The state board overseeing West Virginia charter schools reviewed how laws recently passed by the Legislature will affect the system.
Charter schools are independent public schools that operate with freedom from many of the rules that apply to traditional public schools. In exchange for the operational flexibility, they must meet strict accountability goals outlined in their “charter” or contract, and they can be closed if they fail to perform.
West Virginia has six charter schools on physical campuses: Eastern Panhandle Preparatory Academy, West Virginia Academy in Morgantown, Workforce Initiative Academy in South Charleston, Clarksburg Classical Academy, Wisdom Academy in Morgantown and Phalen Leadership Academies in Charleston.
In addition, two charter schools operate online: Virtual Preparatory Academy and West Virginia Virtual Academy.
They are overseen by the West Virginia Professional Charter Schools Board, whose members are appointed by the governor.
The board has had bylaws for the past five years, but updates them when new laws are passed affecting the charter schools system. So today, the board was reviewing proposed updates based on charges to state law affecting charter schools.
Charter schools board president Adam Kissel said, “the principle for them is do no more and no less than what the law tells us to do.” He continued, “So there’s not really a lot or very little at stake in the bylaws because they really are meant to mirror what the law says.”
One revision had to do with a pathway for communities to retain a school, like an elementary school up for closure, by transitioning it to a public charter school.
The transition would be done with the sponsorship and support of an existing public charter school or, in some cases, through the county board of education.
The statute requires it to be an in‑person charter school, explicitly not virtual.
“With a lot of the rural school closings, it was an effort to provide a pathway to assist them to change to a charter school in a way, but with the sponsorship of an existing authorized charter school that’s already there to provide that support and coverage, if you will, and backing,” said Barry Holstein, executive director of the West Virginia Professional Charter Schools Board.
Another revision has to do with “charter micro schools.” That is distinct from micro schools in general, which tend to be private and not under the board’s oversight.
A charter micro school would involve a partnership with a higher education institution. The board has not yet encountered a charter micro school application in practice, so process details still need to be developed when such a case arises.
“So I think all it does is solidify something that we maybe would have likely approved anyway, but just solidified and gave it a name that said that partnership with a higher ed institution can occur,” Holstein said.
Members of the professional charter schools board only received copies of the proposed bylaws changes shortly before today’s meeting, so they agreed to hold off voting on their approval until the next scheduled meeting, Sept. 10.