In 2025, the U.S. Department of Education awarded Ohio the competitive Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Program – Grants to State Entities grant, known as the Charter School Program (CSP) Grant in Ohio. CSP grant funds will be used to open new community schools and to replicate and expand high-quality community schools.
Grant Information
Grant Purpose
The Charter School Program (CSP) grant is a competitive grant that provides federal funds to eligible grantees to expand access to high-quality community schools for Ohio’s students and their families.
The grant also provides funding for technical assistance for the grantees as well as Ohio’s sponsor and the wider community school network. The Department will promote and leverage best practices from high-quality community schools to benefit other community schools and traditional public districts and schools.
Types of CSP Grants
Maximum awards to eligible grantees will be $2 million over the life of the grant. There will be two types of subgrant awards available:
- Expansion of an existing high-quality community school
- Opening a new school or replicating an existing, high-quality model.
Eligibility
To be eligible for CSP grant funds, school’s must meet the federal and state definitions of high-quality. High-quality is defined as:
- Contracts with an authorizer rated Exemplary or Effective on its most recent evaluation;
- The two most recent audits conducted by the Auditor of State or other independent auditor have not identified any significant compliance issues; AND either
- (a) A Value-Added Progress rating of four or five stars and either (i) a Performance Index rating of three, four, or five stars, or (ii) an increase in Performance Index rating of five points or more over the three most recent school years; OR (b) A Value-Added Progress rating of three, four, or five stars and a Performance Index rating of four or five stars, OR (c) If the school did not receive a Value-Added Progress rating, the school received a Four-Year Graduation Rate rating of four or five stars, and (i) a Performance Index rating of three, four, or five stars, (ii) an increase in Performance Index rating of five points or more over the three most recent school years; OR (d) If the school received neither a Value-Added Progress rating nor a Four-Year Graduation Rate rating, an Early Literacy rating of four or five stars.
- If the school has the Dropout Prevention and Recovery (DOPR) designation, the school must have received an overall rating of Exceeds Standards and a rating of Exceeds Standards for the Assessment Passage Rate on its most recent Dropout Prevention and Recovery Community School Report Card.