Last year’s legislative session included multiple new laws that changed the process for how charter schools are approved, renewed, and denied in North Carolina.

These new laws are part of a recent focus by North Carolina Republican lawmakers to expand school choice, through both private schools and charters, which are public schools with more flexibility.

One of the new laws changed the primary authority over the charter school application process.

In the past, charter school applications were reviewed by the Charter School Advisory Board, which recommended to the State Board of Education which ones should be approved or denied.

Following legislation passed in August, this board no longer exists. It is now the Charter School Review Board (CSRB). The law grants the review board sole authority to approve or deny charter applications, renewals, and material changes. The State Board of Education can only review appeals of decisions by the review board.

“This action will make the application process more efficient, more cost-effective, and much more streamlined for all stakeholders involved,” Rep. Tricia Cotham, R-Mecklenburg, a primary sponsor of the bill, previously said of the legislation.

Other laws passed last year included the removal of impact statements from school districts when considering a charter school application, the removal of enrollment-growth caps for charter schools that are not low-performing, and a new process for charter schools to offer remote academies.

In response to all of these changes, the State Board of Education approved a revised charter agreement in June, which charter schools must sign to begin operation after approval. You can view that draft, with track-changes from the version approved in 2022, here.

The expansion of school choice through charter schools is one of several factors expected to continue impacting traditional public school funding and enrollment. 

Here’s a look at the charter school application, approval, and renewal process, changes to the charter agreement, and recent data on North Carolina charter schools.

Overview of N.C. charter schools

North Carolina lawmakers authorized the establishment of charter schools in 1996 to encourage the use of innovative teaching methods and “provide parents and students with expanded choices… available within the public school.”

In 2011, the General Assembly voted to remove the original 100-school limit, and the number of charter schools in the state has steadily increased since then.

There were 210 charter schools operating in North Carolina during the 2023-24 school year, according to data from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

That number will stay the same during the 2024-25 school year. Though two charter schools were approved to open this fall — American Leadership Academy Monroe and Riverside Leadership Academy in Craven County — two other schools were closed (one for financial and legal problems, and another for low academic performance).

At the same time, the waitlist for charter schools in North Carolina is growing.

During the 2023-24 school year, 169 of the state’s 210 charter schools reported having a waitlist, according to a DPI report.

Together, the waitlist totals more than 85,000 students — up from 77,000 the year before. However, those numbers could include duplicate students on multiple waitlists, Ashley Baquero, DPI’s director of the Office of Charter Schools, told the State Board of Education during its May meeting.

According to DPI’s website, the mission of the Office of Charter Schools “is to provide leadership and technical assistance to people interested in starting a public charter school and thereafter maintaining quality education, business, and governance programs within the school in compliance with the North Carolina Charter Schools Act.”

“We report on the current status in the past academic year of charter schools every year at this time,” Baquero told the Board during a presentation on DPI’s annual charter school report. “For the 2022-23 school year, 10% of enrollment was in North Carolina charter schools, serving over 145,000 students.”

That annual report from DPI says that 16 charter applicant boards are slated to open during the 2025-26 school year.

There are also 13 charter schools who applied during last year’s application cycle to open during the 2025-26 or 2026-27 school years, according to a June 27 press release from DPI’s Office of Charter Schools.

“Of the thirteen applicant boards, two boards are seeking approval for Acceleration to open in the 2025-26 school year,” the press release said. “With 11 aiming for open(ing) in the 2026-27 school year.”

You can view all the 2024 applications on DPI’s website.

Application process

Each year, the Office of Charter Schools opens an application process for charter school boards.

The 2024 North Carolina Charter School Application opened on Jan. 26 and closed April 26. You can learn more about future application cycles on DPI’s website.

Applications are initiated and submitted on DPI’s EdLusion website. You can view a training video on how to navigate the platform here.

To apply, applicants must submit a $1,000 application fee with their online application by the deadline.

The CSRB, newly formed by the General Assembly in 2023, now has sole authority to review applications.

Here are the membership guidelines for the CSRB, laid out in the 2023 budget:

• The state superintendent, as secretary and nonvoting of the review board.
• Eight members appointed by the leaders of the House and the Senate (four each).
• Two members appointed by the State Board of Education who are not current members of the Board and who are charter school advocates in North Carolina.
• The lieutenant governor or the lieutenant governor’s designee.

In-person interviews with the CSRB usually begin in September. After the initial interview, applicant boards are either forwarded to a second-round interview or recommended for denial or approval. After the second interview, the CSRB makes a final vote on approval or denial.

According to a DPI document, the CSRB “may grant the proposed charter to initiate their Ready-to-Open planning year if the CSRB determines the information contained in the application meets the following requirements:

• The applicant has the ability to operate the school in an educationally and economically sound manner, and
• Granting the application would improve student learning and would achieve one of the other purposes set out in NCGS 115C-218.”

