Charter School Facilities : Report from a National Survey of Charter Schools / Bryan Hassel and Barbara Page.

This report presents survey findings about the U.S. charter school system that were collected from 280 schools in 19 states with over 80,000 students. The two-part report examines the responses to a short list of questions about facility costs and growth plans, and it explores information provided by a subset of schools (118 institutions) that completed longer survey instruments covering a wider range of questions about schools' facilities experiences and challenges. Among the findings are that the majority of charter schools in the survey lease their facilities, that fewer than one in seven charter schools receive "free" facilities, and that the average cost for facilities is $191,553 or $690 per student. The study also found that charter school challenges may become more acute in coming years due to planned growth, that nearly six out of 10 responders indicated plans to expand their facilities, and that the average plan is for an increase in enrollment of 63 percent or higher. The report further details the types of facilities used by charter schools; facility ownership, size, and space sharing; experience of obtaining financing; and the limitations and challenges arising from facilities issues. An appendix contains information on how the data for the report was collected. (GR)

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