State education board OKs charter renewals, including Hot Springs

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday gave final approval to the five-year renewal of charters for the continued operation of eight open-enrollment and conversion charter schools.

The state-issued charters were otherwise due to expire in June.

The renewal applications received initial approval in December by the state’s Charter Authorizing Panel. The Education

Board has the authority to either accept the panel’s decisions on charter school matters or vote to conduct its own hearing on a school before finalizing a decision.

In deciding to approve the renewals, the Education Board members briefly questioned operators of three virtual charter schools about their maximum class sizes and teacher-to-student ratios.

Arkansas Connections Academy teachers may teach as many as 200 or more students depending upon the course, Darla Gardner, head of the school, told the board.

The Fayetteville Virtual Academy uses the same class sizes and teacher-to-student ratios as set in standards for traditional schools, Fayetteville Assistant Superintendent Megan Duncan said. The state standards permit secondary teachers to have up to 150 students.

The Education Board accepted the Charter Authorizing Panel’s decision to ask for a two-year update on student achievement from charter schools in Imboden and Fort Smith because the schools have state-issued D letter grades.

The conversion charter schools — operated by traditional school districts — that were approved for renewed charters were:

• Cave City High School Career and Collegiate Preparatory School, which is approved to serve grades nine through 12 with a maximum enrollment of 1,200.

• Fayetteville Virtual Academy in the Fayetteville School District, approved to serve up to 5,000 in grades kindergarten through 12th grades.

• Cross County High School:

A New Tech School, which can serve up to 500 students in grades seven through 12.

• Don Tyson School of Innovation, operated by the Springdale School District, for up to

8,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grades.

• Hot Springs World Class High School operated by the Hot Springs School District for up to 1,200 students in grades nine through 12.

The open-enrollment charter schools — operated by non-profit organizations other than traditional school districts — approved for renewed charters were:

• Future School of Fort Smith that currently is approved to serve up to 450 in grades 10 through 12 but will expand to include ninth grade in the upcoming school year.

• Imboden Area Charter School that serves kindergarten through eighth grades with an enrollment cap of 150.

• Arkansas Connections Academy, which is a 100% statewide virtual school that is authorized to enroll up to

3,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grades.