Winning Charter School Renewal Against a Hostile Authorizer

Charter school renewals are extremely challenging in states like Pennsylvania, where the local school district is the charter authorizer. This is especially true when school district officials consider charter schools as competitors draining their budget.

The following techniques are fundamental if your charter school is in a state that limits charter terms to five years. These schools can strengthen their renewal applications by engaging in PR tactics as early in the charter or contract term as possible.

Shaping Your Charter School’s Narrative: Criterion #1

It is crucial to establish and maintain your charter school’s narrative long before it is up for renewal, especially if the authorizer intends to challenge your application for another term. Once a school district prepares to consider charter renewal applications, the media takes notice. It is crucial to ensure the media notices your school on your terms well in advance of your next charter renewal. If the district or an opposition group poses a challenge to your school’s renewal, you will be much better positioned if the media is already familiar with its mission, message, and narrative. Positive familiarity can have an impact on shaping how the press reports on your school.

Charter schools that establish positive publicity well before their renewal term ends enjoy a significant advantage. By disseminating crucial information and generating positive publicity in the news media, on their websites, and on social media, school leaders can have greater control over their organization’s narratives, even during crises. Providing the press, the public, and the powers that be with knowledge and familiarity about your school in advance of a charter renewal is a smart strategy.

You don’t want the press, the public, and the powers that be hearing about your charter school for the first time when it’s up for renewal. All CEOs are empowered to control their charter school’s narrative, generate positive publicity, and gain a favorable position within the community. Make your choice now, for tomorrow may be far too late.

Develop a Strategic Online Presence Long before Charter Renewal Process

Your school narrative begins on its website and social media venues. Journalists who write about your school will reference your website and likely check out some recent social media posts. Make sure the most important things you hope journalists include in their reports are highly visible and current at these venues. If you do it right, this critical language and your school narrative stand a far greater chance of being included in media coverage during tough times. In our crisis communication trainings, we teach charter school CEOs that with careful and sustained preparation, their most important messages are more likely to appear in the press when they need it the most. And because the public has become familiar with those messages, your chances of controlling the school narrative during crises increase exponentially.

Build your online reputation long before the charter renewal process begins

Strategic websites and social media messaging need to be established and maintained beginning no less than two years before your school must submit a renewal application. If your state limits a charter for a period of only five years, you must put these practices in place during the entire term. This is because it takes time to shape public opinion and effectively build the meaningful community support you will need if the authorizer challenges your renewal application. However, if you have found this article while your school is in renewal, although there is a disadvantage for not having had a PR program in place years ago, doing something now is far better than hoping for the best.

Post with a plan: use everyday opportunities to build a case for renewal

School webmasters and social media specialists need to be trained to use their powerful tools to show their schools are honorable stewards of the terms set forth in their operating charters and that their unique missions are providing students with excellent academic experiences.

Maintaining a blog posting updates should be done with an eye on renewal. Doing so builds a public case during the entire contract or charter term that the school is satisfying each of the domains the Charter Schools Office uses to determine whether it is eligible for renewal.

Hostile authorizers start building non-renewal cases years ahead – Do the same for your case for renewal

Keep in mind that hostile authorizers like the School District of Philadelphia, Bethlehem Area School District, and Pittsburgh Public Schools may have been silently building a case against your renewal during its entire term. This is especially true for school districts that have budget problems. During these times, school business officials often see forcing charter students back into the district via non-renewal as one path toward closing deficit gaps. To guard your school from such abuse, it is critical to establish a public case year by year of the value it brings students and stakeholders.

Sharing photos and footage of student activities on a weekly basis is one of the best ways to grow public support. Doing so will add up over time and underscore your case for charter renewal. This is extremely important in states like Pennsylvania, where school districts have charter school oversight and have the power to make the case for non-renewals based on obscure technicalities.

Train and empower school webmasters and social media specialists

School webmasters and social media specialists can leverage online platforms to highlight innovative teaching methods, parental and community involvement, and student successes. Charter schools can paint a compelling picture of their impact on the community by sharing testimonials from parents, students, and teachers.

The website should be regularly updated with data on student performance and conduct, extracurricular engagement, grants for student programs, high school placement, and college acceptance rates to strengthen its narrative. Infographics and videos can serve as compelling visual aids to convey this information in an accessible and engaging manner.

Social media empowers charter schools to build relationships with local businesses, education and youth-based organizations, and families. Online advertising and email distribution systems like Acumbamail and Mailchimp can promote events, open houses, and workshops, inviting community members to events, which helps build support and a sense of stakeholder ownership and pride.

Consistent transparency is essential for your eventual charter renewal. This is especially important because school districts seeking to force charter students back into their budget through non-renewal or revocation try to make the school appear suspicious and lacking transparency. Use your online platforms to highlight, underscore, and communicate where your school is fulfilling the required domains for renewal.

Parental Involvement and Community Engagement Key for Charter School Renewal Application Support

Parental involvement and community engagement are critical components in preparing for the charter renewal. High involvement and engagement are indicative of high satisfaction. Charter schools benefit from engaging with parents and the community, as doing so helps them secure their continued support, monitor their satisfaction levels, and mobilize them when the school’s charter is up for renewal. Regular newsletters, social media posts, and events are important outreach tools with huge impact potential.

Event-based partnerships with local organizations and businesses can also enhance community engagement. Collaborative initiatives, such as service projects or educational programs, can strengthen the school’s community ties while providing newsworthy resources and support.

Showcasing student achievements during community events or performances effectively highlights the school’s academic impact. And doing so will underscore its value to the community and corporate taxpayers alike.

