Nine organizations have submitted letters to the Arkansas Department of Education about their intent to apply next month for permission to open independently operated, public charter schools in the 2015-16 school year.

Three of the possible open-enrollment charter schools are proposed for North Little Rock, and Little Rock, Bentonville and Springdale each have two proposed schools. The others are planned for Rogers, Forrest City, Marianna, West Memphis and Redfield.

The school applications are due July 21 for consideration first by the Education Department's Charter Authorizing Panel and then, in November or later, by the Arkansas Board of Education.

It's possible that no more than five or six of the schools could be approved as a result of a state law that caps the number of total charters at 24.

Nineteen of those charters are now in use, leaving five charters available during this approval period, according to an education commissioner's memorandum issued in February.

But KIPP: Delta Charter Schools is one of the applicants and is seeking to include a new school under the umbrella of its existing charter, Scott Shirey, executive director of KIPP Delta Public Schools, said Monday. KIPP, which stands for the Knowledge is Power Program, is not seeking one of the five available charters.

State law does allow the charter cap to increase over time and with demand. Arkansas Code Annotated 6-23-304 calls for the cap to automatically increase by five each time the number of open-enrollment charters is within two of meeting the existing cap, which is now 24.

KIPP: Delta submitted three letters of intent by the May 29 deadline to open college-preparatory charter schools that would target low-income families with children in grades five through eight in Forrest City, Marianna and West Memphis.

Shirey said in a phone interview that the organization will follow through with an application to open just one campus.

"Our intent is to choose one community over the summer," Shirey said. "We're looking for a level of community desire, support and need."

KIPP is not the only organization with charter-school experience to submit letters of intent this spring.

The operators of the existing Haas Hall Academy charter school in Fayetteville are seeking to replicate the secondary school in Bentonville. The Academy Inc., the sponsoring entity, is proposing a 500-student school for grades seven through 12 at a location on Southeast Walton Boulevard.

And the Lighthouse Academies of Central Arkansas, which is operating schools in Jacksonville and Pine Bluff, has notified the Education Department of its intent to resubmit from 2013 its plan for a Capitol City Lighthouse Charter School in North Little Rock. The school would begin with as many as 344 pupils in kindergarten through sixth grade and expand into middle and high school over time.

Other organizations submitting letters of intent are:

• Arkansas Connections Academy, which is proposing a virtual school model for kindergarten through 12th-graders in Bentonville, Little Rock, Rogers and Springdale. The contact for the organization is Fritz Steiger of Bentonville.

• Complete Global Vision, which is proposing a North Little Rock-based school for students diagnosed with autism disorders. Eugenia Delph is the co-founder for the organization.

• Community Outreach Development Corp., which is proposing to operate Hi-TEC-Hi at a North Little Rock location to serve high school students who have dropped out or are in jeopardy of high school failure. The school would have "satellite virtual campuses" in Dewitt, Bald Knob and Pine Bluff. Doris Y. Phillips is the contact.

• Ozark Education Inc. is proposing the opening of the Ozark Montessori Academy to serve kindergarten through eighth grades in Springdale. Christine Silano is the executive director of the corporation.

• Redfield Tri-County Charter School, which would serve up to 600 students in kindergarten through 12th grades at a Redfield location. Larry O'Briant is the president of the organization.

• Rockbridge Montessori School, which plans to serve up to 325 children in kindergarten through eighth grades at a Little Rock location. Bill Simmons is president of the organization.

Metro on 06/10/2014