Non-profit Mississippi News In the 2022-2023 school years, a new charter school in Canton will open its doors. Last week, the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board approved SR1’s application for opening the SR1 College Preparatory School and STEM Academy. In its first year, the school will be open to kindergarten and the first grade. Each year thereafter, it will expand to include kindergarten through fifth grades. Once expansion is completed, the school will be able to serve 450 students. SR1 (Scientific Research), was established by Tamu Green, in 2005. It works with both public and private partners to reduce disparities in Mississippi, particularly among minorities. Although the group was not granted permission to open a school, it has been working with the board to correct any deficiencies. Voices for Education’s application to open a school within the North Bolivar Consolidated Schools District was also rejected by the board. The recommendations of School Works, an educational consulting firm from Massachusetts, were followed by the board. Charter schools are public schools that don’t charge tuition and are subject to the same academic standards and accountability standards as traditional public school. Charter schools are allowed more flexibility by law for administrators and teachers when it comes to student instruction. Charter schools are not under the control of traditional public schools and do not operate under local school districts. However, they are supported by school districts according to their enrollment. If they are opening in a district D or F, charter schools can directly apply to the authorizer board. The local school board must approve any operator who wants to open a school in an A, C, or B district. The authorization board reviews potential operators each year and grants them authority to open schools in Mississippi. This takes several months. The pandemic has caused the timeline for 2020’s application cycle to be slightly delayed.