It takes far more than great vision and gritty determination to realize a public charter school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Taking a charter school from your initial idea to real classrooms filled with qualified, capable, engaging teachers and excited, involved students requires deep knowledge of the business that supports the academic mission of the charter school including:
- education law, both specific to Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charter and cyber charter schools and to Pennsylvania Department of Education law in general,
- school budgeting specific to charter and cyber charter schools (there are several differences between the budgeting of a charter school and those of a school managed by a school district),
- charter school hiring and staffing practices,
- charter and cyber charter school accounting practices and the acquisition and management of federal, state, district, and education grant related receivables,
- real estate acquisition and development as well as the zoning ordinances in the school district where you intend to erect you charter school,
- founding team development and charter school Director’s Board installation and the creation of its bylaws,
- and much, much, more.
It’s a lot to know.
The staff at Charter Choices has spent years mastering the details specific to managing the “business backbone” of successful charter schools throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Our Certified Public Accountants will carefully scrutinize the details of your charter school’s balance sheets. Our school business managers, all experienced in the successful operation of numerous charter schools, will help you devise business practices that leverage the strengths of your school’s founders and/or administrative team. Should you need assistance managing payroll, submitting PIMS data to the PDE, navigating through federal programs or PSERS (Pennsylvania School Employees’ Retirement System), our cohort of specialists will bring you and your team up to speed or take the reigns and manage them if you so choose.