Mississippi News Seven non-profit groups are applying to open a charter school for the 2019-20 school school year. A few schools were allowed to continue the rigorous process of getting charter schools approved at Monday’s Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board Meeting. Karen Elam, a board member, stated that 16 groups across the state had submitted letters of intent earlier this year to open a charter school. However, only nine applied. The board approved seven proposals to move forward. The two other proposals that the board approved are from existing charter operators and schools. As proposed, each school would only operate one or two grades for the first year and then build out accordingly. However, the Girls Club and Learning Center suggested opening all grades during the initial year. Both Girls Club and SR1 were rejected at different stages of last year’s application process. This year, two schools were rejected for incompletion: Randy J Naylor Memorial Foundation for Vicksburg Warren School district and Technology for Today’s Youth. They applied to open three schools in various school districts. The authorizer board rejected their applications as they were not complete. The approved groups now enter the second phase. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers will examine the proposals in the next month. The board will then review the findings at its July 9 meeting. Interviews and public hearings are the third phase. September 10 will bring you the final approvals and reject schools. The charter application process can be quite rigorous. Since 2013, only five charter schools have been approved. ReImagine Prep and Midtown Public Charter School operate as middle schools within Jackson. Joel E. Smilow Prep and Joel E. Smilow Prep are also middle schools. Clarksdale Collegiate Prep, which will be opening in fall 2018, will also open in Clarksdale. Joel E. Smilow Collegiate in Jackson will also open. Charter schools are public schools that offer free education. They follow the same academic and accountability guidelines as traditional public schools but allow teachers and administrators greater freedom to teach students. Charter schools do not charge tuition. Charter schools are controversial in Mississippi as well as across the country. Charter schools are a popular choice for parents. They also offer teachers more freedom and a second option to public schools. However, traditional public school supporters argue that charter schools drain local funding and staff. A Hinds County Court judge ruled that charter schools are legal in Mississippi in February. The authorizer board received an additional $15 million grant in October, which it used to support new charter schools’ start-up costs such as staff recruitment and facility finding. The funds will also be used to provide technical assistance to applicants and newly approved charter schools. The board approved Monday’s first allocation of these funds: a $900,000.000 grant to Clarksdale Collegiate for use over a 3-year period. Marian Schutte, the executive director of Clarksdale Collegiate, informed the board that the school will use the money to help with the costs associated with starting up such as equipment purchases and financial stability. The grant is only available to this school at the moment, as Midtown and Republic Schools have not been around for a while. Krystal Cormack, the Board Chair, stated that the program will “even the playing field for approved schools” since operators often have to work full-time while they plan for the new school. She said that the grant could be their full-time job, which she believes makes for better schools._x000D