Officials announced Monday that two potential charter schools from the Mississippi Delta and Canton have reached the last step in the application process. At their Monday afternoon meeting, the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board approved applicants to proceed. According to the board, Southwest Leadership Academy submitted a similar application but did not meet any of the required application thresholds. SR1 was the only applicant in last year’s process, but was denied due to various reasons. Leflore Legacy Academy was the most recent charter to be approved. It will serve grades 6-8 through 2023. This school year, it will be a middle school that serves only sixth graders in the Greenwood public school district. Mississippi had six charter schools in operation during the past school year – five in Jackson, and one in Clarksdale. 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 systems. 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 the authority of a school district. However, they are supported by local 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 authorizer board reviews potential operators each year and grants them permission to open schools in Mississippi. This takes several months. The pandemic has caused the 2020 application cycle to be pushed back slightly. Operators submitted their applications by June. Monday afternoon saw the board announce that schools were moving forward. The potential operators will meet with the board in mid-September to conduct interviews and evaluate the applicants. An outside evaluator will also be present. This evaluation reviews the applications and assesses the educational and financial programs. The board will announce its final decision on October 12.