Charter School Application
Ouachita Parish School Board
2020 District Charter School Application Process
for Schools Opening the 2021-2022 School Year or Beyond
Forms and Information Needed for Submission of a Type 1 or Type 3 Charter School Proposal
In compliance with R.S. 17:3982, the Ouachita Parish School Board is making public through our website, and in printed form upon request, the guidelines for submitting a charter proposal, all forms required for submission of a charter proposal, the timelines established for accepting and reviewing charter proposals, the process that will be
used to review charter proposals submitted to the board, and the name and contact information for a primary
point of contact for charter proposals. |
Ouachita Parish School Board Guidelines and Required Forms and Documentation for
Submission of a Type 1 or Type 3 Charter School Proposal:
I. Charter School Application
II. Charter School Process Schedule
III. Charter Application Review Process
IV. Charter School Contact Information
See the requirements for each section below.
I. Charter School Application
Applicants must follow the instructions below and provide the requested information and
documents provided in this section below in order to submit a complete Type 1 or
Type 3* district charter school application:
A. Notice of Intent
Potential Charter School Applicants must notify the Ouachita Parish School Board by
sending on letterhead a signed statement indicating their intent to submit a charter
school application. The letter must clearly provide the name of the person making
the notification with contact information, including phone number and email
address. A separate notice must be provided for each potential application that will
be submitted and may be made by or on-behalf-of the person or entity who will be
submitting the application. The content of the notice is non-binding on any parties,
and does not prevent any applicant from submitting an application by the charter
school application due date below. The notice must be sent in a PDF document via
email to charterschools@opsb.net no later than Friday, February 14, 2020.
B. Common Charter School Application
Applicants should complete the 2020 Common Charter School Application found here.
The common application requires applicants to complete five sets of
documents - a charter proposal written in response to the questions posed in the
common application, a finances template, an eligibility form, background check
forms, and an overview template. Links to the last four documents are embedded
within the common charter application.
C. Additional Eligibility Requirements and Application Questions (District Requirement)
The information requested in the links below must be completed and submitted
with the Common Charter School Application.
1. Additional District Charter Applicant Eligibility Requirements
2. Additional District Charter Application Questions
D. Stakeholder Approval for Type 3 Charter Model School Conversion
(District Requirement)
Prior to applying for a Type 3 charter school, which proposes to be a school
converted from a preexisting public school to a charter school, the Ouachita Parish
School Board requires an applicant to receive a majority approval from the eligible
professional faculty and staff of the preexisting school and the parents or guardians
of children enrolled in the school.
Please utilize the Type 3 Model Conversion Process Instructions and voting forms
provided in the links below to complete this requirement.
All staff votes for converting a traditional public school to a charter school should
be transparent and fair with full disclosure of charter school structure to eligible
voting staff and should accurately represent the opinion of such staff. The
Department of Education has developed the following model process the School
Board requires of all groups interested in applying for a Type 3 charter school. The
model process respects the fact that every community is different and that local
groups should be empowered to customize the process in a way that works for
their community, assuming it meets the basic criteria for a fair and open process.
1. Parent Voting Form
2. Model Conversion Process Instructions - Staff Vote
3. Professional Staff Voting Form
A summary of the final results of each survey a detailed description of the process
and timeline by which the surveys were conducted are required to be provided with
the submission of a Type 3 Charter Application.
II. Charter School Process Schedule
| December 14, 2018 |
Charter Application released by BESE |
| January 10, 2020 |
School Board publishes charter application information to website, including
additional eligibility requirements and additions to the common application. |
| February 14, 2020 |
Notice of Intent to Apply due (Item A in Section I above)
Letter must be received from applicants no later than Friday,
February 15, 2019 by email to charterschools@opsb.net. |
| March 2, 2020 |
Charter School Application(s) due
The applicant must email five sets of required documents (includes all
required information requested in items B, C, and D in Section I above)
to charterschools@opsb.net by no later than Friday, March 1, 2019. |
| June 5, 2020 |
Last day for the Ouachita Parish School Board to make decisions in an
open meeting to approve or deny charter applications |
III. Charter Application Review Process
All charter applications will be reviewed by an independent evaluator with educational,
organizational, legal, and financial expertise. Applicants will have the opportunity to provide
to the evaluator a written response to the independent evaluation of their charter application
before the evaluator provides a final recommendation to Ouachita Parish School Board.
IV. Charter School Contact Information
Individuals or organizations with questions about the district's charter application process should contact:
Mr. Curtis Pate
Director of Elementary Schools, Student Performance and Accountability
charterschools@opsb.net
318-432-5075
Posted: January 11, 2020
