Memo from Adam Emerson, Charter Schools Director, Florida Department of Education
Phone: (850) 245-9631
At their meeting in Flagler County on November 15, 2019, State Board of Education members approved amendments to Rule 6A-6.0786, which governs the use of the model forms for charter schools and their sponsors. Specifically, the board made changes to the following documents:
· The Model Florida Charter School Application;
· The Standard Model Charter School Application Evaluation Instrument; and
· The Standard Charter Contract.
In addition, the board created the Florida Standard Charter Renewal Contract, which is based largely on the Standard Charter Contract.
While the board approved many moderate changes throughout the standard contract, I write now mainly to draw attention to the changes to the model charter school application. All changes to the application were confined to Section 19 – that regarding school safety and security. New questions were added to that section to align the application more effectively with the requirements of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act.
The application and all of the other documents will become effective in a few weeks. That means that if applicants plan to submit a charter application to their sponsor between December and February 1, they must address the questions in this revised Section 19 (no other changes were made to the model application; therefore, for any applicants who have started their proposals, only Section 19 would require an update).
The document below show the changes that the board approved. When the documents become legally effective in a few weeks, we will update our website at that time, and alert our stakeholders accordingly.
Thank you for your attention to this. And, as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly: adam.emerson@fldoe.org