The board applied to the state in July with the support of the Confidence Learning Center, the school's intended sponsor.
School organizers received a letter Oct. 1 notifying them that their application had been denied by the Minnesota Department of Education. They had intended to open in the fall of 2008.
Provide adequate detail of how the charter school's board members would contribute to the school.
Larry Glassmann, co-chair of the Backus Charter School interim board, said that he felt that they had submitted a good application.
"It was our first time around; we're learning," Glassmann said. "We're really confident; we're ready to go again."
One MDE reviewer and three peers review charter school applications. Each reviewer provides comments on the quality of the application as well as the applicants' performance on the state's charter school development rubric.
Each applicant can earn points in 12 areas - including vision, mission, purpose and need, school development, governance, facility and sponsorship - for a total of 150 points.
Because they base applications' merits on qualitative and quantitative data, "there is no numerical threshold at which schools are approved or not approved," according to Christine Dufour, MDE deputy communications director.
That being said, the Backus Charter School earned 129.7 points on their application.
MDE approved 11 charter school applications received during the last round of applications. Those approved include:
Lionsgate, Robbinsdale; The Boy's Academy, Minneapolis; River's Edge, St. Paul; Richard Allen Math & Science Academy, Minneapolis; Michael Frome Academy, Woodbury; KIPP Minnesota, Minneapolis; Global Academy, Richfield; DaVinci Academy, Blaine-Mounds View; Cologne Academy, Cologne; Bright Water Elementary Charter School, Minneapolis; and Aspen Academy, Savage-Shakopee.