You can see other factors the CSRB considers in a charter board’s application below.

You can view more application specifications, and application sections, starting on page 9 of DPI’s application process document.

Approval process

The CSRB can grant initial approval to a charter board for “a period not to
exceed 5 years and may renew the charter upon the request of the chartering entity for subsequent periods not to exceed 10 years,” per the DPI document.

The content of a charter board’s application is binding once approved by the CSRB.

“The CSRB shall review the operations of each charter school at least once every five years to ensure that the school is meeting the expected academic, financial, and governance standards,” the document says.

The CSRB may authorize a charter before the applicant has secured its space, equipment, facilities, and personnel. However, the State Board of Education cannot allocate any funds to the school until it has obtained space and a valid educational certificate of occupancy.

Once a charter school receives initial approval, the school must participate in a year-long planning program prior to opening for students.

“The planning year allows for proper development of the school’s curricular, financial, marketing, and facility plans as outlined in the approved charter application. During this planning year, monthly meetings are held with the Board of Directors and consultants from the Office of Charter Schools,” the document says. “Final approval of the charter from the CSRB is contingent upon successfully completing all of the requirements of the planning year program.”

Guidelines on accelerating the mandatory planning year can be found on page eight of the document.

Here is what the document says regarding application denial and appeals:

If the Charter Schools Review Board disapproves an application, the applicant may reapply in the next application cycle. The applicant may also appeal the CSRB’s decision. To appeal the decision of the CSRB, the applicant must submit notice to the State Board of Education Chair within ten (10) days of the CSRB decision pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-218.9

Excerpt from DPI document on charter school application process

Renewal process

As mentioned above, charter schools can request to renew their charter after initial approval. After the initial approval period, charters can be renewed for periods of up to 10 years.

The CSRB must also approve any “material revisions” to the charter agreement.

You can view the Board’s policy, Charter School Renewal Process, on the Board’s website. That policy was last revised in April to account for the formation and authority of the CSRB.

According to that policy, the Office of Charter Schools (OCS) will work with any charter school seeking renewal, along with various departments within DPI, “and any other relevant entity to facilitate the renewal policy and bring recommendations to the Charter Schools Review Board.”

The renewal process includes a renewal fee, charter school “self-study,” in-person and/or remote site visits, and interviews with the CSRB.

According to the Board’s policy, the OCS will provide the CSRB, state superintendent, and State Board of Education with all renewal materials when the OCS makes its recommendation.

Charter schools can receive a 10-year, 7-year, 5-year, or 3-year renewal, based on student performance, legal compliance, and financial audits.

According to the policy, low-performing charter schools can only receive a 3-year renewal. In 2023, there were 60 low-performing charters (27% of charter schools), compared to 741 low-performing traditional public schools (29%).

You can read the specific guidelines for determining the length of a renewal period in Section 2B of the Board’s policy. Student performance is generally compared to the local school district.

The local school administrative unit shall be assumed to be the local school administrative unit identified in the approved charter application, provided that the Charter Schools Review Board may consider additional factors such as in where the charter school is physically located, its proximity to districts across county lines, and the base school district from which a majority of the school’s students are enrolled. The Charter Schools Review Board may consider more than one local school administrative unit, at its discretion, for purposes of this policy.

The State Board of Education’s updated Charter School Renewal Policy

Charter closures fall into four categories, according to DPI: relinquishment, assumption, non-renewal, and revocation.

• Relinquishment occurs when a charter board voluntarily surrenders the charter.
• Assumption occurs when a charter board’s Charter Agreement is assumed by another charter board.
• Non-renewal occurs when a charter board fails to receive a renewal term and the current Charter Agreement expires.
• And finally, revocation occurs when a charter board’s Charter Agreement is revoked pursuant to legal allowances for the termination of a charter.

Since 1998, there have been a total of 90 charter terminations — including schools that were in operation and those in the planning year program prior to opening the school to students. Fourteen of those closures were non-renewals.

Non-renewal from the CSRB is based on a failure to meet student performance requirements, along with patterns of fiscal mismanagement, material violations of the law or charter, or noncompliance “with directives of the Office of Charter Schools, the Charter Schools Review Board.” 

A charter can also not meet renewal standards if two-thirds of the faculty and instructional staff at the school request the charter be terminated or not renewed.

The Board’s policy also says feedback from site visits, declining/increasing enrollment, a pattern of high/low attrition, or “other document good cause” can impact renewal recommendations.

“Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Charter Schools Review Board may at any time initiate revocation proceedings of the charter of any school in accordance with 115C-218.6,” the policy says.

You can read more requirements regarding charter governing boards, legal compliance, enrollment, terminations, and more in the Board’s updated charter school agreement for 2024.