A mere two months after a group of Northern Kentucky parents became the first to apply to open a charter school in Kentucky, the same group became the first rejected charter school application in the state.
Newport Independent Schools' board, which would have been the school's authorizer, rejected Thursday night River Cities Academy's charter school application.
“The applicant lacked specificity and provided unfinished planning in multiple areas that leave significant question as to whether or not the school will be able to launch successfully for a proposed August 2020 start date,” Superintendent Kelly Middleton told the Board of Education, according to a press release. “The applicant does not provide data to support the complexities of the population to be served and relies on generalized notions of what the applicant believes should be good for all children.”
With RCA's application axed, Kentucky will likely go another year without a charter school opening.
The decision comes a week after the board interviewed the potential school's founders, which founder Lynn Schaber said went "amazingly well."
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Schaber, reached Friday, said the group is "disappointed" that its application was rejected.
They haven't decided whether or not to appeal the decision to the Kentucky Board of Education, which has final say. State charter law gives applicants 30 days to appeal.
The proposed charter school seemed to receive a lukewarm reaction at a public comment hearing the following day, with multiple area superintendents opposing the application.
Education officials tasked with reviewing the application found issues including limited community support and a "lack of competency" in teaching special needs students.
Officials also found bouts of "significant plagiarism" and an unclear transportation plan showing "questionable integrity," according to a district press release.
The group did not plagiarize, Schaber said Friday. The district dinged them specifically for not properly citing sources.
"While we do pull information from outside sources into our application as best practices we wish to implement," Schaber said, "we make no intent to deceive anyone into thinking that all of these practices are of our own creation."
Kentucky superintendents, as a bloc, oppose charter schools and other forms of school choice.
Kentucky legalized charter schools in 2017, but none opened — or even applied to open. RCA was the first when it applied in late October to open a school in Northern Kentucky, accepting students from six districts along the Ohio River.
While legal, Kentucky lawmakers have not provided a funding source for charter schools. Without a stable, long-term funding mechanism, charter schools cannot present a true budget to an authorizer and cannot open.
Reach Olivia Krauth at okrauth@courierjournal.com or 502-582-4471, and on Twitter at @oliviakrauth. Support strong local journalism by subscribing: courier-journal.com/subscribe.
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Newport school board rejects Kentucky's first charter school application - Courier Journal
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