Atlanta Public Schools
REQUEST FOR PETITIONS FOR
START-UP CHARTER SCHOOL
TO OPEN FOR 2018-2019
PETITION SUBMISSION DEADLINE:
Friday, April 14, 2017, 4 p.m.
Deliveries will be accepted
April7, 2017 – April 14, 2017
between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Office of Innovation, 8th Floor
Center for Learning and Leadership
Atlanta Public Schools
130 Trinity Avenue SW
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Atlanta Public Schools
Petitioner Timeline
For Start-up Charter Schools
Proposing to Open for 2018-2019
Petitioner’s Letter of Intent due to Atlanta Public Schools* / October 14, 2016Petitioner’s Workshop / December 7, 2017
Petition due by 4 pm** / April 14, 2017
APS review / April 17, – April 18, 2017
Notice of Completeness sent / April 20, 2017
Applicant interviews / May 8, 2017 – May 12, 2017
Atlanta Board of Education action, approvals and denials of petitions / June 5, 2017
Letters of Denial sent to petitioners (electronic and U.S.P.S.) / June 6, 2017
Petitioner’s Intent to Resubmit to Atlanta Public Schools / June 12, 2017
Petitioner’s Resubmitted Petition Due Date / June 26, 2017
Petition Resubmission Review and/or Interview / July 11 – 14, 2017
Initially approved petitions submitted to Georgia Department of Education for review and recommendation to State Board of Education Charter Committee / July 2017
Resubmit to APS Board for action, approvals and denials of petitions / August 7, 2017
Resubmitted and approved petitions submitted to Georgia Department of Education for review and recommendation to State Board of Education Charter Committee / September 2017
APS Charter School Agreement / TBD (timeline dependent on State approval)
Denial letters mailed / Within 90 days of APS Board denial
State Board of Education action / TBD
* The only petitions that will be evaluated and considered for 2018-2019 school year will be from those individuals who filed a letter of intent with Atlanta Public Schools by October 14, 2016 and who meet the April 14 deadline for petition submissions.
**Petitions must be received by Office of Innovation employees by 4:00 pm on April 14, 2017. There will be no exceptions made, so please review all requirements carefully.
INSTRUCTIONS
The Atlanta Public Schools welcomes qualified charter school petitioners interested in serving the children of Atlanta. This year, the district will give priority preference to petitions in two areas:
1. The Atlanta Public Schools seeks petitions with an emphasis on unique and innovative inclusive practices to support closing the district’s current achievement and progress gaps, including those performance gaps between students with varying abilities. Petitioners with demonstrated expertise and success working in inclusive settings will be given priority.
2. The Atlanta Public Schools seeks petitions with an emphasis on serving students in alternative school settings. Petitioners with demonstrated expertise and success educating students with high levels of discipline events or for whom traditional secondary school settings provide insufficient engagement and support will be given priority.
Letter of Intent
Petitioners are required to submit a letter of intent to Atlanta Public Schools (APS) and the Georgia Department of Education by October 14, 2016. Without exception, individuals who do not have a letter of intent on file with APS by the October 14, 2016 deadline will not be eligible to submit a petition for the 2018-2019 petition cycle. It is the petitioner’s responsibility to submit a letter of intent to the Georgia State Department of Education. See the applicable state guidance for any questions.
Deadline
Complete petitions for charter schools proposing to open for 2018-2019 must be hand-delivered to the Office of Innovation at Atlanta Public Schools Center for Learning and Leadership no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 14, 2017. No exceptions will be made to this deadline. Note: Hand-delivered petitions will be accepted Monday, April 10 thru Friday, April 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. No mailed petitions can be accepted. All hand-delivered petitions must be left with employees from the APS Office of Innovation.
Completeness of Petition
Failure to submit a timely and complete petition will serve as grounds to deny a petition. A notice indicating completeness or incompleteness of submitted charter petitions will be mailed to all applicants by April 20, 2017. All requested content must be included and all formatting guidelines must be followed in order for an petition to be considered complete. Petitioners will be provided a written statement indicating the status of their petition; whether the petition will be rejected or move on the the next step which is the interview.
