The Charter Holder receives a renewal notification 18 months prior to the expiration of the charter.

The Notification details any application submission requirements. Initial Renewal Application requirements are based upon the alignment of officers, directors, members and partners of the Charter Holder on record as part of the charter contract with the Arizona Corporation Commissions (ACC) submissions. The Charter Holder will be required to complete the organizational membership section of the application if the Charter Holder’s officers, directors, members and partners reflected in the contract do not match the current information on file with the ACC.

The Charter Holder must submit via the ASBCS Online system, their Renewal Application on or before the deadline date (15 months before the expiration of the charter) provided in the renewal notification. The Renewal Application must be complete upon submission and adhere to the requirements set forth in this guidance.

A Review of the charter holder's compliance and academic systems will take place virtually. Board staff will provide the charter holder with a minimum of two weeks notice for the window in which the virtual document review will take place.

The charter holder will submit required documentation for the compliance review and Academic Systems Review by the deadline provided in the notification (these submissions will apply to all charter holders in Five-Year Interval Review).

On the assigned date, Board staff will meet with the charter holder/school leadership to review the submitted information, discuss findings, and provide the charter holder a list of missing documents/information.

During a pop-in, Board staff will tour the campus, observe instruction in classrooms to confirm alignment with the program of instruction, have a brief discussion with administration (if administration is on campus and available), and review a small number of compliance documents (primarily related to student safety). These visits will be unscheduled, fairly short, and focused in nature. The pop-in visit may occur before or after the Virtual Review call.

Compliance Report

At the conclusion of the virtual review, Board staff will generate a report identifying any non-compliance issues. This report will be issued within ten business days, and will include information about follow-up that is required to correct the issues of non-compliance.

Follow-Up

The charter holder will have until the deadline in the report (typically 30 calendar days) to bring issues into compliance.

Final Report

The final report will identify whether non-compliance issues were brought into compliance, summarize contractual information and leadership discussions, and will indicate whether academic documents meet the criteria set by the Board.

A notification is sent to the Charter Holder providing the scheduled meeting date for the Board’s consideration of the Renewal Application. All materials contained in the application and the report from the ASR are included in the Board’s materials, along with the staff report. The Board will make a decision about whether or not to grant the charter renewal contract. 

If the Board renews the charter, the renewal charter contract is for a term of 20 years. 

The Board may deny the request for renewal if, in its judgment, the Charter Holder has failed to meet or make sufficient progress toward the Board’s Academic Performance Expectations, meet the Board’s Operational Performance Expectations, and complete the obligations of the contract, or comply with all applicable laws. If the Board does not renew the charter, then the charter expires at the end of the contracted term.