Is a "Network" the Right Structure for your Charter School Replication?

It is typical, once a charter school becomes successful, that families in other communities start contacting the school’s leaders, asking them to start a similar school in their community, or for the leaders of the school to begin looking for opportunities to expand the school’s impact. Once a successful charter school gets serious about replicating, one of the first and most important questions the school’s leaders need to answer is – What type of governance structure do we want for this group of schools?

Under the charter school laws in Colorado, there are basically four possible structures: An Education Management Organization (often referred to as EMOs or CMOs); a Collaborative; a Network; or no formal affiliation (i.e. the original school agrees, informally, to provide assistance to the new school, but there is no formal agreement or structure between the two).

There are pros and cons to each structure, and really it depends on the goals of the organization. This article focuses just on the features of the Network structure.

Charter School Networks existed, informally, in Colorado for many years. In 2015, the Colorado legislature passed the Charter Schools Network Act, codified as C.R.S. §22-30.5-104.7, to formally recognize and define the parameters of a Charter School Network. The following features are the key elements of a Charter School Network structure in Colorado:

1.     A charter school network is created whenever an existing school applies and is authorized to operate a second (or more) charter school, either within the same school district or in multiple districts. There is no need for the network to be separately incorporated.  

2.     A charter school network can operate multiple schools, in multiple districts, with only one governing board of directors for the various schools. The network may have a different board for each school, or advisory boards for each school, but it is permitted for a single board to operate multiple schools and hold multiple charter contracts.

3.     A charter school network can pool resources and fund any central office expenses from any lawful source of money, unless prohibited by a charter contract. One important caveat to this is that any local MLO or Bond funds received from one school district authorizer cannot be spent to benefit a school in a different district than the one from which those funds are received.

4.     A network can conduct a single financial audit, even if it operates multiple schools in multiple districts.

5.     The network is treated as a public charter school, and is therefore a public entity for purposes of PERA, financial transparency, open meetings, open records, governmental immunity, and other applicable laws and regulations affecting public entities.

There are many questions and considerations to ponder when determining if a network structure is right for your organization. Miller Farmer Law has helped numerous charter school leaders think through these options, and find the right solution. Please contact us if you need assistance in determining the best structure for replicating your successful charter school.