CHARTER SCHOOLS

Guidance Needed for 

Military Base Schools 

on Startup and 

Operational Issues

Report to Congressional Committees

February 2013

GAO-13-67

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO
 United States Government Accountability Office 

Highlights of GAO-13-67, a report to 

Congressional Committees 

February 2013 

CHARTER SCHOOLS

Guidance Needed for Military Base Schools on 

Startup and Operational Issues 

Why GAO Did This Study 

Many families struggle to balance their 

job demands with ensuring that their 

children have access to a high-quality 

education, and for military families this 

struggle can be exacerbated by the 

highly mobile nature of their service. 

Family concerns about education affect 

readiness and retention of military 

personnel, according to the 

Department of Defense (DOD). The 

majority of children of military families 

in the United States attend public 

schools. A 2008 DOD study 

recommended offering military families 

a public charter school option in areas 

with poorly-performing local schools. In 

response to a directive in a House 

Appropriations Committee report, GAO 

examined: (1) the characteristics and 

origins of charter schools on military 

installations, and (2) the challenges 

charter schools on military installations 

have faced in starting up and 

continuing their operations. 

To conduct this review, GAO 

interviewed officials in the eight charter 

schools on domestic military bases and 

one school being planned; visited two 

schools; interviewed Education and 

DOD officials; and reviewed relevant 

federal and state laws, federal 

regulations and guidance, and school, 

federal agency, and other documents. 

What GAO Recommends 

GAO recommends that Education 

clarify whether military base charter 

schools that use enrollment 

preferences are eligible for charter 

school grants and that DOD and 

Education take actions to help address 

startup and operational challenges for 

these schools. In their responses, DOD 

and Education agreed with GAO’s 

recommendations. 

What GAO Found 

Eight charter schools were located on domestic military bases and one charter 

school was being developed on a base at the time of GAO’s review. The military 

base charter schools differed in their academic focuses and served militaryconnected students to different degrees. For example, one school focused on 

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while another used the arts to 

teach all subjects. Enrollment of military-connected students at these base charter 

schools ranged from 42 percent to 90 percent, and three schools used preferences 

to ensure a higher proportion of these students. For example, one charter school 

with a stated mission of educating military-connected children gave first preference 

to children of active-duty personnel, who represented the preponderance of enrolled 

students. The schools were established to address different interests, including 

family perceptions about the quality of education in local school districts and military 

officials’ need to attract and retain military families to bases. In some instances the 

impetus for establishing a charter school on a military base originated with private 

entities. For example, a private developer hired to build housing on the base worked 

with a charter management organization to develop a charter school they thought 

would make living on the base more attractive to military families. 

Charter school officials cited several challenges to starting up and operating on 

military bases, such as using enrollment preferences for military-connected 

students, providing civilian access to schools, and obtaining facilities. Most states 

require schools to be open to all students, and when organizers of one school 

sought to enroll solely military-connected students, state law prohibited this because 

of the state’s open enrollment requirements. Some states have changed or 

interpreted their charter school laws to enable schools to give enrollment preference 

to military-connected students. Furthermore, two charter schools that have 

enrollment preferences for military-connected students have received Department of 

Education (Education) Charter Schools Program (CSP) grants, which require charter 

schools to provide all students an equal opportunity to attend the school and admit 

students by lottery if there are more applicants than spaces available. Although 

these military base charter schools have received these grants, Education has 

expressed concern that the use of such enrollment preferences would violate CSP 

program requirements. Charter schools have also encountered operational 

challenges. For example, access for civilians can be difficult. Nearly all the military 

base charter schools were located behind the base’s security gate, requiring 

civilians to complete a background check and show a pass. Several school officials 

reported difficulties conducting school activities such as open houses and sporting 

events because each base had a limit on the number of security passes for civilians. 

Like other charter schools, military base charter school officials also reported 

obstacles to obtaining facilities, such as financing. However, they also encountered 

unique challenges, such as complex military facility and land leases. Several school 

and military base officials said that having guidance and more information sharing 

could help with startup and operational challenges charter schools on military bases 

face. However, there is currently little guidance or information sharing about military 

base charter schools. 

View GAO-13-67. For more information, 

contact George A. Scott (202) 512-7215 or 

scottg@gao.gov.
Page i GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Letter 1 

Background 4

Charter Schools on Military Bases Enrolled Military-Connected 

Students to Varying Degrees and Were Started in Response to 

Family, Military, and Private Interests 10

Charter Schools on Military Bases Faced Challenges with 

Enrollment Preferences, Civilian Access to Schools, and 

Facilities 19

Conclusions 29

Recommendations for Executive Action 30

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 31

Appendix I Charter School Profiles 33

Appendix II Air Force Guidelines and Information on Charter Schools 41

Appendix III Comments from the U.S. Department of Defense 47

Appendix IV Comments from the U.S. Department of Education 48

Appendix V GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 51

Tables

Table 1: Characteristics of Charter Schools on Domestic U.S. 

Military Bases 13

Table 2: Enrollment Preferences for Military-Connected Students at 

Charter Schools on U.S. Military Bases 20

Table 3: Enrollment Preferences for Belle Chasse Academy 21

Table 4: Military Base Charter School Facility Types and Funding 

Sources 26

Contents 
Page ii GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Figures

Figure 1: Charter Schools on Military Bases in the United States 11

Figure 2: Timeline of Charter School Startups on Domestic Military 

Bases 12

Figure 3: Percentage of Military-Connected and Civilian Students at 

Charter Schools on Military Bases in the United States in 

School Year 2011-12 16

Abbreviations

BRAC Base Realignment and Closure

CCD Common Core of Data 

CMO charter management organization

CSDC Charter School Development Corporation

CSP Charter Schools Program 

DOD Department of Defense

ESEA Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

LEA local educational agency

MOU memorandum of understanding

SEA state educational agency

STEM science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

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Page 1 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548 

February 5, 2013 

The Honorable Chairman 

The Honorable Ranking Member 

Subcommittee on Military Construction, 

 Veterans’ Affairs, and Related Agencies 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

The Honorable John Culberson 

Chairman 

The Honorable Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. 

Ranking Member 

Subcommittee on Military Construction, 

 Veterans’ Affairs, and Related Agencies 

Committee on Appropriations 

House of Representatives 

Many families struggle to balance their job demands with ensuring that 

their children have access to high-quality education, but for military 

families this struggle can be exacerbated by the highly mobile nature of 

their service and the consequences of their mobility on the emotional and 

social well-being of their children.1

 Military families often move every 2 to 

3 years as parents are reassigned from one duty station to another, which 

can be disruptive for children’s education. Military families’ concerns 

about the availability and quality of public elementary and secondary 

education options for their children affect readiness, job satisfaction, and 

retention, according to a recent report for the Department of Defense 

(DOD).2

 While nearly 80 percent of children in military families attend 

public schools, according to DOD, another DOD report recommended 

that parents be allowed to form charter schools on military bases. The 

report indicated that charter schools on bases could offer another 

 

1

GAO, K-12 EDUCATION: Many Challenges Arise in Educating Students Who Change 

Schools Frequently, GAO-11-40 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 18, 2010). 

2

American Institutes for Research, Educational Options and Performance of MilitaryConnected School Districts – Final Report (San Mateo, CA: May 2011). 

 
 

Page 2 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

educational option for military children in geographic areas with 

underperforming public schools in addition to private schools or home 

schooling.3

 Charter schools are publicly-funded, independently-operated 

public schools that are allowed to operate with more autonomy than 

traditional public schools in exchange for increased accountability for 

student academic achievement. 

In response to concerns that children of military families in 

underperforming school districts have few alternatives to traditional public 

schools, a House Appropriations Committee Report required that GAO 

conduct a study of charter schools located on military installations.4

 For 

this study, we examined the following: 

(1) the characteristics and origins of charter schools on military 

installations, and 

(2) the challenges charter schools on military installations have faced in 

starting up and continuing their operations. 

To conduct this review, we interviewed school officials at all eight charter 

schools operating on domestic military bases and conducted site visits to 

two of these schools.5

 At the two site visit schools, located in Louisiana 

and Maryland, we interviewed school administrators, military base 

commanders and school liaison officers, charter management officials, 

parent representatives, and others. We selected these schools for site 

visits on the basis of years in operation, military-connected student 

 

3

Department of Defense, Report of the Tenth Quadrennial Review of Military 

Compensation, Vol. II, Deferred and Noncash Compensation (Washington, D.C.: 

July 2008). 

4

Report on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations 

Bill, 2012, H.R. Rep. No. 112-94, at 16 (2011). DOD had a related mandate to report on 

locations where charter schools could improve the quality of education for children of 

military families while meeting their unique needs. Report on Military Construction, 

Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2012, S. Rep. No. 112–29, at 

15 (2011). DOD’s Report on Charter Schools on Military Installations was issued in 

July 2012. 

5

We initially identified seven currently operational charter schools as well as two charter 

schools under development at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago Illinois, and 

Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After the charter school at Naval Station Great Lakes began 

operations in school year 2012-13, we included it among currently existing charter 

schools, for a total of eight schools. 
 

Page 3 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

enrollment, local educational agency (LEA) status, and enrollment size.6

For the eighth charter school at Naval Station Great Lakes, we 

interviewed DOD headquarters and regional installation officials to obtain 

information about the school’s origins since the school recently opened 

but was under development during our period of data collection. We also 

interviewed military officials knowledgeable about a charter school 

currently being planned for Fort Bragg. 

