The South Carolina Department of Education will conduct a free workshop for individuals or groups interested in applying to open a charter school.

Registration for the January 12, 2010, workshop is limited to 50 participants. Prospective charter school organizers are asked to limit their attendance to no more than two representatives per applicant group.

The workshop will be held at the Career Development Center, located at 8016 Wilson Blvd. in Columbia. The session will run from 9 am until 12:30 pm and will conclude before lunch. Registration will begin at 8:30 am.

Covered topics will include the charter school application process including application deadlines. Planning groups will be provided with information needed to prepare a quality proposal. Participants will be divided into thematic groups and will have an opportunity to rotate through all groups. Facilitators will not read or revise any drafts that participants provide, but they will answer questions.

Any person or group, including an existing public school that forms a nonprofit corporation, may apply to operate a charter school.

An existing public school may be converted into a charter school if twothirds of the faculty and instructional staff and twothirds of parents of enrolled students agree to file a charter school application.

The South Carolina Charter Schools Act defines a charter school as public, nonreligious, non–home– based, nonprofit, and nondiscriminatory. A charter school operates within a public school district and is open to all eligible students from that district. It is accountable to the sponsor that grants its charter – a local school board or the SC Public Charter School District.

To register for the January 12 workshop, go to this link https://apps.ed. sc.gov/tools/scripts/survey/ 30946010/default.cfm. Registration must be complete by Tuesday, January 5, 2010.

For additional information, contact Rebecca Cupstid (rcupstid@ed.sc.gov or 734-8266).