5 charter schools get federal funding boost
Five current and future Oklahoma charter schools will receive a portion of $3 million in federal funding this year, part of a larger grant program expected to significantly boost charter school enrollment across the state.
Last year, Oklahoma was named one of nine states to receive funding through the Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Program grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
A total of $16.5 million will be funneled to charter schools over the next five years, which could help open or expand 25 charter schools.
Two new charter schools opening this fall were each awarded $600,000, LeMonde School, an immersion language charter in Norman and The Academy of Seminole.
Both schools were approved to open by the state Board of Education, following objections by local school boards.
Also receiving $600,000 each for expansion plans are:
• Dove Science Academy, which is expanding into south Oklahoma City this year.
• John Rex Charter School for the addition of a sixth-grade class in downtown Oklahoma City.
• Advanced Science and Technology Education Charter (ASTEC) for an expansion into elementary school in Oklahoma City.
“This funding is a critical resource for charter schools that do not have access to local taxes or funding for facilities,” said Brent Bushey,” executive director of the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, the local entity awarded the grant and managing its distribution.
Oklahoma currently has 30 charter schools, most located in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Charter schools are primarily funded through the state aid formula, but do not receive funding from a variety of state and local taxing sources, such as property taxes, motor vehicle taxes and the state land use trust.
Charter advocates claim potential growth in Oklahoma is limited because of a lack of funding and access to facilities. The per-student funding that Oklahoma charters receive is often much lower than in neighboring states, some of which have dedicated charter school funding programs.
More than 10,000 students attend a non-virtual charter school, according to enrollment figures from the state Department of Education.
Enrollment growth in charter schools has slowed in recent years, but efforts to open more charters have continued from a variety of sources.
Following a law change a few years ago, charters were allowed to open beyond the state’s two largest cities. The soon-toopen charters in Seminole and Norman are both charter schools that were given a path to open by the law change.
Charter schools in Oklahoma City also continue to expand, including John Rex in downtown, which will add sixth grade next school year.
“This grant allows us to purchase the furniture and some of the technology necessary to begin a new grade,” said Joe Pierce, the John Rex head of school.
Launched in 2014, John Rex currently serves prekindergarten through fifth-grade in a facility built through the city’s MAPS for Kids sales tax program.
The new sixth grade and future middle school grades will meet in leased space inside Myriad Botanical Gardens.
However, a school like John Rex will not see any of its state funding for new grades until midway through the school year. Pierce said the grant will help the school launch a new grade before that funding arrives.