KY State education board approves charter school regulations

Kentucky moved a step closer to its first charter school when the Kentucky Board of Education approved the initial versions of new charter school regulations that will govern the process for individuals and groups to seek approval to operate these schools of choice.

The four regulations approved, 701 KAR 8:010, 701 KAR 8:020, 701 KAR 8:030 and 701 KAR 8:040, cover a multitude of requirements such as how students will be enrolled in charters, using a lottery if necessary, evaluation of those who authorize charter schools, conversion of a failing traditional school into a charter school and many other details such as guidelines for the contract charter school organizers must complete and detailed description of the application form they must submit.

The regulations now will go through a public comment period during the month of November and a review of the expected comments by the state board at its December 2017 meeting. The regulations will then go through a review by several legislative committees before their anticipated final adoption in late February 2018. That could provide enough time for the first charter school request to be approved for the 2018-19 school year.

The board’s approval of these regulations marks an important waypoint in the development of better school choice opportunities in Kentucky. A lot of hard work was required to get to this point, and it was gratifying to see a very large number of individuals both at the Kentucky Department of Education and on a number of advisory committees were deeply committed to doing a high quality job for the students in Kentucky.