Florida statute requires the Leon County School Board to receive and consider charter school applications received throughout the year.  Following receipt of the application, a district committee will begin the review process using the state evaluation instrument.  The committee will communicate its evaluation results to the superintendent, who will make a recommendation to the school board.  The school board is required to approve or deny an application no later than 90 calendar days after the application is received unless the sponsor and the application agree to temporarily postpone the vote.  Before a final application is denied, an applicant is allowed at least 7 calendar days upon written notice by the sponsor to make technical and/or nonsubstantive corrections and clarifications, as described in 1002.33, Florida Statutes, to the application if such errors are identified as cause to deny the application.

Charter school applicants wishing to apply to open a charter school are asked to provide a letter of intent to the School Board of Leon County 30 days in advance of submission to urbanl@leonschools.net and gaylem@leonschools.net. On the letter of intent, please include: 

• indicate special population and potential area you are targeting
• mission of the school and intended curricular program
• enrollment estimate by grade and estimated number of students
• name, address, and phone number of contact person

Applicants shall submit the charter application according to the process delineated in the State's Model Florida Charter School Application to ensure the following submission format is provided to Leon County:

• All submissions must include a Table of Contents and a one-page Executive Summary
• Seventeen (17) hard copies in binders with labeled tabs identifying each section, attachment and addenda of the application, along with page numbers for all sections 
• One (1) USB flash drive labeled with the school's name containing a compiled PDF of the application with each section, attachment and addenda bookmarked. Must be the same as the hard copy. 
• Applicants must use the Florida Department of Education Model Charter School Application, which is located at http://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/charter-schools/charter-school-reference/

 Applications shall be submitted in the above format during business hours between 7:30AM- 4:30PM. Applications should be mailed or hand delivered to:

              Leon County Schools Charter School Office

                  c/o Dr. Michelle Gayle

                  2757 West Pensacola Street

                  Tallahassee, FL 32304