Charter & Innovation Schools

Any group of parents, teachers and community members may develop a charter application. A minimum size is not defined in the charter school law. The school must be nonsectarian and non-home-based. Applications may not be submitted to convert an existing private school or non-public home-based educational program into a charter school.

As directed by district policy, letters of intent to submit an application for a new charter school must be submitted by February 1. 

Following the submission of a letter of intent, applicants may submit a complete application with these requirements:

• Submit by 4:30 p.m. on March 15
  • Approximately 18 months prior to the charter school's anticipated opening
  • If March 15 is on a weekend or non-workday, the application is due the first workday following March 15. 
• Applications not submitted by this deadline will not be considered. 

There are currently no pending applications.

The Colorado Charter School Act stipulates that charter schools operate under a contract agreed to by the authorizer's Board of Education (Jeffco) and each school's individual Board of Directors. The Jeffco Board votes on charter renewal on or before February 1 of the year in which the contract expires.

The process towards gaining innovation status begins when a school community—students, parents, staff, and administrators—formulates a narrative, grounded in the school mission, that describes the innovative practices the school would implement under an innovation plan. 

Many innovation plan flexibilities require waivers from state law, district policy, and/or collective bargaining agreements. All innovation plans are reviewed and first approved by separate votes of school administration, faculty, and the School Accountability Committee; then, the Jeffco Board of Education; and, finally, the State Board of Education. 

Waivers allow schools to develop school-level policies for functions that would otherwise be defined by policy, statute, and/or collective bargaining agreements. For example, a school might request a waiver to Jeffco district policy IC/ICA Calendar in order to tailor the school calendar, or waive an article in an collective bargaining agreement in order to redesign professional development structures. Other possible areas of innovation may include: school staffing, curriculum, instruction and assessment, class scheduling, use of financial or other resources, faculty recruitment, and/or administrator professional learning.

Each waiver request must include replacement language specifying the manner in which the innovation school will comply with the intent of the waived statutes. For example, when waiving policies that refer to governance bodies at a school level (such as the School Accountability Committee), waivers must specify who the replacement body will be composed of, what responsibilities the groups will have, and how decisions will be made.

The innovation narrative, application, policies waived, and replacement waiver language together represent a school’s innovation plan. Schools may not waive non-education statutes or federal statutes, including ESSA and IDEA.

To access the original text of any Colorado state statute, district policy, or article of the JCEA or JESPA contracts, please follow the links below:

• Colorado Revised Statute
• Jeffco Public Schools Administrative Policies
• JCEA and JESPA collective bargaining agreements