If the Coweta County Board of Education passes a proposed policy for charter school applications, the road for future charter school proponents will be a little smoother.

That's the assessment of school administrator Blake Bass, who explained the new proposed policy at Monday afternoon's meeting of the school system's policy committee.

Bass presented a proposed charter school board policy, along with an administrative policy for charter schools and an exhibit of charter schools to the members for their review.

The proposed policy comes on the heels of the school system's discussion with owners of the proposed Odyssey School, who want to open a charter school this fall.

Both school officials and school board members have peppered Odyssey School officials with questions about their proposed school, and Bass said the new policy should help streamline the process for future applicants.

But Bass emphasized that if the board approves the new policy, it will not affect the status of Odyssey's pending charter application.

Some of the highlights of the proposed policy are:

ä Any charter school application must be submitted by Nov. 15 if the school expects to start the following fall.

ä Charter school petitioners must have sites that meet building codes, and must have certificates of occupancy before schools can open.

ä Transportation of students to the school is the responsibility of the charter school organizers.

ä The local board of education will not provide any start-up costs to the charter school petitioners.

If the school system receives a charter school application, the application will be sent to a newly established charter school review committee.

The committee will review the application and make a recommendation to superintendent of education Richard Brooks, who will then make a recommendation to the school board.

Policy committee member Rick Melville asked Bass if the school board would have to approve the application if the charter school met all the requirements.

“The state law gives the school board the final say,” interjected Brooks.

Brooks said he would make sure all the school board members have a copy of the policy this week. The Policy Committee is expected to recommend approval of the policy to the school board at its Aug. 10 meeting.

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