Q: How can I arrange for a seminar in my area that walks us through the steps for considering and creating a school charter?

A: Upon request, I provide free informational seminars for schools and community members on the charter school law and process. For more information or to arrange a seminar, call me in Concord (224-0366) or contact me by email (susan@nhschoolreform.org).

Q: Can we get the updated copies of the Charter Law packet?

A: It's probably easiest to download all the sections of the NH charter school law (RSA 194-B) and make packets. Go to www.nhschoolreform.org and click on "legislation." You'll find the charter school law, section by section, that can be downloaded and organized in booklet form. You need the charter school administrative rules (also a posted link on www.nhschoolreform.org  just under the legislation link).

Q: What does pre-charter planning entail? Are we considered a charter school as soon as the charter is written? Or are we still in pre-charter status?

A: Pre-charter status (before you have an approved charter) is the period of time from your first school vision to the moment you have a hearing before the State Board of Education and they vote to ratify your charter. The pre-charter planning grant was established as small grant program to cover costs related to bringing people together, considering feasibility, and developing a quality charter application. Typical costs covered are: copying materials, holding community meetings, putting together a web site so people can locate information, ads in papers about meetings, putting together the non-profit organization that launches the charter or locating a non-profit organization to do so, possible contracting with a specialist for whatever specifics cannot be easily accomplished by your group.  Right now, these pre-charter planning grants are $5,000 - $10,000 and they truly exist for the sole purpose of helping people without other sources of funding incubate good ideas. Prior to 1998, citizen groups (before these grants) reported that the costs of developing a charter application were difficult to fund out of pocket. 

Writing the charter doesn't make you an approved charter school. After your charter application is complete, you submit this to the Department of Education for review and feedback. After this process it goes to the State Board of Education for review and 1) approval of a "charter" (you can have a charter and still not be authorized to open, as was the case for several groups in the mid-90s) and 2) "ratification to open."

Until one of the two NH authorizers (either the local school district legislative body or the state board of education) votes to ratify a charter application, charter school proponents stay in pre-charter mode.