We reviewed charter school applications and other documentation as 

appropriate for the eight schools as well as available documentation on 

the one school in development. We focused on charter schools on 

domestic installations because charter schools are authorized by 

individual states and do not exist outside the United States. We also 

interviewed Department of Education (Education) and DOD officials about 

charter school program requirements, the educational needs of militaryconnected children, and federal funding for these schools and reviewed 

federal agency data and reports on these issues. We interviewed experts 

from relevant educational and military organizations. The most complete 

data set available at the time of our review—Education’s Common Core 

of Data Public Elementary/ Secondary School Universe Survey (CCD)—

was collected for school year 2009-2010, and three of the eight military 

base charter schools we reviewed opened after that school year. 

Therefore, to develop current information on the characteristics of these 

military base charter schools, we first obtained school data reported in 

DOD’s Report on Charter Schools on Military Installations (July 2012). 

Because these data had been compiled from multiple sources, including 

military base charter schools, we contacted military base charter school 

administrators to confirm the accuracy of their charter school 

characteristics, including year established, grade range, LEA status, 

enrollment level of military-connected students, and other characteristics 

and to obtain supplemental information as needed. We determined that 

the steps we took ensured that these data were sufficiently reliable for our 

purposes. We also used data from Education’s CCD and the Private 

School Universe Survey for school year 2009-10 to develop maps 

 

6

For purposes of Department of Education discretionary grant programs, a militaryconnected student is generally defined as a child participating in an early learning 

program, a student in pre-school through grade 12, or a student enrolled in postsecondary 

education or training who has a parent or guardian on active duty in the uniformed 

services. Supplemental Priorities for Discretionary Grant Programs, 75 Fed. Reg. 78,486, 

78,509 (Dec. 15, 2010). 
 

Page 4 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

showing schools surrounding the military bases that have charter schools. 

Finally, in addition to reviewing charter school literature and other 

background materials, we reviewed relevant federal laws, regulations, 

and guidance, as well as state laws on charter schools, including the 

eight states that had existing or planned military base charter schools: 

Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, and 

North Carolina. 

We conducted this performance audit from April 2012 through February 

2013 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to 

obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for 

our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe 

that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings 

and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

There are about 1.2 million school-age children of military-connected 

families, and the majority of students attend public and private schools 

located off military bases.7

 In addition to these off-base options, several 

school options are available on military bases for military-connected 

children, including traditional public schools, DOD-operated schools, and, 

more recently, public charter schools.8

 These options are described 

below. 

 Traditional public schools: Approximately 160 traditional public 

schools operated by local school districts are located on military 

bases in the United States. According to DOD, 94 percent of students 

attending public schools on military bases are military-connected 

children. Traditional public schools are generally open to all students 

in the geographic area they serve. 

 DOD-operated schools: Although the majority of DOD schools are 

located overseas, 64 DOD schools currently operate on military bases 

 

7

Of these students, about 1.1 million students are enrolled in public or private schools 

located off military bases, or in home-school programs, according to DOD. 

8

These school options may vary from base to base. 

Background 
 

Page 5 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

in the United States,9 and these domestic DOD schools enroll about 

28,000 students. DOD schools—open only to eligible dependents of 

active duty military and DOD civilians who reside on military 

installations—constitute a separate school system administered by 

the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). Domestic 

DOD schools were established to educate military children in 

communities where the local schools were deemed unable to provide 

a suitable education, among other reasons. DOD school systems 

depend almost entirely on federal funds, unlike public schools, which 

are funded primarily with local and state taxes and for which federal 

funding constitutes a small portion of total resources. As we noted in 

an earlier study, questions have been raised periodically concerning 

the continuing need for DOD schools.10 DOD has commissioned 

various studies since the 1980s exploring the possibility of transferring 

DOD schools to local school districts, and over the years, DOD has 

transferred some DOD schools to local public school districts.11

 Charter schools: Charter schools are a relatively new option for 

students. These schools are public schools created to achieve a 

number of goals, including encouraging innovation in public 

education, providing an alternative to poor performing schools, and 

giving families an additional educational option to traditional public 

schools. Charter schools operate with more autonomy than traditional 

public schools in exchange for agreeing to improve student 

achievement, an agreement that is formalized in a contract or charter 

with the school’s authorizing body. A school’s charter defines the 

specific academic goals and outlines school finances and other 

aspects of operation. Charter schools provide students and parents 

 

9

Domestic DOD schools are located in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, New York, North 

Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. None of these DOD schools 

are located on military bases that also have charter schools. One charter school is 

currently being planned for a military base with a DOD school, but the schools cover 

different grade ranges. 

10See GAO, DOD Schools: Limitations in DOD-Sponsored Study on Transfer Alternatives 

Underscore Need for Additional Assessment, GAO-05-469 (Washington, D.C.: April 

2005). 

11See, for example, John Helmick, Westat, and Lisa Hudson, Defense Manpower Data 

Center, A Study of Schools Serving Military Families in the U.S.: Education Quality, 

Federal Administration, and Funding (Arlington, VA: October 1997). In 2002, DOD began 

a study to evaluate the feasibility of transferring DOD schools in the continental United 

States to individual local educational agencies (LEAs). The final report was not completed, 

according to a DOD official. 
 

Page 6 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

with increased educational options. However, research has found 

considerable variability in charter school performance on student 

achievement.12

Enrollment and interest in charter schools has grown rapidly in the past 

few years. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the 

number of students enrolled in public charter schools more than 

quadrupled, from 0.3 million to 1.6 million students between school years 

1999-2000 and 2009-2010, while the percentage of all public schools that 

were public charter schools increased from 2 to 5 percent. In the 2009-

2010 school year, about 5,000 charter schools operated in 40 states and 

the District of Columbia.13 Meanwhile parental interest in this public 

school option has also grown. According to a survey conducted by one 

national charter school organization, nearly two-thirds of charter schools 

across the nation reported having children on their waiting list, with an 

average waiting list totaling 228 students.14

The 2008 DOD report on military compensation recommended that 

military-connected parents be allowed to form charter schools on military 

bases. The 2008 DOD report indicated that offering a charter school 

option in areas with underperforming local public schools would give 

parents stationed in those locations another choice in addition to the 

private school or home schooling options that may currently exist. This 

recommendation was part of the report’s broader emphasis on the need 

to increase service members’ choices in order to enhance recruiting and 

retention efforts in the uniformed services and, ultimately, support military 

readiness. 

 

12Julian R. Betts and Y. Emily Tang, The Effect of Charter Schools on Student 

Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of the Literature (Seattle, WA: October 2011). 

13National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. 

Department of Education, Fast Facts: Charter Schools. 

http://nces.ed.gov/FastFacts/display.asp?id=30 Accessed 9/27/2012. 

14National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, 2011-2012 NAPCS Charter School Survey, 

National Waiting List Results. 
 

Page 7 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Charter schools are established according to individual state charter 

school laws, and these state laws determine how schools operate and are 

funded. Depending on the state, a range of groups and organizations can 

establish a charter school, including parents, educators, private nonprofit 

organizations, and universities. A significant portion of charter schools 

nationally are established or operated by private management 

organizations, such as charter management organizations (CMO).15

According to one research institute, in the 2010-2011 school year, 35 

percent of all public charter schools were operated by such private 

management organizations, and these schools accounted for almost 42 

percent of all students enrolled in charter schools.16 States also set 

requirements for how charter schools operate. For example, most state 

charter school laws generally require that charter schools be open to all 

students within a specified boundary (commonly referred to as “open 

enrollment” requirements). In addition, most state charter school laws 

generally require that charter schools that receive more student 

applications than have available classroom spaces must enroll students 

based upon a lottery or some other random selection process to ensure 

that enrollment to the school is fair and does not favor particular groups of 

students. States also specify which entities can authorize the 

establishment of a charter school, including state departments of 

education, state boards of education, school districts or local educational 

agencies (LEA), institutions of higher education, and municipal 

governments. Authorizers are responsible for monitoring school 

performance and have the authority to close schools or take other actions 

if academic goals and state financial requirements are not met. States 

also define how charter schools are structured. For example, unlike 

traditional public schools that are generally part of a larger LEA, some 

states establish charter schools as their own LEA while others allow 

schools to choose between being a distinct LEA or part of a larger LEA 

for certain purposes, such as special education. In general, schools that 

operate as separate LEAs may be able to directly obtain federal funds or 

apply for federal grants that would otherwise be distributed among 

 

15According to the Department of Education Charter Schools Program, a CMO is a 

nonprofit organization that operates or manages multiple charter schools by centralizing or 

sharing certain functions and resources among schools. 

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/charter-rehqcs/eligibility.html. Accessed 11/7/12. 

16National Education Policy Center, Profiles of For-Profit and Nonprofit Education 

Management Organizations: Thirteenth Annual Report – 2010-2011 (Boulder, CO: 

January 2012). 

