They coulud face a roadblock from legislators this session.

The Senate Omnibus Education Bill includes language to put a cap on the number of charter schools in the state at 150. Currently there are 131 charter schools in Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Association of Charter Schools (MACS).

The city of Backus voted unanimously at their April 2 meeting to send a letter addressed to Senator Mary Olson urging opposition of the portion of the senate education bill (SF2095) that puts a cap on charter schools.

The proposed Backus Charter School has already achieved 501c3 non-profit status and secured sponsorship commitment from the Confidence Learning Center Board of Directors.

Several members of the Backus Charter School interim board attended pre-application training hosted by the Department of Education March 30.

Julie Ness, co-chair of the interim Backus Charter School board, said that the state revamped the application process, simplifying it and setting timelines to finalize parts of the application.

The applications for a charter and federal startup grant have been combined; the application is more aligned with a business-planning model; there is a scoring rubric to judge applications that are received; and some application questions have been refocused, according to Eugene Piccolo, MACS executive director. There is also "the establishment of check point in the planning year that will decide if the school is ready to open on the timeframe that the school developers have proposed."

The Backus Charter School interim board had been meeting every other week prior to the pre-application training; now, they will likely meet every week, according to Ness.

The state is encouraging more interaction between the sponsor and the school in the application process.

Reed Campbell of the Confidence Learning Center Board serves as the charter school liaison with the charter's interim board. He attended pre-application training with the state in January.

Sponsors have no financial obligation to charter schools, but serve as collaborators and help provide oversight of the school.

"(We're)...partnering up with them and helping out to make sure that everything goes along smoothly and that they are following the directions and the guidelines that are set forth for them by the state." Campbell said. "This is the first time that the camp has ever been involved with a charter school and sponsoring."

After the application has been submitted, the commissioner of education then has 90-days to review and accept or reject the application.