule must be included
* Copy of proposed salary schedule must be included
* Evidence of parental and community support must be included
* Signed statement of assurance page must be included
[] Submit final copies of the charter school application to ADE Charter School Office as follows:
* 1 original copy with original signatures (unbound)
* 12 copies of the original (bound/stapled, no notebooks)
* 1 cd copy in either Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat PDF (labeled)
It is the applicant's responsibility to comply with all aspects of Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-23-101 et seq., the ADE Rules Governing Charter Schools, and the requirements outlined in the application for an district conversion public charter school. Contact the ADE Charter School Office for questions and for assistance with developing the application.
Charter School Application Evaluation Instrument
The following instrument will be used to evaluate applications submitted to the Arkansas Department of Education ("ADE") for the establishment of new district conversion or limited public charter schools. This instrument is only intended to provide clarity, transpareny and consisteny in the charter school application review process.
The ADE will use the following instrument only to evaluate the quality of a district conversion or limited charter school application against the criteria stated herein. For each of the application requirements, the criteria define the characteristics and elements of a response that meet the standard for charter approval. The following definitions will guide the rating of each information requirement:
Meets the Standard: | The response reflects a thorough understanding of key issues and demonstrates capacity to open and operate a quality charter school. It addresses the topic with specific and accurate information that shows thorough preparation and presents a clear, realistic picture of how the school expects to operate. |
Partially Meets the Standard: | The response addresses most of the criteria, but response lacks meaningful detail and requires important additional information. |
Does Not Meet the Standard: | The response lacks meaningful detail, demonstrates lack of preparation, or otherwise raises substantial concerns about the applicant's understanding of the issue in concept and/or ability to meet the requirement in practice. |
005.15.12 Ark. Code R. 004