Start a New State Charter School

Georgia law requires that charter schools be governed by a registered non-profit governing board. The governing board is responsible for ensuring that academic performance measures set forth in the charter are met. The governing board’s duties and responsibilities include school-level decision making, fiscal management, and a variety of school operations, such as personnel decisions. 

A charter petitioner does not include home study programs or schools, sectarian schools, religious schools, private for-profit schools, private educational institutions not established, operated, or governed by the State of Georgia, or existing private schools.

The Letter of Intent (LOI) application is the first step in the start-up application process, notifying the SCSC of your intent to submit a petition for a new charter school. Eligibility to submit a petition is contingent on submission of an LOI by the posted deadline. Information provided in the LOI is non-binding.

Petition applications are submitted through the SCSC’s online application portal, accessible through our website. Petitions must be submitted by the posted deadline to be eligible for consideration. 

The petition serves to describe and summarize the charter school's mission and proposed operations. Following a review of the petition for legal compliance, SCSC staff and external experts conduct an in-depth substantive evaluation for quality and consistency with state education goals.

Concurrent submission requirements mandate to which local board(s) of education a petitioner must submit a petition in addition to the SCSC. Petitioners must adhere to the concurrent submission requirements in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2084(c), which are based on the selected attendance zone, and upload documentation of compliance within the SCSC charter petition.

More information about attendance zones and concurrent submission requirements can be found in this resource .

If the substantive petition review does not reveal any significant deficiencies, SCSC staff will invite the charter school’s representatives to participate in a capacity interview. Capacity interviews take place in person at the SCSC’s office. 

The SCSC convenes an interview panel for each capacity interview, which may include SCSC staff, SCSC Commissioners, education experts, and any other individuals whose knowledge and expertise would assist the SCSC in its decision to authorize the charter school. The interview focuses on the governing board and school leadership’s capacity to operate a fiscally and operationally viable charter school consistent with state education goals.

SCSC staff recommendations are based on all available information regarding a charter school petition, including the petition, associated capacity interview, input from the local board of education (if applicable), publicly available information, supplemental information received from the petitioner in response to an SCSC staff request, and/or relevant information submitted by other interested parties that may affect the school’s viability and operation. 

At the conclusion of the review process, SCSC staff issues a recommendation to the SCSC Board of Commissioners to either approve or deny the petition.

The SCSC Board of Commissioners votes to approve or deny the petition at a public board meeting. All official actions of the SCSC when considering charter school petitions are decided by a majority vote.

The State Board of Education votes to affirm or overrule charter school approvals by the SCSC Board of Commissioners.

If approved by the State Board of Education, the SCSC and charter petitioner will execute a charter contract. The provisions of the charter may depart from provisions in the charter petition. The charter, rather than the petition, is the performance-based contract by which the state charter school and the SCSC are bound.

Initial charter contracts approved by the SCSC are five years. For a sample SCSC charter contract, see this resource: https://scsc.georgia.gov/sample-scsc-charter-contract.