The federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) provides funding to State Educational Agencies with the purpose of expanding the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the nation by providing financial assistance for planning of new charter school programs, implementation of new charter school programs, and dissemination of promising charter school practices in order to evaluate the effects of charter schools; including their impacts on student academic achievement, teaching and learning, families, and the community.
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) plans to carry out the following objectives within Oregon to:
- provide funds to post-award, pre-operational charter schools in the development phase in order to increase educational equity and improve the quality of new charter schools statewide through an intensive incubation period.
- provide funds to high-quality charter schools in operation for less than three years in order to facilitate implementation of their educational models, professional development, and curriculum, and to provide professional development in educational equity.
- provide funds to high-quality charter schools in operation for at least three (3) years in order to facilitate expansion of their program, educational models, professional development, and curriculum.
- strengthen authorizer quality throughout the state by providing high-quality training and professional development to authorizers.
In carrying out these objectives, the Oregon Charter Schools Program (OCSP) provides subgrant to qualified charter school developers and operators for the planning phase and/or early years of implementation of new charter schools, and to experienced and successful operators for expansion through the OCSP grant and assists districts in developing and strengthening charter authorizing practices through high quality professional development and training.
The OCSP Grant is funded on a reimbursement basis, which means that subgrantees will be reimbursed for allowable, approved activities following proof of expenditure.
An applicant receiving a subgrant under this program may use the subgrant funds only for:
- Expansion of the charter school, which may include:
- Informing the community about the school expansion
- Acquiring necessary equipment, educational materials and supplies
- Acquiring or developing curriculum materials
- Other initial operational costs that cannot be met from State or local sources.
- Providing one-time, start-up costs associated with providing transportation to students to and from the charter school
- Carrying out necessary renovations to ensure that a new school building complies with applicable statutes and regulations, and minor facilities repairs (excluding construction).
None is available.
It is expressly prohibited to use OCSP grant funds for the purchase or leasing of a facility. Grant funds may not be used to offset or cover costs of preparing and submitting an application for OCSP grant funds.