Lawmakers demanded a charter school in Northern Kentucky. No one's interested so far

Olivia Krauth, Cincinnati Enquirer
·1 min read

Last year, Kentucky lawmakers demanded that school district leaders in Northern Kentucky and Louisville seek and approve at least one application for a charter school in 2023.

Just one problem: No one applied.

Kentucky Department of Education spokesperson Toni Konz Tatman confirmed Thursday that no one applied to open a charter school in Northern Kentucky – one of the two locations mandated to have a charter.

Background:

School district leaders in the regions get until July 1, 2024 under state law.

Jefferson County Public Schools’ charter school information portal shows just one group formally notified the district of their intent to apply. The group, however, did not end up actually doing that.

Charter school applicants are required to submit applications to both their local authorizer − typically local boards of education − and the Kentucky Board of Education.

The only charter school application submitted in the state was in Madison County, Tatman said.

The revelation comes a few weeks after the Council for Better Education, along with JCPS and Dayton Independent Schools, sued to block the charter school law from being implemented, arguing its funding mechanism is unconstitutional.

The law does not say what JCPS should do if no one applies to open a charter school. "However, the board cannot review and approve an application if one is not made," Tatman said.

Jefferson County’s sole letter of interest sought to create LYCEE of Louisville – standing for Linking Youth and Children in Excellence in Education.

According to its letter of intent, LYCEE would have been based in Louisville’s West End and started with kindergarten through second grade, eventually building to eighth grade. It would have offered a language immersion program and focused on “mastery of literacy and mathematics.”

Reach Olivia Krauth at okrauth@courierjournal.com and on Twitter at @oliviakrauth.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: No takers yet for Northern Kentucky charter school despite mandate