Charter School Operations 

and Funding 
 

Page 8 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

schools in a larger LEA.17 It may, therefore, be financially advantageous 

for schools to be separate LEAs, although this advantage also comes 

with the added responsibility associated with LEAs. Finally, states 

determine how charter schools will be publicly funded. In most states, 

charter schools are largely funded according to the formula states use for 

traditional public schools, usually a per-pupil allocation based on student 

attendance. As public schools, charter schools are also eligible to receive 

formula funding from some federal programs, such as those authorized 

by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Title I of the 

Elementary and Secondary Education Act.18

DOD and Education have had a formal memorandum of understanding 

(MOU) since 2008 to collaborate on addressing the educational needs 

and unique challenges faced by children of military families, including 

serving as a resource for communities exploring alternative school 

options, such as charter schools. 

In addition, a number of federal resources are available that may be used 

to assist in starting and operating charter schools, some of which focus 

on schools serving military-connected students, among others: 

 Impact Aid: Education and DOD administer Impact Aid programs19

that provide qualifying LEAs—encompassing both traditional public 

schools and charter schools—with funds to compensate LEAs for 

revenue losses resulting from federal activities and to help students 

connected with these federal activities—which may include militaryconnected students—meet state academic standards.20

Appropriations for Education’s Impact Aid program were almost $1.3 

billion in fiscal year 2010, and Congress appropriated $40 million in 

 

17With regard to special education, one common practice in states where charter schools 

are their own LEA is for the state to make charter schools responsible for providing special 

education services themselves. See GAO, Charter Schools: Additional Federal Attention 

Needed to Protect Access for Students with Disabilities, GAO-12-543 (Washington, D.C.: 

June 2012.) 

18See GAO-12-543. 

1920 U.S.C. §§ 7701-7714. 

20GAO, Education of Military Dependent Students: Better Information Needed to Assess 

Student Performance, GAO-11-231 (Washington. D.C.: March 2011). 

Federal Resources 

Available to Charter 

Schools on Military Bases 
 

Page 9 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

additional funding for DOD Impact Aid in 2012. One type of Impact Aid 

grant is designed to support the construction and repair of school 

buildings and is awarded to LEAs on a competitive basis. 

 DOD grants: 

 DOD provides discretionary grants—about $50 million in grants to 

38 military-connected school districts for fiscal year 2012—for 

enhancing student learning opportunities, student achievement, 

and educator professional development at military-connected 

schools, as well as about $9 million for math, science, English, 

and foreign language programs affecting military-connected 

students. 

 DOD is authorized to provide up to $250 million to make grants, 

conclude cooperative agreements, or supplement other federal 

funds to construct, renovate, repair, or expand elementary and 

secondary public schools on military installations in order to 

address capacity or facility condition deficiencies at such 

schools.21 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, provided 

an additional $250 million for DOD to continue addressing 

capacity and condition issues of public schools on military 

installations.22

 Charter Schools Program resources: Education also provides 

supports and resources through its Charter Schools Program (CSP).23

 CSP provides funds—about $255 million in fiscal year 2012—to 

create high-quality charter schools, disseminate information about 

effective schools, and support the replication and expansion of 

successful schools, among other purposes. In applying for grants 

for state education agencies, state agencies must describe, 

among other things, how they will disseminate information about 

effective schools and how students in the community will be given 

 

21Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, Pub. L. No. 

112-10, § 8109, 125 Stat. 38, 82. 

22Pub. L. No. 112-74, § 8118, 125 Stat. 786, 833. 

23See GAO, Charter Schools: Education Could Do More to Assist Charter Schools with 

Applying for Discretionary Grants, GAO-11-89 (Washington, D.C.: December 2010). 
 

Page 10 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

an equal opportunity to attend the charter school.24 A 2011 White 

House report details an agency-wide effort to develop a 

coordinated approach to supporting military families.25 One 

specific administration commitment is for Education to make 

supporting military families one of its supplemental priorities for its 

discretionary grant programs. This priority, which has been 

implemented, favors grant applications to meet the needs of 

military-connected students. 

 CSP funds a number of organizations, including the National 

Charter School Resource Center and the National Resource 

Center on Charter School Finance and Governance, which 

provide a diverse range of information on charter schools. 

While most schools located on military bases were traditional public 

schools or DOD schools, eight were charter schools at the time of our 

review. The military base charter schools differed among themselves in 

their academic focuses and in the number of military-connected children 

they served. In addition to the eight schools, most of which were located 

on Air Force bases or on joint Air Force/Navy bases, another charter 

school was being developed on the Fort Bragg Army base at the time of 

our review (see fig. 1).26

 

2420 U.S.C. § 7221b(b). 

25The White House, Strengthening our Military Families: Meeting America’s Commitment

(Washington, D.C.: January, 2011). 

26Fort Bragg Regional High School will not open as proposed in school year 2013-14. In 

addition, several other military bases have been interested in initiating charter schools on 

the bases, according to military officials we spoke to. These bases included: Joint Base 

Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C.; Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina; MacDill 

Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida; and Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. 

Charter Schools on 

Military Bases 

Enrolled MilitaryConnected Students 

to Varying Degrees 

and Were Started in 

Response to Family, 

Military, and Private 

Interests 
 

Page 11 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Figure 1: Charter Schools on Military Bases in the United States 

Most military base charter schools opened after 2008, following DOD’s 

Quadrennial Review that recommended parents be allowed to form 

charter schools on bases to provide another educational option for 

military children in geographic areas with underperforming public schools, 

in addition to private schools or home schooling options (see fig.2). 
 

Page 12 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Figure 2: Timeline of Charter School Startups on Domestic Military Bases 

Like many charter schools located in public school districts across the 

country, many of the eight schools on military bases offered a program 

with a particular academic focus (see table 1). For example, Sonoran 

Science Academy, the only charter school currently on a military base 

that serves children from grade 6 through grade 10, offers a college 

preparatory program with a focus on science, technology, engineering, 

and mathematics subjects (STEM). In school year 2011-12, Sonoran 

Science Academy served 185 children in grades 6 through 10 and plans 

to expand through the 12th grade by adding a grade each year. 

Manzanita Public Charter School offered a program for children learning 

English in which classes are taught in both English and the children’s 

home language, known as a dual immersion language program. The 

program’s goal was to support bilingualism and bi-literacy. Located on 

Vandenberg Air Force Base, but outside the base’s security gate, 

Manzanita Public Charter School served 438 students in school year 

2011-12. Sigsbee Charter School in Key West draws on the school’s 

location to offer an environmental education program with a focus on 

marine studies. The only one of the eight schools on a military base to 

offer a pre-kindergarten program, Sigsbee served 410 children through 

grade 7 in school year 2011-12. In Arkansas on the Little Rock Air Force 

Base, Flightline Upper Academy chose a curriculum in which the arts are 

used to teach all subjects. The school served 164 students in grades 5 

through 8 in school year 2011-12. Both of these schools—Sigsbee and 

Charter Schools on 

Military Bases Offer 

Different Academic 

Focuses 
 

Page 13 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Flightline—are located behind the security gate on their respective 

military bases. Table 1 provides information on the characteristics of the 

eight charter schools.27

Table 1: Characteristics of Charter Schools on Domestic U.S. Military Bases 

School 

Military 

installation 

and state School mission/ vision Academic focus Grades Operations 

Total 

enrollment in 

SY 2011-12

Belle Chasse 

Academy 

Naval Air Station 

Joint Reserve 

Base, New 

Orleans, 

Louisiana 

The mission of Belle Chasse 

Academy is to educate our 

military-dependent children, 

no matter what their 

background or previous 

school experience, to fully 

achieve their personal and 

academic potential. 

Comprehensive 

core curriculum in 

liberal arts 

K-8 Independent 942

Imagine 

Andrews Public 

Charter School 

Joint Base 

Andrews, 

Maryland 

Our mission is to serve our 

nation by providing the 

students of the Andrews 

Community with a “world 

class” education, while 

meeting the needs of military 

families. 

Liberal arts 

program 

K-4a

 CMO (Imagine 

Schools) 

265

Jacksonville 

Lighthouse 

Charter School: 

Flightline Upper 

Academy 

Little Rock Air 

Force Base, 

Arkansas 

We prepare our students for 

college through a rigorous 

arts-infused program. 

Arts-infused 

Curriculum 

5-8 a CMO 

(Lighthouse 

Academies) 

164

LEARN 6 in 

North Chicago 

Naval Station 

Great Lakes, 

Illinois 

Our mission is to provide 

children with the academic 

foundation and ambition to 

earn a college degree. 

College 

preparation 

K-2 and 

6-7a CMO (LEARN 

Charter School 

Network) 

b

Manzanita 

Public Charter 

School 

Vandenberg Air 

Force Base, 

California 

We are dedicated to 

advancing academic 

excellence in Lompoc by 

providing students in 

kindergarten through sixth 

grade with the intellectual 

capacity to participate and 

work productively in a 

multicultural society. 

Dual immersion 

language program 

K-6 Independent 438

 

27See app. I for profiles of individual charter schools on military bases. 
 

Page 14 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

School 

Military 

installation 

and state School mission/ vision Academic focus Grades Operations 

Total 

enrollment in 

SY 2011-12

Sigsbee Charter 

School 

Naval Air Station 

Key West, Florida 

To provide each child with 

the opportunities and skill 

sets to realize his or her 

fullest potential in 

surroundings tailored to meet 

the needs of the transient 

military child as well as to 

provide another option for 

children in the Key West 

community. 

