(The Center Square) – Charter schools in North Carolina could soon be obtaining state approval to offer remote learning programs, allowing them to extend their reach across the state beyond traditional classrooms.

The expansion was approved by the Legislature in 2023, Ashley Baquero, director of the state’s Office of Charter Schools, told The Center Square.

The first application from an existing brick-and mortar school for remote learning will be presented to the Charter Schools Review Board in May, Baquero said.

“Right now we only have one,” she said. “I can’t tell how many we will end up with. I don’t expect too many from our currently operating schools.”

The 2023 legislation, House Bill 149, allows for both existing brick-and-mortar charter schools and new charter schools providing remote learning programs.

The application process for creating new charter schools ends April 26.

“Once that closes, I will know if we have any applications for new remote schools,” Baquero said.

With the implementation of the law, there are now three different options for charter schools: all in-person, fully remote or a hybrid model of remote and in-person, said Baquero.

Last school year, there were 145,000 charter school students in North Carolina, more than 10% of total enrollment, said Baquero. Expanding remote options could increase the enrollment even more, she said.

“I would anticipate that being an impact, based on the fact that charter school enrollment has grown so much,” she said. “This adds another option.”

Parents are increasingly looking for schools that offer more personalized instruction, Baquero said.

“That might be a smaller setting,” she said. “It might Montessori education or STEM. Charter schools have their own educational models. They may have smaller classes. What they offer can be quite different depending on the school.”

STEM is the acronym for science, technology, engineering and math.

North Carolina Virtual Academy and North Carolina Cyber Academy are the state’s only charter schools operating in the remote model.

“They’ve been established for at least 10 years now,” Baquero said. “They were started as part of a pilot program and it keeps getting extended.”

Meanwhile, the Charter Schools Review Board on Monday renewed the contract for Movement Eastland Charter School in Charlotte for another five years. Its existing contract was set to expire at the end of the year.

The board is scheduled to vote next month on extending the charter of Children’s Village Academy in Kinston.