How to become a homeschool charter vendor in California

How to get requested as a charter vendor

This is the part that surprises everyone. 7 of the 15 charters serving LA County will not begin vendor approval until an enrolled family requests you by name. Excel Academy states outright that direct provider solicitations are not accepted.

So if you run a dojo in Inglewood, step one is not a W-9. It is finding one or two families already enrolled at Sky Mountain or Sage Oak who will put their name on a request. Ask your current students' parents whether any of them homeschool. That single question moves this further than a month of filing.

Every listing on this site has a "Request this program at your charter" button that hands a parent the exact form and wording for their school. List your program free and families can use it on you.

Charter vendor requirements checklist

There is no cross-charter approval anywhere in California. Each school approves you separately. But the requirements barely differ, so assemble this once and reuse it.

W-9

Standard. Have it ready as a PDF.

City business license

Or a written explanation of why none is required for your city and business type.

A standalone website

Compass, iLEAD and Heartland reject social-media-only businesses. An Instagram page is not enough. This is the single most common reason a small program gets turned down before anyone reads the rest.

General liability insurance

$1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate, school named as additional insured. iLEAD also wants waiver of subrogation and primary/non-contributory endorsements. Sage Oak accepts $100K/$100K for low-risk services.

DOJ Live Scan for every instructor

Everyone who touches a student — including instructors who only teach over Zoom.

Annual mandated-reporter training

For every instructor, renewed yearly.

Non-sectarian content

Public money, so no religious instruction. The Ninth Circuit upheld this in March 2026.

Industry-standard pricing

Pricing must be "basic, economical and industry standard" — and you cannot charge families registration, materials or facility fees on top of what the charter pays.

DOJ ORI number for charter vendor Live Scans

Live Scan results do not transfer between schools unless your business holds its own DOJ ORI number as an "applicant agency." Gorman requires it; Sage Oak and Compass accept it.

Do the arithmetic. A studio with four instructors applying to six charters without an ORI runs twenty-four separate Live Scans. With one, it runs four. At roughly $70 each that is real money, and more importantly it is weeks of calendar time.

Charter vendor payment timeline and cash flow

Approval runs four to twelve weeks at Compass, a month minimum at iLEAD, and anywhere from five days to several months at Blue Ridge. Golden Valley opens only two application windows a year — August to September, and December to January. Miss one and you wait roughly six months.

Then payment is net-30 after the service is delivered, with a purchase order issued first, always. No advance, no deposit.

Add it up and your first cheque is three to five months out from the day you start. You will be teaching those students the whole time. Nobody warns small operators about this, and it is the single most common reason a good program takes on charter families and then quietly stops.

Charter vendor billing platforms: OPS, MarketPlace, Procurify

Five of the LA-serving charters — Compass, Sage Oak, Excel, iLEAD, Elite and Suncoast — bill through the same third-party platform, OPS. Springs uses its own MarketPlace and Blue Ridge uses Procurify. Sharing a platform does not mean sharing approval; each school still approves you independently.

All 15 LA County homeschool charters compared

Charter vendor FAQs

How does a program become a homeschool charter vendor in California?

You submit a near-identical packet to each charter separately: a W-9, a city business license, a standalone website, general liability insurance naming the school as additional insured, a DOJ Live Scan for every instructor who works with students, and proof of annual mandated-reporter training. There is no cross-charter approval anywhere in California — each school approves you independently.

Can I apply to a charter directly?

Often not. Compass, Springs, Excel, iLEAD, Blue Ridge, Golden Valley and Suncoast only begin vendor approval when an enrolled family requests your program. Excel states outright that direct provider solicitations are not accepted. Your first move is finding one or two enrolled families willing to submit a request, not filing paperwork.

How long until I get paid?

Plan on three to five months from starting the process to your first cheque. Approval alone runs four to twelve weeks — Golden Valley opens only two windows a year. After approval, payment is net-30 after the service is delivered, with a purchase order issued first. There is no advance and no deposit.

What insurance do charter schools require?

The common standard is $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate general liability, with the school named as an additional insured. iLEAD also requires waiver of subrogation and primary/non-contributory endorsements. Sage Oak accepts $100,000/$100,000 for low-risk services but requires $1 million/$1 million for anything high-risk.

Do I need my own DOJ ORI number?

You need one if you plan to work with more than one or two charters. Live Scan results do not transfer between schools unless your business holds its own DOJ ORI number as an applicant agency. Gorman requires it; Sage Oak and Compass accept it. For a studio with four instructors applying to six charters, having your own ORI is the difference between four Live Scans and twenty-four.

Can a faith-based program become a charter vendor?

Not for religious content. Charter schools are public schools and the instruction they fund must be non-sectarian. A divided Ninth Circuit upheld California's exclusion of religious curricula from parent-designed charter independent-study programs in March 2026. A faith-rooted organisation can still be approved for secular instruction.