Environmental 

studies, with focus 

on marine studies 

PK-7 Independent 410

Sonoran 

Science 

Academy 

Davis-Monthan 

Air Force Base, 

Arizona 

The Mission of Sonoran 

Schools is to provide a 

rigorous college-prep, 

STEM-focused education 

through a challenging and 

comprehensive curriculum, 

continuous assessment, and 

dedicated teachers who 

inspire their students to 

become the leaders of 

tomorrow. 

Science, 

technology, 

engineering, and 

mathematics 

6-10a

 CMO 

(Sonoran 

Schools) 

185

Wheatland 

Charter 

Academy 

Beale Air Force 

Base, California 

None Montessoriblended curriculum K-5 Independent 104

Source: GAO analysis of information from military base charter schools 

a

School plans to expand grades it will offer. 

b

SY 2011-12 enrollment data for LEARN 6 in North Chicago was unavailable because this school just 

opened for the SY 2012-13 session. 

While the charter schools’ academic focuses differed considerably, most 

military base charter schools served predominantly children of militaryconnected families and some of these schools took various steps to 

attract these students. For example, the largest charter school operating 

on a base, the Belle Chasse Academy, serves more than 900 elementary 

and middle school children. To address the needs associated with high 

mobility and parental deployments that military-connected students 

experience, Belle Chasse Academy offers psychological and other 

counseling services, welcome clubs, and a buddy program to ease an 

incoming student’s transition to Belle Chasse Academy. With 90 percent 

of its students coming from military families, Belle Chase Academy has 

the largest percentage of military-connected children of the schools 

currently in operation. While the children of civilians can attend the 

school, which is located inside the security gate on the Naval Air Station 

Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, Belle Chase Academy officials told us 

Most Base Charter Schools 

Served Predominantly 

Military-Connected 

Students 
 

Page 15 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

they initially took several steps to attract children of military personnel. 

For example, they held multiple town meetings for military families, 

distributed flyers on the base, and posted notices on the school’s website 

encouraging military-connected families to enroll their children as soon as 

the service member receives his or her orders (see text box.) Belle 

Chasse Academy officials said the Academy is well-known now and they 

no longer have to conduct as much outreach. 

Imagine Andrews and Sigsbee charter schools also considered educating 

the children of military-connected families an integral component of their 

mission. Sigsbee Charter School officials described the children of 

military-connected families as “central to the school’s mission” and said 

they offered services geared to the needs of this transient population. For 

example, the school has a military life counselor available to children with 

an active-duty parent, who holds small group sessions that address family 

stress, deployment, and issues related to moving.28 Sigsbee officials also 

told us they work closely with a professional organization that provides 

services to educators working with military-connected children and send 

the school’s staff to professional development sponsored by this 

organization. Imagine Andrews, where two-thirds of its students come 

from military-connected families, offers a range of services for these 

children: for example, according to the school’s website, Imagine 

Andrews staff receives in-depth professional development on how to 

 

28The Department of Defense provides military life counselors to schools with high 

populations of children in military-connected families. 

Belle Chasse Academy: Promoting Early Enrollment of MilitaryConnected Students 

The Belle Chasse Academy includes the following announcement on its 

website: 

... Active-duty personnel are enjoined to register their child(ren) to attend 

Belle Chasse Academy as soon as they are in receipt of orders. This enables 

the school to plan effectively and ensures that your student has a space in the 

appropriate grade and setting. BCA is space-limited, and we cannot ensure 

that every dependent of active-duty personnel has space unless you assist us 

in planning. We are an open-enrollment school, so unless we have reserved a 

spot for your student, we must admit students who apply if there is a vacancy. 

Thanks for your cooperation. 

Source: http://www.bellechasseacademy.org, downloaded Sept. 28, 2012. 
 

Page 16 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

recognize the warning signs of the stressors faced by students in militaryconnected families and how to help those students deal effectively with 

the challenges they encounter. While Sonoran Science Academy does 

not specifically state that serving the children of military-connected 

families is part of its mission, it enrolled a high percentage of these 

children and provided services geared to their needs. For example, the 

school provides a full-time counselor and offers a buddy program for 

military-connected students transferring into the school, a self-esteem 

program, and a support group for students with a recently-deployed 

parent. Located inside the gate on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in 

Arizona, Sonoran Science Academy has a student body that includes 76 

percent military-connected students. (See fig. 3). 

Figure 3: Percentage of Military-Connected and Civilian Students at Charter Schools on Military Bases in the United States in 

School Year 2011-12 

Note: Enrollment data for LEARN 6 in North Chicago were unavailable because the school opened in 

SY 2012-13. 

a

Sigsbee Charter School provided an estimate ranging from 70-80 percent military-connected 

students. 

In addition, three schools used enrollment preferences to ensure the 

children of military-connected families had a greater chance of securing a 

place in the school: Belle Chasse Academy, Imagine Andrews, and 
 

Page 17 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Sigsbee. These schools were among the five schools with the highest 

enrollment of students from military-connected families. 

While all of the charter schools on military bases serve a large 

percentage of military-connected students, they were started for various 

reasons, including family perceptions about the quality of education 

available for their children in local school districts and military officials’ 

need to attract and retain military families to bases. Moreover, in some 

instances the impetus for establishing a charter school on a military base 

originated with private housing developers on military bases and charter 

management organizations. 

At Imagine Andrews and other schools, school officials told us some 

parents expressed reservations about enrolling their child in local public 

schools due to the perception that those schools were of poor quality. As a 

result, many military families chose to live off-base, which allowed their 

children access to other districts they believed had higher quality schools. 

For example, one Belle Chasse Academy parent we interviewed said his 

concerns about the quality of schooling available in New Orleans led him to 

consider refusing assignment to the base. Belle Chasse Academy officials 

also said that some personnel accept assignment to the base, but leave 

their families behind in communities they believe provide better educational 

opportunities for their children. In these cases, leaving family behind often 

negatively impacted service members’ job readiness and happiness, Belle 

Chasse Academy officials and others noted. Navy officials who helped 

develop LEARN 6 in North Chicago said quality is important because 

parents want assurance that their children will “keep up” in the school in 

which they are currently enrolled and will at least be on grade level when 

they have to transfer to a new school.29 Additional parental concerns 

included children’s safety and the schools’ convenience or proximity to 

home, according to school officials and others. 

Military interests were also significant in the creation of some of the 

charter schools we reviewed. Officials at several schools said that base 

commanders recognized the important role of quality schools in attracting 

and retaining service members on base and that commanders’ support 

 

29These concerns are consistent with those in the 2011 American Institutes for Research 

report for DOD. 

Family and Military Needs 

and Private Interests Were 

Among Key Reasons for 

Establishing Charter 

Schools 
 

Page 18 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

was critical to charter school development on base. For example, at 

Sonoran Science Academy and Imagine Andrews, school officials 

credited the base commander with being a driving force behind the vision 

of creating a charter school. Furthermore, the military Base Realignment 

and Closure (BRAC) process may contribute to growth in the number of 

military-connected families living on certain bases and heighten demand 

for more schooling options on bases, including charter schools.30 At 

LEARN 6 in North Chicago, military and state interests both contributed to 

the creation of the charter school. Partly in response to declines in the 

military population at Naval Station Great Lakes, the state board of 

education, which approved the charter school application, noted that the 

district stood to lose millions of dollars in federal Impact Aid if it did not 

take immediate action to attract and retain military families.31 The state 

board further noted that a charter school could help ensure the district’s 

continued eligibility for federal Impact Aid funds while offering another 

public school option for the district’s students. 

Housing developers and charter management organizations (CMO) also 

led moves to establish some charter schools on military bases, according 

to some school officials we interviewed. For example, housing developers 

at Joint Base Andrews that were hired by the military to privatize on-base 

housing believed that having a charter school on base would attract more 

families to on-base living. The housing developers worked with Imagine 

Schools, the CMO, to develop a charter school that would make living on 

base more attractive. In another case, the CMO Lighthouse Academies 

decided to open a new charter school campus—Flightline Upper 

Academy—when demand for spaces in its existing charter school 

exceeded capacity. Although the new charter school was ultimately 

located on a nearby military base, the CMO’s original plan was to provide 

more options for children in the community, not to target the children of 

military-connected families for enrollment in the school. 

At Manzanita Charter School, public school educators were the planners 

because they perceived a need for better educational options for the 

 

30The BRAC process is designed to overcome obstacles to eliminating unneeded DOD 

infrastructure and to help DOD match needed infrastructure to the force structure and to 

support military missions. GAO, Military Base Realignments and Closures: Key Factors 

Contributing to BRAC 2005 Results, GAO-12-513T (Washington, D.C.: March 8, 2012.) 

31In this case, the state board of education overruled the local school board to approve 

the CMO’s charter school proposal. 
 

Page 19 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

children of economically disadvantaged families and English language 

learners. The school’s planners told us they had not considered the 

children of military-connected families as a target population for 

enrollment. They said the decision to locate the school on a military base 

was one of necessity—it was the only facility the local authorizer offered 

the charter school organizers. 

While charter schools on military bases encountered some of the same 

challenges as other charter schools around the nation—such as acquiring 

facilities and startup funding—they also experienced challenges unique to 

starting up and operating a charter school on a military base. One of 

these challenges is maintaining slots for military students whose parents 

may move more frequently. Specifically, because the high turnover rate 

among military-connected students at military base charter schools could 

limit enrollment access of these students,32 three charter schools provided 

military-connected students with an enrollment preference (see table 2). 

