District and Authorizer Information

District & Authorizer Information 

Standards for Charter Schools and Charter Schools (CACSA/CDE) 

Colorado Authorizing Standards State Board passed a permanent rule in 2012 to establish standards for charter schools and charter school authorizers. 
This document reflects similar best practices to NACSA authorizing standards, while meeting CO requirements and needs based on recommendation of a statewide stakeholder task force.

General Information

• What is Authorizing? (NACSA) - A basic description of what Authorizers do.
• Charter School Institute (CSI) - Authorized to accept applications for schools (1) in districts without exclusive chartering authority (ECA) and (2) in districts which have retained ECA, with permission to the applicant from the district's board of education. Click on the link to be directed to the CSI Web site.
• Exclusive Chartering Authority (ECA) - includes a list of Colorado districts with/without ECA.
• Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers (CACSA) - CACSA was formed by and serves the professional staff in Colorado authorizers who work on all tasks associated with charter school oversight. These education leaders created CACSA to support all of Colorado’s authorizers, with the goals of improving charter school authoring practices, the quality of charter schools, and the education for all students in the state. If you are a Colorado authorizer and need assistance please reach out to Executive Director Mackenzie Khan.
• National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) - NACSA advances and strengthens the ideas and practices of authorizing so students and communities—especially those who are historically under-resourced—thrive.

Authorizer Dissemination In Conjunction with Charter School Institute

As a part of the dissemination activities included in the Federal Charter Schools Program Grant that the Schools of Choice Unit received in 2018, the Schools of Choice unit and Charter School Institute partnered together to release a series of case studies to support charter schools across the state enhance their practices in the following areas: annual reporting, charter renewals, and charter accountability, particularly charter accountability during COVID-19.

• Annual Reporting Pre-recorded Webinar and Supporting Documents
  • Annual Reporting Case Study
  • Annual Reporting One-Pager
  • Annual Reporting Pre-recorded Webinar 

• Charter Renewals Pre-recorded Webinar and Supporting Documents
  • Charter Renewals Case Study
  • Charter Renewals One-Pager
  • Charter Renewal Pre-recorder Webinar

Templates 

Standard Application Template and Evaluation Standards (2023)

Standard Application & Evaluation Standards 2021

Standard Application Rubric 2021

Charter Application Review Process Interview Guidance

• Application Team Notes Round 1
• Application Team Notes Round 2
• Capacity Interviews and Review Process Materials 
• Community Meeting Feedback Report 
• Charter Application Interview Questions
• Meeting Feedback Survey

Sample Contract Template (2022 - CACSA)

As part of a national dissemination grant from the United States Department of Education, the Colorado Charter School Institute and the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers was selected to develop a range of high quality charter authorizer documents - some of which are state specific. One such document is an updated model contract for Colorado. That document is available here: 

Sample Contract: Editable Version  (as published by the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers)

Sample Renewal Framework (2021- CACSA)

As part of a national dissemination grant from the United States Department of Education, the Colorado Charter School Institute and the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers was selected to develop a range of high quality charter authorizer documents - some of which are state specific. One such document is an updated sample renewal framework. This document was also developed in collaboration with WestEd in their role supporting activities of the National Charter School Resource Center. That document is available here:

Sample Renewal Framework (as published by the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers and WestEd)

Sample Closure Framework (2011 - CDE)

A Colorado-specific guide to charter school closure. Closing a charter school can present many challenges, given the data that must be compiled and analyzed, public meetings that must be held, and the political considerations that must be addressed before a charter school chooses to voluntarily close or before the authorizer votes to not renew or to revoke the charter school contract. This checklist of tasks in a template format was developed to assist authorizers and charter schools with the closure process.

CACSA Closure Resources

Resources

CACSA Resources Page

Authorizer Bootcamp

The Colorado Authorizer Bootcamp was designed for people new to the work of charter school authorizing or anyone wanting a comprehensive review of best practices for the full range of tasks authorizers perform. The bootcamp includes supporting information from state policy and incorporates an array of model tools authorizers can apply in their district.

Identifying Indicators of Distress in Charter Schools

When charter school leaders, governing boards, and authorizers identify the early signs of school distress, they can intervene before the issues become too deep, systemic, or extensive for schools to recover. Thanks to research from the National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC), the charter sector has the opportunity and the imperative to identify schools in distress while improvement is still feasible.

NCSRC has released tools, publications, and virtual learning opportunities to help school leaders, board members, and authorizers engage in its indicators of distress research. Explore these self-guided modules, which feature videos, reports, toolkits, and other downloaded materials.

School leaders and board members click here and Authorizers click here to review the courses and materials.

Equal Access Series Authorizer Session: Authorizers’ Role in Continuous Improvement (Recorded on 4/17/2021)

• CSI - UIP Handbook 
• CSI - Strategic planning guide
• Authorizers Role in Continuous Improvement Slide Deck (PDF)

Charter School Appeal Dispositions

• Charter Appeals 2020 to Present (pdf)
• Charter Appeals 2010 to 2019 (pdf)
• Table of Appeals through 2010 (pdf)​

NOTE: None of the documents represented on this page, or referenced under the provided links, are meant to represent legal advice or to lessen the need for charter school developers or operators to seek legal counsel.