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Alicia Minkins has waited years to open a charter school that empowers students to start businesses and solve problems in their community.

A previous cap on such schools stood in the way, she said. Now, the board of directors for the proposed Global Leadership Entrepreneurial Academy could finally get the break it needs.

“It was a very difficult process in the past,” said Minkins, a board member and managing partner for EJ’s Staffing Services in Greensboro. “Without the cap, it gives you a good chance of getting a good program through the system.”

Last week, the state Office of Charter Schools received 27 applications from organizations that want to open schools next summer.

Four of those applications were for proposed schools in Guilford County: Global Leadership Entrepreneurial Academy, Mendenhall Country Day School, High Point College Preparatory Academy, and Cornerstone Charter Academy.

Charter schools are public and tuition-free but operate independently of school districts.

North Carolina previously allowed only 100 charter schools to operate at one time, but lawmakers eliminated the cap this summer. The state Board of Education initiated a “fast track” application process for groups that need less than a year to get their schools running. The board intends to issue new charters in February.

The News & Record obtained copies of most of the Guilford applications, but awaits paperwork on High Point College Preparatory Academy. Here are details for three of the schools:

Global Leadership Entrepreneurial Academy would serve 255 students in grades kindergarten through 12 and teach business skills and foreign languages. Students would attend classes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a year-round calendar, according to the application.

The group behind the proposal has applied for a charter twice since 2004. Board members include local educators, business people and an attorney.

The board would lease space from a church on East Cone Boulevard, across the street from the charter school Guilford Preparatory Academy. Two members of the consortium, UNCG marketing professor Merlyn Griffiths and Rockingham County teacher Jeffrey Alexander, serve on Guilford Prep’s board of directors.

“I don’t know anything about that,” Robin Buckrham, Guilford Prep principal, said about the proposed school. “There’s no collaboration and no affiliation.”

Mendenhall Country Day would serve as many as 600 students in grades kindergarten through eight on land adjoining the 200-year-old Mendenhall Plantation, a historic site in Jamestown. Educators will emphasize hands-on learning and use historic figures to teach the values of patriotism, hard work and integrity.

The proposal caught Shirley Haworth by surprise. She leads the Historic Jamestown Society that owns and maintains the plantation. “You’re the first to say anything about it to me,” Haworth said.

George Ragsdale, a real estate investor, is leading the effort. His family owns the land where the school would be built. Ragsdale did not return phone calls or emails for comment.

Board members listed in the application include: John Phillips, a retired major general for the U.S. Air Force; Joseph Keith Miller, a neurologist for High Point Regional Health System; and Paul Norcross, co-founder of Phoenix Academy, a charter school in High Point.

Retired GTCC President Don Cameron also is listed as a board member, but he said last week that he had not committed to serving.

Cornerstone Charter Academy would provide a “back to basics” education for up to 728 students in grades kindergarten through eight. The school would offer the traditional core and elective classes, including art, music and physical education, as well as teaching moral virtues.

The school would operate similarly to Greensboro Academy, a charter school in the northwest part of the city. Cornerstone’s board of directors includes Greensboro Academy parents, two directors of local nonprofits, a teacher and business executive. A location was not identified.

Staff writer Taft Wireback contributed to this article.

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com