 

32A 2008 DOD report observed that if civilian children put their names on a military base 

charter school’s waiting list, they will receive newly open slots before the children of 

service members who subsequently transfer into the installation. Due to the high turnover 

rate that military base charter schools would expect to see among the children of military 

personnel, a school’s enrollment could consist of mostly civilian students over time, as 

civilian students enroll at a greater rate than military-connected students. The report 

concluded that such a result would frustrate the original intent of establishing charter 

schools on military bases. Department of Defense, Report of the Tenth Quadrennial 

Review of Military Compensation, Vol. II, Deferred and Noncash Compensation

(Washington, D.C.: July 2008). 

Charter Schools on 

Military Bases Faced 

Challenges with 

Enrollment 

Preferences, Civilian 

Access to Schools, 

and Facilities 

Enrollment Preferences 

for Military-Connected 

Students Posed Hurdles 

for School Planners 
 

Page 20 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Table 2: Enrollment Preferences for Military-Connected Students at Charter Schools 

on U.S. Military Bases 

School Enrollment preference 

Imagine Andrews 

Public Charter 

School 

 Dual enrollment system with separate lotteries for children whose 

parents are assigned to and reside on base, up to 65 percentage 

of the school’s enrollment, and all other off-base children up to 35 

percent of the school’s enrollment. 

Belle Chasse 

Academy 

 Hierarchy of enrollment preferences prioritizes the children of 

active duty military personnel, followed by reservists, retirees, 

DOD employees, staff, and civilians. 

 If there are openings after all active duty applicants are placed 

during initial enrollment period, a lottery is conducted in which all 

eligible remaining students are placed in groups by grade and 

names are drawn until vacancies are filled. 

Sigsbee Charter 

School 

 Lottery divided into active duty military families and non-active 

duty military families. Numbers from the active duty list are drawn 

first to determine the order in which applicants will be offered 

positions at each grade level. 

 If spaces are still available, numbers from the non-active duty 

lottery list are drawn. In the event that there are more applicants 

than space available, a waiting list is to be created in the event 

that selected applicants reject a position and their spot becomes 

available. Active duty military dependents are placed at the top of 

this list as they transfer into the area. 

Source: GAO analysis of school information. 

Planners for Imagine Andrews wanted all of the slots at the school to be 

reserved for military families, according to a CMO representative. 

However, Maryland law requires charter schools to be open to all 

students.33 In 2010 the Maryland legislature revised the law to provide an 

exemption to the open enrollment requirement for military base charter 

schools, as long as students with parents who are not assigned to the 

base constitute at least 35 percent of enrollment.34 However, children of 

military parents who are assigned to the base, but live off the base, are 

grouped with civilians because Imagine Andrews also requires residency 

on the base for enrollment preference. Despite the school’s military 

student enrollment preference, an Imagine Andrews official said that the 

school would likely encounter concerns about enrollment from militaryconnected parents whose children are not able to enroll in the school due 

 

33Md. Code Ann. § 9-102(3). As discussed later, CSP would preclude reserving all slots 

for military families, according to Education. 

34Md. Code Ann. § 9-102.1. 
 

Page 21 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

to limited slots. Similarly, a representative of Belle Chasse Academy said 

the school also explored how they could maintain slots for militaryconnected children. In addition to a stated mission to educate militaryconnected children and its efforts to encourage military-connected 

parents to register their children as soon as they are assigned to the 

base, the school uses a hierarchy of admission preferences, with the top 

six tiers for military-connected students, the seventh tier for the children of 

staff, and the final and eighth tier for civilian students (see table 3). 

According to the official, these preferences were allowed as an admission 

standard under an interpretation of the law by the state Attorney 

General’s office, which determined that it was acceptable as long as the 

mission, academics, and programs of the school were targeted to militaryconnected students. The preferences have enabled the school to 

maintain high military student enrollment—approximately 90 percent in 

SY 2011-12. The official said the school does not generally conduct a 

lottery because it could lead to higher levels of civilian enrollment and 

undermine the school’s mission to educate military-connected children. 

Table 3: Enrollment Preferences for Belle Chasse Academy 

Preference Student whose parents are: 

1st Active duty living on base 

2nd Active duty waiting for base housing 

3rd Active duty living in the community 

4th Reservists 

5th Retirees 

6th DOD 

7th Staff 

8th Civilian 

Source: Belle Chasse Academy documents. 

Sigsbee Charter School also encountered a challenge to ensuring 

enrollment slots for military-connected students. Created prior to recent 

changes in Florida state law that now permit charter schools to give 

enrollment preference to children of an active duty member of any branch 

of the United States Armed Forces,35 the school utilized a provision in 

state law that allows a charter school to give enrollment preference to 

 

35Fla. Stat. Ann. § 1002.33(10)(d)(6). 
 

Page 22 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

children of workplace employees.36 A school official explained that the 

school considered the base a workplace but could not establish a formal 

business partnership with the base because the base does not provide 

the school with funds. As a result, school officials established a formal 

partnership with the base through a memorandum of understanding, 

which it considered a business partnership for the purposes of satisfying 

the state requirement for using the school’s enrollment preference. 

Two other schools that wanted to focus on enrolling military-connected 

students, including one school currently in development, did not plan to 

use an enrollment preference because officials said they either believed 

or were told by state education officials it was not allowable under state 

charter school law. For example, a Navy official involved with establishing 

LEARN 6 in North Chicago at Naval Station Great Lakes explained that, 

while planners for the school wanted to focus on enrolling militaryconnected students, Illinois state law required the school to be open to all 

students. According to the official, this requirement could pose a longterm challenge to maintaining enrollment access for military-connected 

families. He indicated that school stakeholders are currently working to 

propose changes to Illinois state law that would enable the school to use 

a preference for military-connected students at a minimum of one-third of 

the school’s enrollment. Similarly, Fort Bragg military officials involved 

with establishing a charter high school on the base said that school 

planners wanted an enrollment preference for military-connected students 

but were told by state education officials that North Carolina’s charter law 

does not allow for such a preference. One official indicated the CMO 

planned to challenge the state’s interpretation of the law. However, even 

without such a preference, base officials noted that the school’s 

prospective location on the base would ensure high military-connected 

student enrollment. Officials said that the school did not plan to include 

transportation in its budget. However, they said the school may consider 

offering fee-based busing to students living on base—but not to students 

living off base. Doing so could also result in higher military-connected 

student enrollment. 

 

36Under Florida law, a “charter school-in-the-workplace” may be established when a 

business partner provides the school facility to be used and the school must enroll 

students based upon a random lottery that involves all of the children of employees of that 

business or corporation. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 1002.33(15). 
 

Page 23 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Of the three schools currently using an enrollment preference for militaryconnected students, Sigsbee Charter School and Imagine Andrews 

received CSP subgrants from their state departments of education. As 

previously noted, both schools used lottery-based preferences to enroll 

military-connected students at higher rates than civilian students. The 

statute authorizing CSP grants requires charter schools, as a condition of 

receiving funding, to admit students on the basis of a lottery if more 

students apply than can be accommodated, and to provide a description 

of how students in the community will be given an equal opportunity to 

attend the charter school.37 Education, in its non-regulatory guidance, 

states that a charter school receiving CSP funds must hold one lottery 

that provides qualified students with an equal opportunity to attend the 

school, but also provides for certain exemptions to the lottery 

requirement. For example, the guidance allows certain categories of 

applicants to be exempted, such as the siblings of students, children of a 

charter school’s founders, and children of employees in a work-site 

charter school. However, the guidance does not specifically address 

whether schools may exempt military-connected students from a lottery. 

Further, the guidance also states that schools may use weighted lotteries, 

which are lotteries that give preference to one set of students over 

another, but only when they are necessary to comply with certain federal 

laws, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,38 or applicable state 

laws. CSP officials told us that there were limits to how lottery 

preferences can be used. For example, a CSP official said that the 

practice of holding separate lotteries for enrolling civilian and militaryconnected students is not consistent with CSP requirements. The official 

also stated concern about enrollment preferences that would significantly 

limit civilian enrollment access to a school. However, another CSP official 

stated that they would not necessarily be aware of the specific enrollment 

practices of Sigsbee Charter School and Imagine Andrews at the time the 

awards were made, in part because both were subgrantees of state 

educational agency (SEA) grants and, under federal regulations, the SEA, 

not Education, is primarily responsible for monitoring subgrant activities 

and ensuring that subgrantees comply with applicable federal program 

requirements.39 However, the official said that CSP does not require 

 

3720 U.S.C. § 7221i(1)(H) and 7221b(b)(3)(I)(2). 

38Others are Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the 

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. 

3934 C.F.R. § 80.40(a). 
 

Page 24 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

SEAs to describe the enrollment preferences of school subgrantees in 

their grant applications.40

When charter schools are located on military bases, base security 

requirements can limit access for civilians. Of the eight charter schools, 

six are currently located inside a protected security perimeter, which 

generally requires that civilians pass a background check and carry a 

base pass to access the school. The background check for one base 

school, Imagine Andrews, consists mainly of checking the validity of the 

applicant’s driver’s license and reviewing any recorded criminal history. 

For this base, passes take about two days to process, are valid for one 

year, and applicants who are denied access can appeal the decision. At 

another charter school, Flightline Upper Academy, some civilian parents 

did not pass the background checks required for base access, according 

to a school official. When this happens, however, the official said that 

school staff can escort children to the school. 

