For just the second time since 1998, when charter schools appeared in Toledo, no new charter schools will open in the city this school year.

This comes a year after more charter schools closed than opened within the district, with four shutting their doors and  replaced by one.

The state reported no closures of any Toledo charter schools this year, and dozens of established charter schools remain in the city, including, Aurora Academy, the first charter school to open in the state, which plans to move from its home in the former Good Shepherd parochial school to larger digs in East Toledo.

A year ago, charter-school officials cited a competitive market among charters, that publicly funded vouchers support private schools, and increased recruitment by Toledo Public Schools as reasons why schools weren’t opening.

Darlene Chambers, president of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said a variety of factors affect new school start-ups, including transportation costs, start-up costs, and the challenge of generating enrollment.

“Because new charter schools in Ohio are required to mostly fund facilities from operating costs, securing appropriate facilities and financing any renovations for a new school can be a barrier to high quality charter school expansion,” she said.

Ms. Chambers also said the state’s new start-up application process is more rigorous than in the past.

It could just be a coincidence, but the lack of new schools coincides with a reversal of enrollment fortunes for Toledo Public Schools. Between 2002-03 and 2012-13, the district lost more than 1,000 students a year on average.

That drop nearly plateaued in the 2013-2014 school year, and last year TPS actually added a few students by some counts.

Whether the change in enrollment trends in the district and a slowdown in charter-school openings are related isn’t clear, though TPS officials said charter schools seem to be less attractive to Toledo parents than they used to be.

“I don’t think that parents are running to [charters] as quickly as they were in the beginning,” said TPS Assistant Superintendent Linda Meyers.

The district wasn’t ready this week to release enrollment predictions for the upcoming school year. Administrators say they hope that restored student transportation, possibly thanks to a successful new-money levy last November, may boost student head count.

“I think that will help,” Ms. Meyers said, “to what extent, we aren’t yet sure.”

Contact Nolan Rosenkrans at: nrosenkrans@theblade.com or 419-724-6086, or on Twitter @NolanRosenkrans.

First Published July 28, 2015, 4:00 a.m.