BENTONVILLE — A group of School District administrators and teachers is meeting weekly as it puts together a plan for the district’s first conversion charter school.

“Right now we’re working on writing our mission and our educational philosophy and the education plan,” said Judy Marquess, district director of instruction.

District officials announced in November their intention to explore the idea of converting one of their buildings into a charter school that emphasizes science, technology, engineering and mathematics — commonly grouped together by the acronym STEM — with an additional focus on the arts.

A committee of 27 people was formed to examine the possibility. That committee consists of three subcommittees, each with their own focus: programming, facility and staff, and community partners.

There are two kinds of charter schools in Arkansas.

An open-enrollment charter school is run by a governmental entity, an institution of higher learning or a tax-exempt nonsectarian organization. It can draw students from anywhere in the state.

A conversion charter school is a traditional public school converted to a charter by a school district. It can draw only students from within that school district’s boundaries. The Rogers School District opened a conversion charter, New Tech High School, last fall with 300 students.

Scott Smith, director of the Arkansas Public School Resource Center, was scheduled to appear at a Bentonville School Board meeting last week to answer any questions the board had about opening a charter. That meeting was canceled because of winter weather, however.

“It’s not an easy process,” Smith said Friday. “It requires some very thoughtful effort.”

Charter schools can be beneficial because they provide families a choice in the education of their children and encourage innovative teaching practices, according to the center’s website.

No building has been identified yet for Bentonville’s possible charter school, Marquess said.

The earliest Bentonville could open a charter school is the 2015-16 school year. The district would be required to submit a letter of intent to the state Department of Education by August. Its application would be due two months later. Then the state would hold hearings on the application in early 2015.

Marquess said her group’s goal is to have the charter’s educational plan laid out by early March.

“In the spring we would start having public meetings to present the idea to parents and community members,” she said. “Probably by June we would want to make a formal presentation to the School Board.”

Galen Havner, director of human resources, leads the group’s subcommittee on facility and staff. He said the group is trying to come up with some job descriptions for those who would be working at the charter, as well as some concept of the space that’s needed.

It’s an enthusiastic group, he said.

“I think the enthusiasm is almost scary,” Havner said. “The idea of being able to live a dream is something every teacher likes. They’re talking to their peers and coming up with different ideas. It’s hard to contain at times.”