The first CACSA Weekly Call focused on how authorizers are managing schools that had planned to open next fall (Year 0 schools). You can view a video of the call HERE. This same approach to Year 0 also applies to expansion and replication schools. Starting a new charter school is always full of challenges; but with the COVID crisis new schools face extra obstacles including:
• Building and renovation delays;
• Unpredictable enrollment;
• Potential budget cuts; and
• Uncertainty about the need for distance learning in the fall.
Authorizers have oversight responsibilities to ensure that charters open smoothly and are prepared for students on the first day of operations. If they are unlikely to open well, or make it through the first year, authorizers and operators need to make the tough call. To make a good decision, schools and districts need to communicate around a long list of pre-opening tasks that must be completed. Some districts add additional school-specific requirements to the pre-opening “to do” list to ensure that weaknesses in a charter application are addressed in time.
Authorizers have created guidebooks and checklists for Year 0 schools. Several will be uploaded to the CACSA Resource Library soon, and links to relevant materials are pasted below.
Under the current crisis, there is anxiety about some openings, while other charter schools are still in a solid position to open. Both operators and authorizers have concerns regarding whether Year 0 schools’ new buildings or renovations will be ready; if they will have to provide distance learning or operate under various scenarios of mixed in-person and distance learning; if parents will indeed send their children in the fall even if they initially indicated they planned to enroll; how severe the reductions in state and local funding will be; and if revised budgets will allow schools to truly implement key aspects of their proposed school’s program. They are also concerned that schools that open may not make it through the whole school year, creating disruptive mid-year closures.
On the call, CACSA members recommended that authorizers stay in communication with charter school founders throughout the process and keep the authorizers’ board informed if things are problematic. Talk with Year Zero charter schools early if there are problematic enrollment numbers, budgets that either do not balance or require cuts to key programs, or facilities issues that are going to keep a school from opening. If opening is not going to serve students, think about framing the delay as the best strategy to start the school in a position where it can succeed — just later.
Resources Related to Year Zero can be found in our resource library under Year Zero.