Ohio Community Schools (Charter Schools) and Colocation Law

Ohio law was changed in 2011 to specifically allow two or more community schools (charter schools) to be located in the same facility. The new provision of the “Specification of use and acquisition of facilities” section of the law recognized a practice already in place in Ohio. As of March 2012, there were 27 collocations in the state, with 11 sharing a building with a traditional public school and 16 involving two or three charter schools sharing a site, according to the Ohio Department of Education. The law also states that when a community school is proposed for locating at a school district facility, the terms of the arrangement are left to the two entities to decide. The state department of education has issued guidance regarding how schools differentiate themselves within shared facilities.