The Hillsborough School District has until June 1 to respond to an application to start a charter school that wants to draw students from the township.

Superintendent of Schools Jorden Schiff said at Monday’s school board meeting that he is working with officials in the other affected school districts—Bridgewater-Raritan, Franklin and Piscataway—to draft a response to the state Department of Education on the application made by the Information Technology Charter School.

The school, which is tentatively planned to be located in Franklin, would enroll 280 students in grades 6-12, according to the Department of Education. No other details about the school are available.

Schiff said he would circulate the draft among board members for input before forwarding it to the state.

"The more support we have for our school district, the better,” Board Member Judith Haas said. At the April 24 board meeting, Haas and other board members opposed the charter school application.

A charter school is a public school that operates independently of a local school district’s Board of Education under a charter granted by the state commissioner of education. By September, more than 100 charter schools with approximately 25,000 students will be operating in New Jersey.

The state has accepted the application by the Information Technology Charter School. The application will be reviewed by a team of both external and internal Department of Education reviewers, who will consider public comments supporting or opposing the application.

The education commissioner (or designee) will conduct an in-depth interview with the applicant before releasing a decision before Sept. 30.

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