District and Authorizer Information

District & Authorizer Information

Colorado charter schools are public schools that operate by way of a contract (charter) that has been authorized by a local school district or the Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI). The following links provide more information about Colorado school districts and charter school authorizers.

Standards for Charter Schools and Charter Schools (CACSA/CDE)

Colorado Authorizing Standards State Board passed a permanent rule in 2012 to establish standards for charter schools and charter school authorizers.
This document reflects similar best practices to NACSA authorizing standards, while meeting CO requirements and needs based on recommendation of a statewide stakeholder task force.

General Information

What is Authorizing? (NACSA) - A basic description of what Authorizers do.
Charter School Institute (CSI) - Authorized to accept applications for schools (1) in districts without exclusive chartering authority (ECA) and (2) in districts which have retained ECA, with permission to the applicant from the district's board of education. Click on the link to be directed to the CSI Web site.
Exclusive Chartering Authority (ECA) - includes a list of Colorado districts with/without ECA.
Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers (CACSA) - CACSA was formed by and serves the professional staff in Colorado authorizers who work on all tasks associated with charter school oversight. These education leaders created CACSA to support all of Colorado’s authorizers, with the goals of improving charter school authoring practices, the quality of charter schools, and the education for all students in the state. If you are a Colorado authorizer and need assistance please reach out to Executive Director Mackenzie Khan.
National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) - NACSA advances and strengthens the ideas and practices of authorizing so students and communities—especially those who are historically under-resourced—thrive.

Information for Authorizing New Charter Schools

Authorizer Bootcamp

The Colorado Authorizer Bootcamp was designed for people new to the work of charter school authorizing or anyone wanting a comprehensive review of best practices for the full range of tasks authorizers perform. The bootcamp includes supporting information from state policy and incorporates an array of model tools authorizers can apply in their district.

Standard Application Template and Evaluation Standards (2023)

This application has been developed in collaboration with the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers (CACSA), the Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI), the Colorado League of Charter Schools (CLCS) and the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). The application is intended to assist authorizers with creating rigorous charter review processes that also incorporate spaces for local priorities. Furthermore, it is designed to assist charter school founders of various backgrounds with developing proposals that meet community needs. This application is aligned with the Colorado Charter School Program (CCSP) grant to allow opportunities for schools to address eligibility criteria and requirements that are part of the grant application at the same time they are working on a charter application for the authorizer.

Standard Application & Evaluation Standards 2021

Standard Application Rubric 2021

Charter Application Review Process Interview Guidance

Sample Contract Template (2022 - CACSA)

As part of a national dissemination grant from the United States Department of Education, the Colorado Charter School Institute and the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers was selected to develop a range of high quality charter authorizer documents - some of which are state specific. One such document is an updated model contract for Colorado. That document is available here:

Sample Contract: Editable Version (as published by the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers)

Information for Charter School Renewals

Sample Renewal Framework (2021- CACSA)

As part of a national dissemination grant from the United States Department of Education, the Colorado Charter School Institute and the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers was selected to develop a range of high quality charter authorizer documents - some of which are state specific. One such document is an updated sample renewal framework. This document was also developed in collaboration with WestEd in their role supporting activities of the National Charter School Resource Center. That document is available here:

Sample Renewal Framework (as published by the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers and WestEd)

Authorizer Dissemination In Conjunction with Charter School Institute

As a part of the dissemination activities included in the Federal Charter Schools Program Grant that the Schools of Choice Unit received in 2018, the Schools of Choice unit and Charter School Institute partnered together to release a series of case studies to support charter schools across the state enhance their practices in the following areas: annual reporting, charter renewals, and charter accountability, particularly charter accountability during COVID-19.

Annual Reporting Pre-recorded Webinar and Supporting Documents
Annual Reporting Pre-recorded Webinar and Supporting Documents

Equal Access Series Authorizer Session: Authorizers’ Role in Continuous Improvement (Recorded on 4/17/2021)

Recently, there has been an increase of authorizers wanting to provide additional support to charter schools to improve students' outcomes outside of typical authorizer interventions (e.g., closure or non-renewal). The session “Authorizer’s Role in Continuous Improvement” recorded on April 7th, 2021 focused on the authorizers' role in supporting continuous improvement through the Unified Improvement Plan and a board strategic plan.

Identifying Indicators of Distress in Charter Schools

When charter school leaders, governing boards, and authorizers identify the early signs of school distress, they can intervene before the issues become too deep, systemic, or extensive for schools to recover. Thanks to research from the National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC), the charter sector has the opportunity and the imperative to identify schools in distress while improvement is still feasible.

NCSRC has released tools, publications, and virtual learning opportunities to help school leaders, board members, and authorizers engage in its indicators of distress research. Explore these self-guided modules, which feature videos, reports, toolkits, and other downloaded materials.

School leaders and board members click here and Authorizers click here to review the courses and materials.

Information for Charter School Closures

Closing a charter school presents numerous challenges, including compiling and analyzing data, holding public meetings, and addressing political considerations. These considerations must be addressed before a charter school chooses to voluntarily close or before the authorizer votes to non-renew or revoke the charter school contract. CACSA has worked to aggregate a range of resources to support authorizers with managing the closure process.

CACSA Closure Resources