Base security requirements can also limit community participation in 

school events and activities. For example, an Imagine Andrews official 

stated that the base restricts each civilian family to three passes, which 

can create a challenge for them during school events, such as an honors 

breakfast or awards ceremony. He noted that military-connected families 

on the base have no such restriction. Further, the official noted that the 

base does not permit civilian access to the school on weekends, which 

would prevent the school from holding extracurricular activities, such as 

morning tutorials or enrichment programs, during this time. The official 

also explained that the school conducted certain community outreach 

events, such as open houses, off-base to give off-base civilian families an 

opportunity to learn about the school without requiring access to the base. 

Similarly, an official with Sonoran Science Academy Davis-Monthan said 

that base restrictions on civilian access on weekends prevented them 

from holding community events on the school grounds. As a result, the 

 

40A recent report by Education’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) determined that the 

Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), which administers the Charter Schools 

Program, did not effectively oversee and monitor the SEA and non-SEA grants and did not 

have an adequate process to ensure SEAs effectively oversaw and monitored their 

subgrantees. The report also notes Education’s proposed corrective actions. Office of the 

Inspector General, U.S. Department of Education. The Office of Innovation and 

Improvement’s Oversight and Monitoring of the Charter Schools Program’s Planning and 

Implementation Grants: Final Audit Report. (New York, NY: September, 2012). 

Civilian Access to Schools 

Limited by Base Security 

Requirements 
 

Page 25 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

school rented off-base facilities, such as a YMCA. According to the 

official, the base’s limitations on public access was the school’s most 

significant challenge because it limits the school’s ability to establish 

relationships with the community and inform the public about the school. 

Two base schools—Manzanita Public Charter School and LEARN 6 in 

North Chicago—were located outside the base security gate and 

therefore did not require base access for civilians. According to a military 

official who assisted with establishing LEARN 6 in North Chicago at Naval 

Station Great Lakes, school organizers and stakeholders considered the 

issue of civilian access to the school prior to its opening and were 

concerned about the possibility that parents of some civilian students 

given slots at the school through the lottery would not pass the 

background check and would not be allowed access to the school. As a 

result, the base command, the school’s charter management company, 

and the Illinois State Board of Education jointly agreed that the school 

should be located outside the base security perimeter in order for the 

school to operate on the base. Because the school was slated to occupy 

a former military hospital training facility inside the perimeter, the base 

command arranged to move a section of the perimeter so that the school 

would be located outside it and fully accessible to the public. 

Some schools, including Wheatland Charter Academy, Manzanita Public 

Charter School, and LEARN 6 in North Chicago, were located on bases 

that also hosted a traditional public school. While we did not examine 

these or other district-run public schools on bases, we believe civilian 

access to them may similarly be limited as a result of military base 

security requirements.41

 

41According to DOD estimates, 6 percent of the students who attend district-run public 

schools on military bases are civilian. Department of Defense. 

www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil. Accessed 10/25/2012. 
 

Page 26 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Like charter schools generally, military base charter schools encountered 

difficulties obtaining facilities for school use, and they may face additional 

challenges because of their location on military bases (see table 4). As 

we previously found, securing adequate school facilities is one of the 

greatest challenges for new charter schools42 because they typically are 

not able to rely on the same resources for facility financing—such as local 

taxes and tax-exempt municipal bonds—as public schools that are 

operated by school districts. We also previously reported that charter 

schools’ access to other facility financing options, such as private lending, 

can also be limited. Charter schools are often considered credit risks 

because they may have limited credit histories, lack significant cash 

flows, and have short-term charters that can be revoked. As a result, 

private loans are not easily accessible to charter schools for facility 

financing, so they often rely on state or district per-pupil allocations to 

finance their facilities. 

Table 4: Military Base Charter School Facility Types and Funding Sources 

School Installation Facility type Primary source of financing 

Belle Chasse Academy Naval Air Station Joint Reserve 

Base New Orleans, Louisiana 

New school construction Private bank loan with guaranty 

from the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture 

Imagine Andrews Public 

Charter School 

Joint Base Andrews-NAF 

Maryland 

New school construction Private bank loan with guaranty 

from real estate developer 

Jacksonville Lighthouse 

Charter School: Flightline 

Upper Academy 

Little Rock AFB, Arkansas Converted former military 

conference center 

Private donations 

LEARN 6 in North Chicago Naval Station Great Lakes, 

Illinois 

Converted former military 

hospital training facility 

Funds provided by the charter 

management organization 

Manzanita Public Charter 

School 

Vandenberg AFB, 

California 

Current district school building School district 

Sigsbee Charter School Naval Air Station Key West, 

Florida 

Renovated former district 

school building 

Per-pupil funds 

Sonoran Science Academy Davis-Monthan AFB, 

Arizona 

Former district school building No financing reported 

Wheatland Charter Academy Beale AFB, 

California 

Renovated current district 

school building 

School district 

Source: GAO analysis of charter school information. 

 

42GAO, New Charter Schools across the Country and in the District of Columbia Face 

Similar Start-Up Challenges, GAO-03-899 (Washington, D.C: September 2003). 

Obtaining Facilities on 

Bases Can Be Challenging 

and Complex for Charter 

School Planners 
 

Page 27 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Two schools we examined encountered challenges initially securing 

financing for the construction of new facilities. According to a Belle 

Chasse Academy official, the school struggled to find a bank that could 

underwrite a long-term loan to build a facility on Naval Air Station Joint 

Reserve Base New Orleans. School planners were eventually able to 

secure a loan after receiving a loan guarantee through the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture Rural Development Community Facilities 

Guaranteed Loan Program. Similarly, construction of a school facility for 

Imagine Andrews was able to start on Joint Base Andrews after a loan for 

this work was secured by the Charter School Development Corporation 

(CSDC)—a non-profit group that helps finance charter schools. A 

representative for the CMO, Imagine Schools, indicated that CSDC 

secured the loan because the CMO had limited capacity to finance the 

construction. CSDC cosigned the loan with the CMO, and a private real 

estate developer guaranteed the loan. 

Securing financing to renovate facilities for charter schools on bases was 

another obstacle for some schools. For example, Sigsbee Charter School 

moved into a former public school facility on Naval Air Station Key West 

that required significant renovation.43 The local district provided funds to 

defray the renovation cost, but these did not fully cover the needed 

repairs. Because none of the grant funds the school received could be 

used to renovate its facility, the school relied extensively on local 

volunteers, including military personnel and parents of students who 

would attend the school, to make many of the essential repairs to the 

facility. According to a school official, there are no funds to complete the 

remaining renovation work. For Flightline Upper Academy on Little Rock 

Air Force Base, school planners converted a base facility previously used 

as a conference center and that was slated for demolition. Renovations 

included removing asbestos, replacing old pipes, and repairing the roof. 

The cost of the renovations was paid for primarily through donations from 

a private housing developer and foundations—with no financial 

contributions from the Air Force. A school official noted that the school 

was able to address its main financing needs for facility repair prior to 

opening. However, he stated that the school’s significant investment in 

renovating a building it leases from the base comes with risk because the 

 

43A 2011 DOD assessment of facility conditions and capacity of public school on military 

bases rated the condition of Sigsbee Charter School’s facility as poor. Department of 

Defense. www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil. Accessed 10/25/2012. 
 

Page 28 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Air Force could decide not to renew the 5-year lease and take back the 

building. 

Some school representatives said they also had to navigate complex 

facility and land lease arrangements. With Imagine Andrews, the non-profit 

CSDC will own the completed facility and lease it to Imagine Schools. The 

Air Force leased the property to a nonprofit joint venture between the Air 

Force and a private housing developer, which in turn leased it to CSDC. 

Imagine Andrews stakeholders also received assistance in structuring the 

facility financing and land-lease agreements from an agency that oversees 

the housing privatization program for the Air Force. A Navy official involved 

with establishing LEARN 6 in North Chicago stated that the real estate 

arrangements, such as the lease for the school site and facility, were 

complex and required the involvement of multiple stakeholders, including 

the CMO, the Navy, and the local municipality. In particular, the official said 

understanding the appropriate support role for the Navy was a significant 

challenge to acquiring the facility for the school. For example, the official 

said it was unclear whether the Navy could provide funds for the school 

site, such as paying for its utilities. He noted that guidance on developing a 

lease agreement for charter schools on military bases would be beneficial 

and could potentially have saved school planners significant resources 

during startup. 

Similarly, other military and school officials cited the need for federal 

guidance and information sharing on starting and operating a charter 

school on a military base. For example, base officials at Fort Bragg said 

that they unsuccessfully sought information from the Army that would 

have helped guide their efforts to establish a charter high school on the 

base, such as liability issues related to operating a charter school on 

federal property. North Carolina state education officials denied the 

school’s application because school planners revised it after the deadline 

in order to replace most of the founding members on the school’s 

governing board with new members. According to state education 

officials, school planners told them they removed these members 

because a military regulation made them ineligible to serve on the 

school’s board. As a result of the application denial, the school will not 

open in 2013 as planned. We also found that currently, little guidance and 

information sharing exist for guiding the development of military base 

charter schools and addressing their startup and operational challenges 

and the guidance that does exist is not DOD-wide. While the Air Force 
 

Page 29 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

produced guidance to support community efforts to develop charter 

schools on its bases, it does not apply to other military service bases.44

Army officials said they are currently developing charter school guidance 

for bases, which they plan to distribute in January 2013. Further, while 

Education and DOD have taken initial steps to support information 

sharing on developing charter schools on military bases—such as 

Education conducting outreach efforts with school planners and 

stakeholders at Naval Station Great Lakes and DOD and Education 

providing online information—some school officials suggested more 

information sharing could be helpful. For example, according to an official 

at Sigsbee Charter School, which opened 2 years ago, school planners 

found the information Belle Chasse Academy representatives provided on 

establishing on school on a base to be valuable for their own efforts. The 

official noted that more information sharing in this area would be useful. 

