Posted 10-10-2024

Acadia Parish School Board 2024-25 District Charter School Application Process
for Schools Opening in the 2026-27 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 Acadia 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.

Applicants should complete the 2024-2025 Common Charter School Application found here. Applicants should complete the appropriate application based on whether or not they are a New Charter Operator, an Experienced Charter Operator or an applicant proposing to open a Virtual Charter School.

• August 26, 2024: LDOE releases common applications and toolboxes with application resources.

• September 9, 2024: Deadline for local school authorizers to release Charter Requests for

  Applications, Timeline, Process, and Point of Contact.

• October 25, 2024: Local school boards submission deadline for the full application for Type 1 and

  Type 3 applicants.

  Applicants should email all application components to ctall@acadia.k12.la.us.

• November 11, 2024: Local school boards notify LDOE and state legislators of charter applications

  received within each district.

• January 17, 2025: Last day for Acadia Parish School Board to make decisions to approve or deny charter

  applications.

• January 31, 2025: Local school boards notify LDOE of board recommendations.

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 Acadia Parish School Board.

Individuals or organizations with questions about the district's charter application process should contact:

Gregoire Theriot, Executive Director of Curriculum
gtheriot@acadia.k12.la.us
337-783-3664 x228

The charter school application process provides Louisiana non-profit organizations with the opportunity to create schools that parents and guardians desire for their students. The students of Louisiana are diverse and thus, shall be provided with school choice options that best fit their individual needs.

There are six types of charter schools in Louisiana, outlined below. The oversight for Type 1, 3, and 3B charter schools lies with the local district by which the schools are authorized, while the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) is directly responsible for the oversight of Type 2, 4, and 5 charter schools.

Type 1: Charter school is a new school operated as a result of and pursuant to a charter between the nonprofit corporation created to operate the school and a local school board.
Type 2: Charter school is a new school or a preexisting public school converted and operated as the result of and pursuant to a charter between the nonprofit corporation created to operate and BESE.
Type 3: Charter school is a preexisting public school converted and operated as the result of and pursuant to a charter between a nonprofit corporation and the local school board.
Type 3b: Charter school is a former Type 5 charter school transferred from the Recovery School District to the administration and management of the transferring local school system.
Type 4: Charter school is a preexisting public school converted and operated or a new school operated as the result of and pursuant to a charter between a local school board and BESE.
Type 5: Charter school is a preexisting public school transferred to the Recovery School District (RSD) as a school determined to be failing pursuant to state statue and operated as the result of and pursuant to a charter between a nonprofit corporation and BESE.

Local district authorizers must use the BESE approved Common Charter Application and may add additional questions. Each local school system must have the Charter RFA application materials and point of contact on their websites. Please see the website for the school system in which you wish to apply for a Type 1 or 3 charter school. To view the BESE approved Common Charter Applications for New Operators, Experienced Operators, and Virtual Operators, see the applications below.

• New Operator Application PDF

  • Nonprofit organization whose primary members (founder and/or proposed school leader) do not have prior experience in leading or managing a public school; and

  • Who do not intend to employ an educational service provider (ESP) with prior experience in leading or managing public schools.

  • See the addendum for virtual operators

• Experienced Operator Application PDF

  • Nonprofit organizations whose primary members (founder and/or proposed school leader) have prior experience in leading or managing a single public school; and/or

  • Nonprofit organizations which have operated more than one charter school; and/or

  • Nonprofit organizations which intend to employ an education service provider (ESP) which has operated more than one charter school.

  • See the addendum for virtual operators

• Additional Resources:

  • Overview Template

  • Eligibility Determination PDF

  • District Charter Application Process Website Template PDF

• September 9, 2024: Deadline by which local school boards must post application materials to their websites. Use of the template is optional.

• October 25, 2024: Charter applications are due to districts.

• January 17, 2025: Deadline for districts to consider charter applications. If a district has not made a decision about a charter application by this point, that applicant group is eligible to appeal to BESE.

• January 31, 2025: Report any charter entered into; the number of schools chartered; the status of those schools, and any recommendations relating to the charter RFA process to charters@la.gov.

*Note: This list includes a limited selection of key dates and deadlines. Please see the local authorizer's websites for a full description of timelines.

Additional Resources: Charter Applicant's Toolbox