Applicant Workshop
Atlanta Public Schools will offer an informational workshop for charter applicants in January, 2017. This workshop will take place at 130 Trinity Avenue. Applicants will be notified by email of the date and time. The workshop will cover the following topics: Governance, Finance, Facilities, Transportation, Student Information and Community Support. Attendance is limited to two people from each group having submitted a letter-of-intent (LOI) to APS for the 2018-2019 opening date. Attendees for these sessions must RSVP with the Office of Innovation by the December 5, 2016. Attendance is not mandatory, but is strongly recommended.
Applicant Interviews
An applicant who has submitted an exemplary petition by April 14, 2017 will be scheduled for an applicant interview. Interviews will be held May 8, 2017 – May 12, 2017 at 130 Trinity Avenue SW, Atlanta, GA 30303. If an applicant is scheduled for an interview, notice of the time and room will be sent via email by April 20, 2017. Interviews cannot be rescheduled for any reason. Although the entire applicant team need not be present, it is recommended that all key board and leadership members attend. A maximum of seven applicant team members may attend the interview.
Those applicants not scheduled for an interview will receive a notice of recommendation for denial by April 20, 2017 and then a formal denial letter within 90 days of submission, as required by state law. If applicants have received neither an invitation nor a notice of recommendation for denial by close of business April 21, 2017, it is the responsibility of the applicant to contact this office before April 24, 2017 to obtain their status information.
This is a rigorous process and petitions will be reviewed for program innovation, a demonstrably effective curriculum and academic plan, solid financial planning, depth and breadth of community support, evidence of strong academic leadership and an effective board and carefully designed accountability measures. If a proposed school or school location is determined not to be in the best interest of Atlanta Public Schools, the Atlanta Board of Education has the authority to deny the petition.
Petition Format
The petition shall be submitted adhering to requirements set forth in the Atlanta Public Schools Petitioner Guidelines for 2018-2019. Petitioners must meet the following requirements. Each petition shall:
___ include the completed APS Petitioner with required signature in blue ink (stamped signatures will not be accepted)
___ include signed APS Assurance signature pages in blue ink
___ include Conflict of Interest Forms for all Founding and Governing Board Members (if identified)
(original signatures) (stamped signatures will not be accepted)
___ answer all requirements following the outline as it appears on the following pages of the petition
___ be typewritten in 11-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins with a header showing the school’s name and a footer showing consecutive page numbers printed on 8.5” x 11” white paper
___ include a table of contents
___ not exceed a maximum of 100 single-sided pages, not including attachments/appendices. GaDOE application page limit is not included.
___ have all appendices labeled and numbered
___ one (1) hard copy to be submitted in a three-ring binder (no clips, staples, rubber bands or folders)
___ one (1) electronic copy in Microsoft Word format (CD or flash drive with label) (appendices may be in .pdf format)
___ include tabs for attachments/appendices
___ include a copy of the GaDOE New Charter School Application
___ entire petition (APS, GaDOE and Assurances) - one binder hard copy and one electronic copy for APS must be hand-delivered
no later than 4:00 p.m. on April 14, 2017 to:
Office of Innovation-8th Floor, Center for Learning and Leadership
Atlanta Public Schools, 130 Trinity Avenue SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Attention: Ms. Tara Jackson, Project Manager, Office of Innovation
ONLY HAND-DELIVERED PETITIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED
Please direct any questions to:
Office of Innovation
Gayle Burnett, Executive Director of Innovationtelephone 404-802-2815
email / Tara Jackson, Project Manager
telephone 404-802-2881
Please follow the APS Required Petitioner Narrative Outline, addressing each requirement as thoroughly and clearly as possible in the sequence in which they appear. Be sure to complete and include the following documents:
APS Petitioner Cover Sheet
Conflict of Interest Forms for all Founding and Governing Board Members (if identified)
GaDOE and APS Assurance Form and Signature Pages
GaDOE New Charter School Application
The petitioner is responsible for addressing all requirements in the petition as described by state and local documents. All state requirements are available from the Georgia Department of Education website, including Charter School Law, Charter School Rule, and Guidance. Local requirements are contained within GaDOE Guidelines and in the Atlanta Board of Education policy on Charter Schools - IBB. The petitioner may attend the APS informational workshops offered and should call the APS Office of Innovation with any questions about the process.