Against the backdrop of a growing and diverse charter school landscape, 

charter schools on military bases have emerged as one additional option 

for military-connected parents. How rapidly charter schools will spread to 

other military bases is difficult to predict, but demand among military 

families and base communities for more military base charter schools will 

likely increase, especially in light of residential growth on bases affected 

by military Base Realignment and Closure. While the number of charter 

schools operating on military bases is currently small, they present a 

novel set of challenges for charter school founders and operators as well 

as an opportunity for Education and DOD to be in the forefront of 

emergent issues for these charter schools. One issue that the various 

stakeholders may well confront is the tension between preserving the 

public mission of charter schools of being open to all students and the 

desire in military base communities to ensure enrollment of militaryconnected students. This tension is already emerging as some charter 

schools use enrollment preferences to ensure continued enrollment 

access for highly mobile military-connected students. Using such 

enrollment preferences could have implications for whether or not a 

charter school is eligible for federal CSP grant funding. Although 

Education officials have expressed concern to us over some charter 

schools’ enrollment preferences and practices, CSP guidance does not 

specifically address the issue of enrollment preference for military-

 

44See appendix II for Air Force guidance. 

Conclusions 
 

Page 30 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

connected students. Moreover, in two cases, CSP subgrants were 

awarded by states to charter schools about which Education expressed 

concerns because of the nature of their enrollment preferences. However, 

Education does not require SEA applicants for CSP grants to indicate 

whether schools use enrollment preferences and, if so, to describe those 

preferences. Such a requirement would allow Education and the states to 

better determine if an applicant is eligible to receive CSP funds. 

Finally, as charter school planners, authorizers, and military base 

commands consider adding schools on bases, they could benefit from 

having information to help them better weigh the tradeoffs of locating 

charter schools on bases, including the need for community outreach and 

civilian access to schools. The 2008 MOU between DOD and Education 

was intended, in part, to facilitate this kind of information development. 

Such information would also help them address the types of challenges 

current schools have encountered. As existing charter schools have 

discovered, determining DOD requirements and allowable practices—

such as the role of base command—was often difficult. Having guidance 

from DOD on appropriate ways to establish and operate charter schools 

on military bases may help mitigate these common challenges and 

smooth school startups and operations. Military base charter schools that 

have experienced some of these stumbling blocks could share useful 

information with planners of charter schools in other military base 

communities—such as information about making facilities and lease 

arrangements, and building effective working relationships between 

school administrators and base command. 

To ensure that Charter Schools Program grants are provided only to 

schools that meet eligibility criteria, we recommend that the Secretary of 

Education direct the Charter Schools Program office to revise the Charter 

Schools Program guidance to 

 Clarify CSP grant requirements regarding charter school enrollment 

preferences, including preferences for military-connected students, 

such as whether schools can hold separate lotteries for militaryconnected and civilian students and the extent to which schools can 

enroll military-connected students under work-site exemptions, and 

Recommendations for 

Executive Action 

Education 
 

Page 31 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

 Require applicants for CSP grants and subgrants to describe any 

enrollment preferences in their applications. 

To address the specific needs of military communities that charter 

schools on bases serve while preserving the public mission of charter 

schools, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense develop and set 

standards for operating charter schools on military bases and require the 

appropriate military services to create guidance based on those 

standards. The guidance should describe the requirements and allowable 

practices for establishing and operating charter schools on military bases. 

At a minimum, this guidance should address the following areas: 

 The appropriate role of military base command and other DOD offices 

and agencies in supporting the creation and operation of charter 

schools; 

 Reasonable base access and security arrangements for civilian 

children, parents, and others involved in a military base charter 

school; and 

 Military lease arrangements and other property-related issues for a 

charter school on a base. 

To serve as a resource for military base communities exploring 

educational options, as stated in their 2008 Memorandum of 

Understanding, we also recommend that the Secretaries of DOD and 

Education facilitate the sharing of information among interested parties—

such as base commanders and school planners and officials—on how 

military base charter schools have addressed startup and operational 

challenges. 

We provided a draft copy of this report to DOD and Education for review 

and comment. DOD’s comments are reproduced in appendix III and 

Education’s comments are in appendix IV. The agencies generally agreed 

with our recommendations, and Education described its plans for 

implementing them. Specifically, in response to our recommendation to 

clarify CSP grant guidance, Education stated that it will review its current 

non-regulatory guidance to determine how it can clarify admissions and 

lottery requirements for military-base charter schools that receive CSP 

funds. With respect to the two charter schools noted in our report that had 

DOD 

DOD and Education

Agency Comments 

and Our Evaluation 
 

Page 32 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

enrollment preferences but received CSP grants from their states, 

Education said that the schools’ receipt of these grants raises compliance 

questions. Education has asked the states to conduct reviews of these 

instances and report back to the Department. Education also agreed with 

our recommendation to require CSP applicants to describe enrollment 

preferences in their applications. Education said it intends to revise its 

CSP grant application notices to require descriptions of any enrollment 

preferences. Furthermore, Education plans to request that SEA grantees 

require CSP subgrant applicants to describe recruitment and admissions 

policies and practices, including any enrollment preferences they plan to 

employ. 

Education acknowledged the importance of working together with DOD to 

enhance awareness of the unique challenges involved in locating charter 

schools on bases and indicated steps they would take to continue this 

work. For example, Education stated that the Working Group established 

under the DOD and Education Memorandum of Understanding will 

continue to facilitate the sharing of information on challenges through 

shared newsletters, outreach, conference participation, panel 

discussions, and websites. 

The agencies also provided technical comments that were incorporated, 

as appropriate. 

We are sending copies of this report to the Secretaries of DOD and 

Education, relevant congressional committees, and other interested 

parties. In addition, this report will be available at no charge on GAO’s 

website at http://www.gao.gov. If you or your staff have any questions 

about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-7215 or 

scottg@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional 

Relations and Public Affairs can be found on the last page of this report. 

GAO staff who made major contributions to this report are listed in 

appendix V. 

George A. Scott 

Director 

Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues 
 

Page 33 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix I: Charter School Profiles

Appendix I

Mission statement

The mission of Belle Chasse Academy is to educate our militarydependent children, no matter what their background or previous school 

experience, to fully achieve their personal and academic potential through 

the acquisition of core knowledge and the skills of analysis, problemsolving, communication, and global responsibility.

Public, Charter, and Private Schools near Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New 

Orleans

Note: Schools shown are only those within the local school district. The public and private schools 

included on this map serve some or all of the same grade levels offered by the charter school located 

on the military base. 

Charter school data

Opening school year (SY):

2002-03

Local district: Plaquemines Parish 

School Board

Authorizer: Louisiana Board

of Elementary and Secondary 

Education

LEA status: Own LEA

Charter management 

organization: No

Charter Schools 

Program grant: No

Student body

Grades: K-8 

Total students SY 11-12: 942

Military-connected student 

enrollment SY 11-12: 845 (90%)

Preference for

military-connected: Yes

Waiting list: Yes 

Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 

10-11: Met

Title I: Yes

Free-reduced lunch eligible: 44%

School Year 2011-12 student 

demographics

White: 41% 

Black: 42%

Hispanic: 12% 

Asian/Pacific Islander: 1% 

American Indian/Alaskan: 1%

Two or more races: 3% 

Sources: GAO analysis of charter school data; National Atlas 

of the United States. 

Belle Chasse Academy

Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, LA
Page 34 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix I

Mission statement

Imagine Andrews Public Charter School (PCS) was established ... to 

provide outstanding educational opportunities for military and community 

students. Our mission is to serve our nation by providing the students of 

the Andrews Community with a “world class” education, while meeting the 

needs of military families. Our vision is to create a school environment 

that prepares students for high school and beyond, develops their strong 

moral character, and provides them with the skills necessary to lead and 

advance our nation.

Public, Charter, and Private Schools near Joint Base Andrews

Note: Schools shown are only those within the local school district. The public and private schools 

included on this map serve some or all of the same grade levels offered by the charter school located 

on the military base.

Charter school data

Opening school year (SY):

2011-12

Local district: Prince George’s 

County Public Schools

Authorizer: Prince George’s 

County Public Schools 

LEA status: Part of school district

Charter management 

organization: Imagine Schools

Charter Schools 

Program grant: Yes

Student body

Grades: K-4 (expanding to 8)

Total students SY 11-12: 265

Military-connected student 

enrollment SY 11-12: 65% 

Preference for

military-connected: Yes

Waiting list: Yes 

Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 

10-11: School was not open in SY 

2010-11

Title I: No

Free-reduced lunch eligible: 15%

School Year 2011-12 student 

demographics

White: 37%

Black: 43% 

Hispanic: 6% 

Asian/Pacific Islander: 14% 

American Indian/Alaskan: Not 

reported

Two or more races: Not reported

Sources: GAO analysis of charter school data; National Atlas 

of the United States. 

