Starting a School

If you’re interested in starting a new charter school, we are here to help you. Please read this preliminary information and then if you’ve got what it takes to open a high-quality charter school in Ohio, please use the contact information below and we’ll help you get started on the path to success. You will want to review the timeline.

Previously, it was fairly easy to open a new charter school, and Ohio saw rapid growth that has led to the 325 charter schools currently operating in the state. Recently, however, there has been a shift, and HB 119, passed in July 2007, restricted who can legally open and manage a new charter school. Only successful, current, in-state or out-of-state operators—operators are defined as a superintendent, principal, governing board, or management company—can open new schools. Operators are successful under the eyes of the law if the school they operate is in Continuous Improvement or above on the most recent state report card, and thus eligible to open up another school. This applies to schools in Ohio, and if the operator is from another state, the equivalent rating of “C” or better on their state accountability system is necessary. Operators must show proof of this to their sponsor and to the Ohio Department of Education through an application process. For more information, please view the OAPCS HB 119 Brief on Exceptions to the Moratorium intended to serve as a beginning guide only. Please consult an attorney or the Office of Community Schools for further clarification.

New charter schools, by law, can be located in one of the “Urban 8” district areas: Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown. They may also be located in a “challenged” district, or one that is in Academic Watch or Academic Emergency according to the most recent report card data. As of the 2008-2009 school year the following districts are considered “challenged”: Cleveland Municipal, Dayton City, East Cleveland, Jefferson Township, Lorain City, Mansfield City, Warren City, Warrensville Heights, Whitehall City and Youngstown. It is not possible to open up a new charter school in any other area in the state of Ohio. Communities in other areas may want to consider converting a current traditional public school into a community school; these are referred to as “conversion schools.”

Community charter schools in Ohio are funded on a per-pupil basis from the state, which is estimated to be 2/3 of the funding that traditional public district schools receive. Charter schools receive less because they do not have access to funds raised locally by levies or property taxes, nor do they have access to state facilities funding. The state of Ohio has eliminated a previously available $50,000 start-up grant. However, federal start-up grants are available for $450,000. This grant—the Public Charter School Program (PCSP) start-up grant—is distributed over a three-year period once a school is in operation. This grant is managed by the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Community Schools, and the grant competition opens in February and is due in early April.  of the year before the school opens.  These grants are competitive, and it is estimated that roughly 50% of recent applicants received the federal start-up funding. Many charter schools find they must conduct fundraising activities in order to keep their school in operation; some schools find benefit in hiring a full-time development director who helps them with finding private and public funding streams. The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools (OAPCS) has partnered with the Walton Family Foundation to provide start-up grants for up to $250,000 for qualified applicants. These grants are available only by successfully interviewing with the OAPCS grants manager, and are currently available only for charter schools opening in fall 2010 and fall 2011 in the Columbus area. If you think you may be eligible to open a new charter school, and would like to be considered for a start-up grant, please contact OAPCS and ask to speak to the grants manager.

We recommend that you also check out following resources:

Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Community Schools’ Web site

Office of Community Schools has information on how to apply to become a charter school operator

OAPCS is here to help you provide quality choice options to Ohio’s students. If you have read the above information and believe you are a good candidate to open up a charter school under the aforementioned legal restrictions, and you are dedicated to ensuring your school is a high-quality option, we would love to learn more about you. For more information about how to start a charter school in Ohio, please contact Marianne Lombardo, director of school performance and accountability, (614) 744-2266, ext. 201.