State School Superintendent Levi Bachmeier said North Dakota’s new rules governing public, tax-supported charter schools will take effect April 1, opening the way for supporters to offer their ideas for charter schools.
The regulations, which were adopted after the North Dakota Legislature authorized public charter schools in April 2025, ensure academic and budget accountability for charters and specify that any special education students in charter schools must be provided services.
The new state law, SB2241, says charter school developers must negotiate “performance agreements” with the state superintendent of public instruction, which will set out academic performance expectations and regulate how schools are operated and governed.
The charter school application process must include a public meeting with any charter school applicant to allow state officials and the public to ask questions about it. Given the logistical demands for starting a charter school, North Dakota’s first charters are not expected to open until the fall of 2027.
“North Dakota families are asking for more choices in the education of their children,” Bachmeier said. “This new law and rules offer the opportunity for more choices, while ensuring that the foundational rules that govern our public schools, from financial transparency to instructional access for students with disabilities, are fairly and equally applied to public charters.”
The charter school model offers flexibility in classroom instruction and school governance, as long as performance agreement requirements are met. Charters must employ licensed teachers and can receive state education aid, which is linked to student enrollment. They are not eligible for local property tax support.
Approval of the regulations followed a drafting process that included a December 2025 public hearing, opportunities for public comment, and scrutiny by the attorney general and the Legislature’s Administrative Rules Committee, which reviewed them earlier this month.
North Dakota is the 47th state to authorize charter schools, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Arlene Wolf, director of school approval and opportunity for the Department of Public Instruction, said the rules focus on areas where the law was less precise, and where additional emphasis on requirements would be beneficial.
“We wanted to ensure transparency in the application and review process, set clear expectations for monitoring, reporting, and corrective action, and make sure enrollment practices were fair,” she said. “And we really wanted it to be crystal clear that charter schools are not exempt from any state or federal special education requirements.”
The charter school regulations were part of a package of NDDPI administrative rules that also affect school bus standards, special education, school construction loans, school district cooperative agreements, professional development for math teachers in grades kindergarten through eight, and school building assessments.