SEATTLE — Washington’s statewide charter schools commission appears ready to approve six proposals for charter schools to open in the state.
The Charter School Commission posted online Monday afternoon its analysis on the proposals for 19 schools vying to be among the state’s first charter schools.
Six schools met the commission’s standards for approval. The panel is scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss the proposals further and vote on the recommendations.
All the recommended schools would be in Western Washington: two in Tacoma, two in Seattle and one each in Highline and Kent. All the schools plan to open in fall 2015.
Three were proposed by out-of-state charter management organizations. One would be converted from a private school to a public charter school.
State voters in 2012 approved a charter-school measure that allows up to 40 independent public schools to open over five years. The earliest the first school was expected to open was fall 2014, but none of the schools on the approval list are aiming for that date.
The six school proposals that will be discussed and voted on Thursday include:
• Rainier Prep, a middle school for the Highline area of south King County.
• Excel Public Charter School, a middle and high school for Kent.
• Two high schools run by Summit Public Schools of Redwood City, Calif., one in Seattle and one in Tacoma.
• A middle school run by Green Dot Public Schools of Los Angeles for Tacoma.
• First Place Scholars Charter School, a conversion of a Seattle private school that serves families in crisis.
Several other schools received partially positive analyses by the commission and what appeared to be encouragement to improve their applications and apply again.
Last week, the Spokane school district approved one other charter school — Pride Prep — which plans to open in 2015 in the Spokane area.