Imagine Andrews Public Charter School

Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
Page 35 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix I

Mission statement

We prepare our students for college through a rigorous arts-infused 

program.

Public, Charter, and Private Schools near Little Rock Air Force Base

Note: Schools shown are only those within the local school district. The public and private schools 

included on this map serve some or all of the same grade levels offered by the charter school located 

on the military base. 

Charter school data

Opening school year (SY):

2011-12

Local district: Pulaski County 

Special School District

Authorizer: Arkansas

State Board of Education

LEA status: Own LEA

Charter management 

organization: Lighthouse 

Academies

Charter Schools 

Program grant: Yes

Student body

Grades: 5-8 (expanding to 12) 

Total students SY 11-12: 164

Military-connected student 

enrollment SY 11-12: 82 (50%)

Preference for

military-connected: No

Waiting list: Yes 

Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 

10-11: School was not open in SY 

2010-11

Title I: Yes

Free-reduced lunch eligible: 21%

School Year 2011-12 student 

demographics

White: 48% 

Black: 43% 

Hispanic: 4% 

Asian/Pacific Islander: 4% 

American Indian/Alaskan: 1%

Two or more races: Not reported

Sources: GAO analysis of charter school data; National Atlas 

of the United States. 

Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter School: 

Flightline Upper Academy

Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas 
Page 36 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix I

Mission statement

To provide children with the academic foundation and ambition to earn a 

college degree.

Public, Charter, and Private Schools near Naval Station Great Lakes Military Base

Note: Schools shown are only those within the local school district. The public and private schools 

included on this map serve some or all of the same grade levels offered by the charter school located 

on the military base. 

Charter school data

Opening school year (SY):

2012-13 

Local district: North Chicago

Community Unit School District 187

Authorizer: Independent Authority 

for School District 187

LEA status: Part of school district 

Charter management 

organization: LEARN Charter

School Network

Charter Schools 

Program grant: No

Student body

Grades: K-2 & 6-7 in SY 2012-13 

(expanding to K-8) 

Total students SY 11-12: School 

was not open in SY 2011-12

Military-connected student 

enrollment SY 11-12: School was 

not open in SY 2011-12

Preference for

military-connected: No

Waiting list: Yes 

Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 

10-11: School was not open in SY 

2010-11 

Title I: Yes

Free-reduced lunch eligible: 66%

School Year 2011-12 student 

demographics

School was not open in SY 2011-

12 

Sources: GAO analysis of charter school data; National Atlas 

of the United States. 

.

LEARN 6 in North Chicago

Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois
Page 37 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix I

Mission statement

We are dedicated to advancing academic excellence in Lompoc by 

providing students in kindergarten through sixth grade with the intellectual 

capacity to participate and work productively in a multi-cultural society.

Public, Charter, and Private Schools near Vandenberg Air Force Base

Note: Schools shown are only those within the local school district. The public and private schools 

included on this map serve some or all of the same grade levels offered by the charter school located 

on the military base. 

Charter school data

Opening school year (SY):

2008-09 

Local district: Lompoc Unified 

School District

Authorizer: Lompoc Unified 

School District

LEA status: Own LEA

Charter management 

organization: No

Charter Schools 

Program grant: Yes

Student body

Grades: K-6 

Total students SY 11-12: 438

Military-connected student 

enrollment SY 11-12: 184 (42%)

Preference for

military-connected: No

Waiting list: No

Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 

10-11: Did not meet

Title I: Yes

Free-reduced lunch eligible: 66% 

School Year 2011-12 student 

demographics

White: 28% 

Black: 7% 

Hispanic: 56% 

Asian/Pacific Islander: 2%

American Indian/Alaskan: 1%

Two or more races: 6% 

Sources: GAO analysis of charter school data; National Atlas 

of the United States. 

Manzanita Public Charter School

Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Page 38 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix I

Mission statement

To provide each child with the opportunities and skill sets to realize his or 

her fullest potential in surroundings tailored to meet the needs of the 

transient military child as well as to provide another option for children in 

the Key West community... 

Public, Charter, and Private Schools near Naval Air Station Key West

Note: Schools shown are only those within the local school district. The public and private schools 

included on this map serve some or all of the same grade levels offered by the charter school located 

on the military base. 

Charter school data

Opening school year (SY):

2010-11

Local district: Monroe County 

School District

Authorizer: The School Board of 

Monroe County Schools

LEA status: Part of school district

Charter management 

organization: No

Charter Schools 

Program grant: Yes

Student body

Grades: PK-7 

Total students SY 11-12: 410

Military-connected student 

enrollment SY 11-12: 70%-80%

Preference for

military-connected: Yes

Waiting list: Yes 

Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 

10-11: Met

Title I: No

Free-reduced lunch eligible: 20% 

School Year 2011-12 student 

demographics

White: 62% 

Black: 7% 

Hispanic: 23% 

Asian/Pacific Islander: 2% 

American Indian/Alaskan: 0% 

Two or more races: 6% 

Sources: GAO analysis of charter school data; National Atlas 

of the United States. 

Sigsbee Charter School

Naval Air Station Key West, Florida
Page 39 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix I

Mission statement

The mission of Sonoran Schools is to provide a rigorous college prep, 

STEM-focused education through a challenging and comprehensive 

curriculum, continuous assessment, and dedicated teachers who inspire 

their students to become the leaders of tomorrow.

Public, Charter, and Private Schools near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base 

Note: Schools shown are only those within the local school district. The public and private schools 

included on this map serve some or all of the same grade levels offered by the charter school located 

on the military base. 

Charter school data

Opening school year (SY):

2009-10

Local district: Tucson Unified 

School District

Authorizer: Arizona State

Board of Charter Schools

LEA status: Own LEA

Charter management 

organization:

Sonoran Schools, Inc.

Charter Schools 

Program grant: Yes

Student body

Grades: 6-10 (expanding to 12) 

Total students SY 11-12: 185

Military-connected student 

enrollment SY 11-12: 140 (76%)

Preference for

military-connected: No

Waiting list: No 

Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 

10-11: Met

Title I: Yes

Free-reduced lunch eligible: 21% 

School Year 2011-12 student 

demographics

White: 55% 

Black: 17% 

Hispanic: 25% 

Asian/Pacific Islander: 1% 

American Indian/Alaskan: 1% 

Two or more races: 1%

Sources: GAO analysis of charter school data; National Atlas 

of the United States. 

.

Sonoran Science Academy Davis-Monthan

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona
Page 40 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix I

Mission statement

None

Public, Charter, and Private Schools near Beale Air Force Base

Note: Schools shown are only those within the local school district. The public and private schools 

included on this map serve some or all of the same grade levels offered by the charter school located 

on the military base. 

Charter school data

Opening school year (SY):

2001-02 

Local district:

Wheatland School District

Authorizer: 

Wheatland School District

LEA status: Part of school district

Charter management 

organization: No

Charter Schools 

Program grant: No

Student body

Grades: K-5 

Total students SY 11-12: 104

Military-connected student 

enrollment SY 11-12: 74 (71%)

Preference for

military-connected: No

Waiting list: No 

Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 

10-11: Did not meet

Title I: Yes

Free-reduced lunch eligible: 38% 

School Year 2011-12 student 

demographics

Did not receive complete 

demographic data, but school is 

predominantly White.

Sources: GAO analysis of charter school data; National Atlas 

of the United States. 

Wheatland Charter Academy

Beale Air Force Base, California
Appendix II: Air Force Guidelines and 

Information on Charter Schools 

Page 41 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix II: Air Force Guidelines and 

Information on Charter Schools 
Appendix II: Air Force Guidelines and 

Information on Charter Schools 

Page 42 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 
Appendix II: Air Force Guidelines and 

Information on Charter Schools 

Page 43 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 
Appendix II: Air Force Guidelines and 

Information on Charter Schools 

Page 44 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 
Appendix II: Air Force Guidelines and 

Information on Charter Schools 

Page 45 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 
Appendix II: Air Force Guidelines and 

Information on Charter Schools 

Page 46 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 
Appendix III: Comments from the U.S. 

Department of Defense 

Page 47 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix III: Comments from the U.S. 

Department of Defense 
Appendix IV: Comments from the U.S. 

Department of Education 

Page 48 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

Appendix IV: Comments from the U.S. 

Department of Education 
Appendix IV: Comments from the U.S. 

Department of Education 

Page 49 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 
Appendix IV: Comments from the U.S. 

Department of Education 

Page 50 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 
Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

Page 51 GAO-13-67 Military Base Charter Schools 

George A. Scott, 202-512-7215 or scottg@gao.gov

In addition to the contact named above, Sherri K. Doughty, Assistant 

Director; Sandra L. Baxter; Edward F. Bodine; and Deborah A. Signer 

made significant contributions to this report. Also contributing to this 

report were James Bennett, Deborah Bland, Jessica A. Botsford, 

Ying Long, James M. Rebbe, Terry L. Richardson, Laura L. Talbott, and 

Kathleen L. van Gelder. 

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

GAO Contact 

Staff 

Acknowledgments 

(131164)
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