Petitions will be reviewed to ensure that they are complete and that all guidelines have been followed. Incomplete petitions will not move forward during this cycle. All complete petitions will be reviewed by the APS Charter School Petition Review Panel. All petitioners submitting exemplary petitions will be required to attend an interview with the APS Charter School Petition Review Panel. The APS Charter School Petition Review Panel will submit its findings to the Office of Innovation, which will work with the Superintendent to develop recommendations for the Atlanta Board of Education.
The Superintendent will make a recommendation to the Atlanta Board of Education (ABE) for either approval or denial.
Following any ABE denial, the applicant will receive a letter that they will not receive an approval recommendation unless the required material revisions are made within thirty (30) days. Applicants will get only once opportunity to revise their petition and submit within the thirty (30) days. The revised petition will be reviewed and recommendation for approval or denial will be sent back to the ABE.
Following any ABE approval, the petitioner and APS will complete a contract referred to as the APS Charter School Agreement. The APS Charter School Agreement will not be executed until after the locally approved petition has been submitted to the Georgia Department of Education and is approved by the State Board of Education.
Note: Petitioners will be required to follow APS directions regarding corrections, revisions, amendments, etc. Coordination of final documents and required electronic formats will be at the direction of APS.
Petitioner Cover Sheet for 2018-2019
Name of Proposed Charter School:______
Proposed School Address: ______
City NPU: ______Zip Code:______
Name of Group/Organization Applying for the Charter: ______
Contact Person: ______Relationship to Group: ______
Address: ______City: ______Zip Code: ______
Daytime Telephone: ______Evening Telephone:______
FAX: ______Email: ______
Recommendations for approval to the Atlanta Board of Education for initial start-up charter schools will not exceed five (5) year terms.
Number of Students
K / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12YEAR 1
YEAR 2
YEAR 3
YEAR 4
YEAR 5
Projected School Opening Date in 2018: ______
Length of School Year: ______Days / Length of School Day: _____ AM to _____ PM
______
Board Chair Signature Date
Charter School Petitioner Requirement
Conflict of Interest Form
(This form must be completed by each founding and/or governing board member, the proposed school leader, CFO/business manager and included as Appendix A)
Instructions: If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, please provide a substantive explanation on a separate sheet of paper. Please label explanations with the number of the corresponding question. Attach explanations behind the corresponding Conflict of Interest Form in Appendix A
1. / Do or will you or your spouse have any contractual agreements with the proposed charter school? / Yes__ / No__2. / Do or will you, your spouse, or any member of your immediate family have any ownership interest in any educational service provider (ESP) or any other legal entity contracting with the proposed charter school? / Yes__ / No__
3. / Did or will you or your spouse lease or sell property to the proposed charter school? / Yes__ / No__
4. / Did or will you or your spouse sell any supplies, materials, equipment or other personal property to the proposed charter school? / Yes__ / No__
5. / Have you or your spouse guaranteed any loans for the proposed charter school or loaned it any money? / Yes__ / No__
6. / Are or will you, your spouse, or any member of your immediate family be employed by the proposed charter school, its ESP or other contractors? / Yes__ / No__
7. / Did you or your spouse provide any startup funds to the proposed charter school? / Yes__ / No__
8. / Did or do you or your spouse, or other member of your immediate family, have ownership interest, directly or indirectly, in any corporation, partnership, association or other legal entity which would answer “yes” to any of the questions 1-7? / Yes__ / No__
9. / Does any other board, group, or corporation believe it has a right to control or have input on votes you will cast as a founding member or member of the Board? / Yes__ / No__
10. / Do you currently serve as a member of the Board of any public charter school? / Yes__ / No__
11. / Do you currently serve as a public official? / Yes__ / No__
12. / Have you, your spouse, or any member of your immediate family applied to establish or participated in the establishment of a charter school? / Yes__ / No__
13. / To the best of your knowledge, are there situations not described above that may give the appearance of a conflict of interest between you and the proposed charter school, or which would make it difficult for you to discharge your duties or exercise your judgment independently on behalf of the proposed charter school? / Yes__ / No__
Signature / School Role
Legibly Printed Name / Date Submitted
Name of Proposed Charter School