Grant Eligibility

This funding opportunity is designed for and open to developers of Maryland public charter schools and operating public charter schools that meet the federal definitions of a “charter school” and “developer.” Grant applicants must conform to the federal definition of a public charter school in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to be eligible for grant funds under the CSP. Additionally, new charter school developers must have submitted a complete application or prospectus to the district authorizer. Existing operators will be eligible if they have gone through at least one renewal cycle successfully, meet the federal definition for high-quality, and have notified their authorizer of their intent to expand or replicate. In all cases, only after they are approved by the authorizer are they eligible to begin accessing funds from the subgrant.

The Maryland Momentum CSP seeks to identify quality eligible applicants that have the capacity to meet the program objective of serving more students, especially educationally disadvantaged, high school students, rural students, or for a school located in a high-need district, or by engaging educators or a community-centered approach.

Applicants must meet at least one of the following conditions: 

• The applicant has submitted an application to operate, expand, or replicate a charter school to a local board of education and the charter application has been approved by the local board; or

• The applicant has submitted an application or prospectus to operate, expand, replicate a charter school to a local board of education and the charter application is pending; or

• The charter application has been denied and an appeal to the Maryland State Board of Education is pending; or

• The applicant is in year one or two of operating a new charter school, or in year one or two of its approved expansion.

Grant Types

The following grant types are eligible for funding; Please reference the application for the current grant cycle to see which grant types are offered in current competition.

  • New Charter School - approved and in their pre-opening or first year of operations.

  • Replication of a High-Quality Charter School - open a new charter school or campus based upon the educational model of an existing high-quality charter school.

  • Expansion of a High-Quality Charter School - significantly increase enrollment (30%) or add one or more grades to a high-quality charter school

  • Pre-K Expansion – expansion to add Pre-K only to a high-quality charter school

  • Conversion - is a conversion of an existing public school into a public charter school.

Authorizing Information

Public charter schools in Maryland must be authorized by their local education agency (LEA), also known as school district.