CCAP and WestEd are developing a supplement for CCAP’s authorizer toolkit on new school petitions on options for assessing whether charter school petitions meet California’s new community interest requirement.

Under AB 1505, initial charter petitions, renewals, appeals, and expansions must show how the school will “serve the interests of the entire community in which the school is proposing to locate.”

Over the past few months, CCAP and WestEd have been holding discussions with authorizers to gather information on questions and challenges raised by these new provisions. The toolkit supplement will provide guidance to authorizers on how to evaluate petitions and work with schools and community stakeholders to ensure that everyone understands the process for identifying and addressing community needs. Among the considerations that may be addressed are:

• Identification of the Community
• Description of Community Engagement and Demonstrated Need
• Assessment of Duplication of Services, Academic Offerings, and Programmatic Offerings
• Facilities
• Additional Information
• District Assessment of Fiscal Impact

This work is still in development, and CCAP is discussing it with more authorizers and with other stakeholders. If you would like more information about the project, please contact CCAP Executive Director Tom Hutton at tom.hutton@calauthorizers.org.