INDIANAPOLIS – The Fort Wayne Urban League and a central Indiana charter school operator have filed initial paperwork seeking the OK to open new charter schools in Fort Wayne.

The Fort Wayne Urban League has proposed the Thurgood Marshall Leadership Academy, which would be near the Village Woods neighborhood in the East Allen County Schools district.

It would initially serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade as well as ninth and 10th grades, expanding to K-12 by the fourth year. The number of students per grade would be 50 in elementary and middle school and 75 in high school.

Indianapolis-based Goodwill Education Initiatives has proposed the Excel Center in an unspecified location within the Fort Wayne Community Schools district.

It would provide a diploma option to kids who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out. Total capacity in grades 9 through 12 would be 300 students.

Now the two groups must complete extensive applications, which are due Oct. 31 to the newly formed Indiana Charter School Board. The board serves as both a sponsoring and regulatory entity for charter schools, which are public schools freed from some state bureaucracy.

So far, 13 organizations have submitted non-binding letters of intent proposing new charter schools in seven Indiana communities. Indianapolis has the most interest with eight proposed charters.

The board will spend weeks evaluating and interviewing the groups, with public hearings held Dec. 8 to 14. Final decisions will come in mid-December, and some of the schools could be open for the 2012-13 school year.

Previously, the Urban League tried unsuccessfully to open a charter school, but Ball State University declined to sponsor the group.

“We want to make sure our youth are able to make the next step in life, are competent and prepared. You should have a good quality education no matter where you live,” said Jonathan Ray, chief executive officer and president of the Urban League. “We are looking at a school that will help kids learn how to think. It’s a different way of educating.”

Ray specifically said the charter proposal is not an attack on area school districts.

“We just think we have a brand of education that would enhance – not replace – the learning environment that already exists in Fort Wayne,” he said.

But Ray and his organization have been vocal about the closing of Paul Harding High School and shuttling those students to other EACS high schools.

According to the initial paperwork, American Quality Schools would operate the Urban League charter school. The Chicago-based group already operates six charter schools in the state, mostly in northwest Indiana.

The state’s most recent accountability ratings gave the schools run by American Quality a B, two C’s, two D’s and an F.

The second proposed Fort Wayne charter school would be sponsored and operated by Goodwill Education Initiatives. It currently operates two charters in Indianapolis – the Excel Center and Indianapolis Metropolitan High School.

Both received C grades for state accountability.

The new proposal describes a Fort Wayne charter school modeled after the Excel Center in Indianapolis, which is in its second year and targets 18- to 22-year-old high school dropouts or students at risk of dropping out.

The school uses a combination of instructional techniques including traditional classroom, online, small-group learning and one-on-one tutoring.

Scott Bess, chief operating officer for Goodwill, said Fort Wayne demographics support the need for the center, but he cautioned the organization is in early stages of planning the charter.

“The numbers show it would work,” he said. “We have been approached by a group to start the school but want to make sure there is widespread support in the community.”

He declined to identify the group.

nkelly@jg.net