Charter Schools

What Are Charter Schools?

Charter schools are public schools operating under a performance contract or “charter.” The charter allows the school to operate under defined rules and regulations. As part of the contract between the charter school and the sponsor (the school board), charter schools are held strictly accountable for academic and financial results. Charter schools can also apply to be Virtual Charter Schools or Replications of High-Performing Charter Schools that are already in existence.

Charter schools are independent public schools, which are fiscally and academically accountable to the sponsoring school system, but exempt from district and most state statutes. The schools also have control over 95% of the student funds generated through student enrollments. This freedom is intended to allow charter schools to be more innovative, demonstrate better student performance, and make the local school the agent of change for the students the school serves.

Please visit the Florida Department of Education's website for additional information, including Charter School Resources and State Statutes.

The School Board of Flagler County, Florida, pursuant to Florida Statutes 1002.33, 1001.41, establishes charter schools for the following purposes:

• Improve student learning and academic achievement
• Increase learning opportunities for all students with special emphasis on low-performing students and reading
• Encourage the use of innovative learning methods
• Increase choices of learning opportunities for students
• Establish a new form of accountability for schools
• Require the measurement of learning outcomes and create innovative measurement tools
• Create new professional opportunities for teachers

Charter Schools in Florida shall be guided by the following principles:

• Meet high standards of student achievement while providing parents the flexibility to choose among diverse educational opportunities within the state’s public school system
• Promote enhanced academic success and financial efficiency by aligning responsibility with accountability
• Provide parents with sufficient information on whether their child is reading at grade level and whether the child gains at least a year’s worth of learning for every year spent in the charter school
• Charter schools are fully recognized as public schools

• Ten (10) bound copies of your charter application
• One (1) USB flash drive labeled with the name of the school