DOE News Release: DOE Releases Planning Grants to Three Proposed Charter Schools
Contact: Greg Knudsen
Date: October 12, 2006
DOE Releases Planning Grants to Three Proposed Charter Schools
The Hawaii Department of Education is announcing the award of three federal charter school sub-grants to help the recipients plan and design programs to form new start-up charter schools.
The grants are for planning and program design purposes only, and do not guarantee issuance of a charter. To receive an actual charter, each recipient must develop a detailed implementation plan and apply for approval from the State Board of Education.
The planning award recipients are:
- Akamai Secondary Charter School (proposed) -- Designed and implemented by the successful 12-year-old Charter School of San Diego (Althus Institute), the Honolulu-based charter school would offer a non-traditional educational program for students in grades 7-12 from low socio-economic backgrounds who are at high risk of dropping out of school. Opening in 2007, it would primarily serve students from Honolulu and the military communities of Central Oahu.
- Kona Pacific Public Charter School (proposed) -- The interim local school board of KPPCS plans to operate a Pre-K to Grade 8 public charter school in Kealakekua, Hawaii Island, using a curriculum tailored from Waldorf Schools and interwoven with Hawaiian studies. It expects to open in 2007 with 108 students and grow to 360 students, eventually adding grades 9-12 and reaching 600 students.
- Kula Kaiapuni o Kaua'i Public Charter School (proposed) – The applicant, Supporting the Language of Kaua'i, Inc. (Na Leo Kako'o), plans to open a K-12 public charter school in July 2008 centered on Hawaiian language immersion and Hawaiian cultural values. Since 1989, it has existed as a school-within-a-school serving approximately 75 students on the existing Kapa'a public school campuses.
The competitive, discretionary federal grants from the U.S. Department of Education are worth $90,000 to $150,000. The initial $90,000 is awarded upon selection as a sub-grant recipient, and an additional $60,000 is awarded when the recipient submits a letter of intent to the BOE. The recipients have until September 29, 2007, to use the planning grant funds.
The recipients were among 13 applicants whose proposals were reviewed and selected by an outside, independent agency, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning. PREL is a neutral professional organization with more than 15 years of experience as an educational laboratory serving the program interests of Hawaii and other Pacific Island education agencies with research-based support.
Under the current state charter schools law, the Board of Education may authorize an additional start-up charter school, beginning in July 2007, for each existing start-up charter school that has a three-year or greater accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. At this point, three existing start-up charter schools have achieved such WASC accreditation.
Source contact: Sean Murakami, Public Charter Schools Program Office, 586-3570