Over time, forging a spirit of parental involvement and community engagement will be instrumental in developing a robust volunteer base needed during the renewal process. A best practice for preparing a strong stakeholder mobilization force is to get parents involved in annual advocacy activities, such as participating in events such as the annual National Charter School Week and School Choice Week. Such activities may include participating in rallies at the Capitol, organizing letter-writing campaigns to local government officials, speaking at public meetings, and sharing personal stories of how the school has positively affected their lives.

School administrators can create a strong and united front by including stakeholders in advocacy campaigns, demonstrating solid widespread community support during the renewal evaluation. Knowing a charter school has a solid and expansive stakeholder base that does not hesitate to mobilize is enough for a deficit-strapped authorizer seeking “low-hanging fruit” to dig deeply for technicalities that can lead to non-renewals.

News Coverage and Media Site Visits as Part of the Renewal Timeline

Generating regular media coverage during each year of the charter term is critical. Hostile school districts and state oversight commissioners will not hesitate to use the media as a sounding board for their calls for non-renewal. They work with the press on a myriad of issues regularly, allowing them to develop strong media relations and credibility.

Charter school officials should do the same.

By generating frequent news coverage each school year, charter school officials will develop stronger public support. They will also develop stronger media relationships. These relationships can make for more balanced media coverage if the authorizing district seeks non-renewal. If a school district has a cordial and professional relationship with the local media, and the charter school is relatively unknown, the latter will have a significant disadvantage in the press.

Charter schools should also ask the media to visit the building. Doing so will enable school leaders to show the press firsthand some wonderful things that happen daily. That way, you can back up assertions about the student experience that go well beyond data, academic performance frameworks, and accountability reports.

School board meetings are a monthly or regular opportunity to keep in touch with the press. Invite the media to attend each meeting. Ensure the Board agenda and essential documents are sent to them before each meeting date.

Strategic Communications Plans that Lead to Renewal

To effectively secure media coverage, charter school leaders should develop a strategic communication plan to guide their PR activities throughout the school year. The plan will identify issues, address all stakeholder groups, and craft essential messaging that ensures the public is aware of its ongoing successes in each of the domains the Charter Schools Office will use to determine if renewal is warranted. That plan will also outline regular critical activities that include press releases, newsletters, social media updates, mobilization recruitment and training, and etc.

The strategic communication plan will help prepare for and prevent potential crises and resultant negative stories. It will guide officials to effectively address concerns and present their perspectives by upholding transparency. The plan will ensure all spokespersons are trained, ready, and available for interviews, as well as identify tactics for proactively seeking opportunities to engage the media through interviews, press conferences, and editorial board meetings.

Cultivating a strong media presence aids in countering negative narratives and builds a robust support network ready to rally behind the school. A thorough strategic plan will guide administrators into becoming media-ready.

When it comes time for the renewal of a charter, schools engaged in organization-wide PR activities guided by a strategic communication plan will have an easier time maintaining their narrative and launching a stakeholder mobilization operation if necessary. By developing a strong online presence, engaging with parents and the community, leveraging social media, highlighting student achievements, and building relationships with local media, charter schools can build support for their renewal and continue to provide students with an excellent education.

2024-25 Renewal Recommendations Exceed Accountability Domains

Over time, the charter school movement has made significant progress. Unfortunately, however, despite numerous calls for reform, some school district authorizers continue to this day to use their power as authorizers to find ways to eliminate competition rather than evaluate it impartially. Data shows charter schools continued to fight for their existence in state Charter Appeals Boards in staggering numbers in 2024 and into 2025.

When the school district is the authorizer, charter schools up for renewal enter the process with a distinct advantage. This is glaringly evident in states like Pennsylvania, which has a peculiar oversight system: the Department of Education oversees cyber charter schools, while school districts are responsible for authorizing brick-and-mortar charter schools. Charter schools must apply for renewal every five years, which is their term length, making it quite a challenge. It’s been said that in states like Pennsylvania, charters are either in renewal, coming out of renewal, or heading into renewal. The state school code requires the school district to evaluate the charter school’s record of performance through a comprehensive review that is based on several domains that include:

• Academic outcomes
• Compliance and viability, which includes an evaluation of the board of trustees
• Health and sustainability, including whether the school is financially sound

Unfortunately, some hostile authorizers, such as the School District of Philadelphia, go beyond what the law requires to determine if the charter school can continue operating. Other unsaid areas concerning whether they will renew a charter or see non-renewal include what district officials consider best for the school district. While the law is clear on the criteria that must be used to determine the school’s renewal status, an authorizer with buckets of public money can finance attorneys to audit a charter’s annual reports and other documentation to find “problem areas.” We have seen school districts totally disregard a school satisfying each of the domains in the final year of its current charter but hold the operator accountable for failing to fully do so in the first year of that contract.

Charter schools might have autonomy in operations, but a hostile operator can use technicalities that its attorneys find in any record of the school to assess “whether or not it completely fulfilled its obligations.” District officials can call for non-renewal if, for example, the school failed in one domain during the first year of the five-year term, despite satisfying all requirements in each of the subsequent four years thereafter.

This abuse of power is why it is imperative for charter schools to implement a powerful public relations campaign at the beginning of each charter term instead of waiting until the end. It takes time to shape public opinion through news coverage and social media engagements, build support, and prepare parents for mobilization. After accumulating substantial media coverage over time, engaging in consistent strategic communications with each stakeholder group, and collecting parent testimonials and community support petitions, the charter school can package and submit those items of support as part of the renewal process. The more time leaders act on charter school marketing, public relations, and community support, the more difficult it will be for a hostile school district to seek a breach of renewal terms based on a concocted technicality.