Letters of Intent (LOI) 

Before submitting a charter school application, petitioners must file a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Office of the Superintendent by the published deadline (see the Information for Charter Petitioners page). 

Requirements: 

• LOIs must be electronically submitted before or on the due date. 

• Charter applications without a timely and complete LOI will not be considered. 

• Petitioners may reference a sample LOI on the Georgia Department of Education – Charter Schools Division website. 

Charter school petitions must be submitted electronically to: shekeria.smith@sccpss.com (Charter School Liaison) 

c/o Office of the Superintendent 
Savannah-Chatham County Public School System 
190 Technology Drive, Office 243 
Savannah, GA 31407 

Attention: Shekeria Smith Barnes, Charter School Liaison

All applications are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on the published submission date (see Charter Petition Timeline). 

Submission Requirements: 

• Only petitioners who submitted a timely LOI may apply. 

• No late submissions will be accepted. 

• Applications must include: 

  • A complete electronic copy (including narrative and appendices) submitted via secure digital link or flash drive. 

  • All required supporting documentation as outlined by the State Charter Schools Commission (SCSC) and SCCPSS. 

  • Compliance with formatting and submission requirements established by SCSC and SCCPSS. 

Note: Petitioners applying to a local district must also provide a copy of their petition to the Georgia Department of Education within 30 days of submission to SCCPSS. 

NEW Application Review Process 

Once a complete petition is received, the SCCPSS Charter School Application Review Process begins and must be completed within 90 days of submission. 

SCCPSS evaluates each petition for academic design, governance capacity, financial sustainability, and operational readiness. 
At the conclusion of this process, petitions are categorized as follows: 

1. Rejection Group: Applications with irreparable legal or substantive deficiencies will be rejected for the current cycle. 

• A rejection letter will specify the insufficiencies. 
• Petitioners may submit a new application in the next review cycle. 

2. Revision Group Applications demonstrating minimal quality or compliance may be revised if significant changes can address deficiencies. 

• Petitioners will receive a letter identifying required revisions. 

• Petitioners choosing to revise must submit updates within 30 days, granting SCCPSS an additional 90 days to complete its review. 

• Only one opportunity for revision will be provided. 

• Failure to resubmit within 30 days moves the application to the next cycle. 

3. Clarification Group Applications of moderate quality may require clarification or additional documentation. 

• Petitioners will receive written notice specifying what clarifications or supplemental materials are required. 

• Petitioners have 30 days to submit clarifications, extending SCCPSS’s review period by 90 days. 

• Only one round of clarification is permitted. 

• Failure to respond within 30 days defers the application to the next cycle. 

4. Approval Group Applications demonstrating strong quality, compliance, and readiness during initial review and panel interviews proceed directly to a recommendation for approval to the Board of Education. 

District Review Timeline

Phase	Action	Timeline
Step 1	Letter of Intent (LOI)	Due as published (see Information for Petitioners)
Step 2	Full Petition Submission	Due by March 6
Step 3	District Review & Panel Interviews	January – April
Step 4	Feedback & Revision (if applicable)	30-day window
Step 5	Board Action	By June 30

Additional Notes 

• Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed. 

• Failure to meet submission or compliance requirements may result in deferral to the next school year’s petition cycle.