Charter School Option

Question: Can Adult Schools Become Charter Schools?

Answer (from Connie Pekides):


Adult schools cannot get charters.

Here is the long answer.

What can happen is that a school can open as a K-12 high school and serve students over 18 if they, the students, go directly from their regular school to a charter school that serves students 18 and over.

The catch is that the students must be continuously enrolled in “high school.” Or the charter school must be one of the “exempted group” which is allowed to serve the "over 18" population and receive high school funding. In those schools, where I taught, my Adult Ed credential was considered the appropriate credential because of the age of the students. I was NCLB qualified.

So charter schools have some upper age limitations.

However, regular high schools do not have the same upper age limitations.

In the Ed Code, there is a mandatory minimum age for kindergarten and first grade. There is not an upper age limit to receive a high school education. It only says that a student must be "qualified" and it does not define "qualified." The Ed Code further states that school districts can have high schools, nights schools and alternative schools. The night school may be called Adult Education.

What that says to me is that adult schools should all convert to high schools, receive 9-12 funding instead of adult ed funding, and serve the same students. You could check with CTC on using adult school credentials for those students.

Then,

Business classes for those students (who do not have a high school diploma) become electives

ABE classes become CAHSEE prep (if we still have CAHSEE)

And adult schools become Alternative and Night High School programs, collecting 9-12 funding. Then the school districts can take our ADA and we can get even more money. Or they can get the new ADA that is generated at the higher rate and let us keep our ADA.

Hope this helps.