As announced by the Corbett School District:

Announcement: A public hearing to inform and explain the charter application process to convert the Corbett School District into a district with a single charter school, AKA a charter district, is scheduled for 7:00 PM on October 15th in the MPB.

Background: This represents the next step in a nearly two year process of the Board considering converting the district into a district with a single charter school, AKA a charter district. State law requires that the Board of Directors (School Board) hold an official public hearing to consider this proposal after which the Corbett School Board will have up to 30 days to approve or deny the application.

Rationale: The Corbett School Board is considering this conversion because it serves as a method for the Board to regulate the district’s financial solvency without relying on the permission of other districts to accept out of district transfer students. In other words, if any additional out of district students are required for revenue, a charter school can accept them without receiving permission from the students home district. This was previously done through open enrollment which the state ended in the summer of 2019.

Governance: The publicly elected Corbett School Board will retain all of their ability to govern the district, set policy, control district size, etc. if they vote to make this conversion. Essentially, this conversion is a name change only to allow the Board to determine the number of students it allows into the district without asking permission from other districts.

Additional Information & References for further information:

Check out Page 9 of this ODE pdf for more info about the charter application process: https://www.oregon.gov/ode/learning-options/schooltypes/charter/Documents/Starting%20a%20Public%20Charter%20School.pdf

There's also more public charter school information on this website with questions and answers specific to Corbett in conversation with Kate Pattison, ODE Charter school specialist

Link to Charter Application submitted to the School Board in May 2019:

https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=44458383

Additional note:

Bring your questions, concerns and ideas to this public hearing.

According to the ODE charter application flow chart (on page 9 of the pdf) : After the public hearing, the School Board must evaluate the proposal and vote on the charter proposal within 30 days of the public hearing. If voted down, further steps must be taken to modify the proposal. If voted in favor of, then the Charter proposal is "School District Approved". Followed by Charter Contract Negotiations.