On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia finalized timelines for the FY23 Start-Up Petition and the FY23 Replication/Expansion Petition Cycles. Commissioners also approved a number of petition policy updates. Read the summary of petition-related action items from the SCSC’s October board meeting below.
FY23 Start-Up Petition Cycle
- Priorities: To encourage charter applications from underserved communities, the SCSC will apply the following requirements to all FY23 petitions:
- Define “Priority Area” as “a location more than five miles from any operational charter school (changed from three miles).
- Petitions for state charter schools located outside of Priority Areas may be denied solely due to location to ensure SCSC can devote sufficient resources to schools in Priority Areas.
- If approved, a petitioner that proposes a state charter school located in a Priority Area must locate and serve students within the Priority Area identified in the petition during its first operational school year.
- Application: The FY23 start-up petition application captures the same substantive content as the FY22 petition with the following revisions:
- Streamlined organization of petition contents to increase readability, including removal of the virtual school addendum;
- Clarified SCSC’s evaluation of a petitioner’s selected attendance zone to reflect that a statewide attendance zone must include evidence of community interest in, and a plan to recruit students from, a majority of school districts;
- Added an Education Service Provider (ESP) Addendum to enhance the due diligence information provided for proposed ESPs consistent with national best practices; and
- Underscored the importance of SCSC’s evaluation of a school’s capacity to achieve sufficient enrollment.
- Timeline: The timeline is moving up to provide petitioners with a longer pre-opening period.
- FY23 Start-up Application Portal Opens – October 31, 2022
- Application Deadline – March 17, 2023 at 5:00 p.m.
- SCSC Capacity Interviews – Week of May 15, 2023
- SCSC Petition Decisions – June 2023 SCSC Board Meeting*
- *A petition decision may be pushed to a subsequent board meeting if additional information is requested.
- Petitioner Trainings and Resources (more information here):
- SCSC Early Feedback Program – Deadline January 13, 2023 at 5:00 p.m.
- SCSC Petitioner Boot Camps
- September 21, 2022 – View Webinar Recording
- Petition Policy Updates Webinar – November 2, 2022 at 2:00PM – Register Here
- Petition Application Webinar – November 9, 2022 at 2:00PM – Register Here
- Petition Budget Webinar – November 15, 2022 at 2:00PM – Register Here
FY23 Replication/Expansion Petition Cycle
- Priorities – Replication petitions are subject to the FY23 Start-Up Cycle Priorities and attendance zone requirements.
- Letter of Intent – To support SCSC staff with planning and resource allocation, prospective replication petition applicants must submit a letter of intent.
- Timeline:
- Letters of Intent Due – December 12, 2022.
- Application Window Opens – January 2, 2023.
- Application Deadline – July 14, 2023.
- SCSC Capacity Interviews – Eligible petitioners that submit applications on or before 5:00 p.m. on March 17, 2023, will be scheduled for interviews the week of May 15, 2023. Interviews for eligible petitions received after March 17, 2023, will be scheduled on a rolling basis.
- SCSC Petition Decisions – June 2023 SCSC board meeting or later depending on the submission timing.
