Nevada was chosen as one of eight states to receive millions in grant money to help start up Charter schools. Action News learned how much money is available, who is eligible to apply, and what the grant money will pay for.
Kelly Moore has a first grader at Doral Academy. It's one of 17 Charter schools in Clark County. From the art and music focus to uniform clothing, Kelly is glad she made the switch from public to charter for her daughter.
"Each parent has to volunteer for 30 hours a year, so we are very involved. They have a committee where we can kind of make decisions even on the amount of homework they get," said Kelly Moore.
The reality is though, Charter Schools work on a lottery system and the demand is far greater than the supply. At some schools, there's a 5,000 student waiting list.
"You don't or shouldn't have the beauracy that you sometimes have in larger districts so there's no reason to not achieve," said Doral Academy's Executive Director Bridget Phillips.
Bridget Phillips was ecstatic to hear the Nevada Department of Education is a new recipient of millions of dollars in grant money. She opened up a couple of Charter Schools on her own and says she understands how beneficial the money will be.
"We didn't have the funding mechanisms that a typical district would have to be able to help with that smooth opening," said Phillips.
So how does it work? The money is meant for start-up schools. So the Charter School must be in their first or second year of operation in order to recieve the money.
"Facilities, for equipment, for teachers training, for board training...all the things, marketing, all the things that schools need to have very smooth openings," said Phillips.
