Ltr2-11: Categorical Consolidation #2

August 5, 2011

Dear County Superintendents of Schools:

NOTICE OF THE SECOND APPORTIONMENT
FOR THE CATEGORICAL CONSOLIDATION #2
DISTRICT AND CHARTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS
FISCAL YEAR 2011-12

This apportionment, in the amount of $23,243,968, is made from funds provided by various Items of the Budget Act of 2011 (Chapter 33, Statutes of 2011), as follows:

• 6110-108-0001 - Middle and High School Counseling
• 6110-195-0001 - National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
• 6110-204-0001 - CAHSEE – 11^th and 12^th Graders
• 6110-227-0001 - Community-Based English Tutoring (CBET)
• 6110-244-0001 - Teacher Credentialing Block Grant (TCBG) - BTSA
• 6110-260-0001 - Physical Education Teacher Incentive Program (PETIP)
• 6110-265-0001 - Arts and Music Block Grant (AMBG)
• 6110-267-0001 - Certificated Staff Mentoring Program

Warrants will be mailed to each county treasurer approximately three weeks from the date of this Notice. For standardized account code structure coding, use Resource Code 0000, Unrestricted, and Revenue Object Code 8590, All Other State Revenue.

The county superintendents of schools were notified of this apportionment by e-mail which was sent to their CDEfisc e-mail addresses. The California Department of Education (CDE) requested that the e-mail be forwarded to all school districts and charter schools in the county, and included the links to this letter and the apportionment schedules which are posted on the CDE Web pages at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/consolidations559.asp.

California Education Code (EC) Section 42605 authorizes complete flexibility by a school district, county office of education, and charter school in the use of funds appropriated in the state budget for fiscal years 2008-09 through 2014-15 for numerous budget items, including the funds formerly restricted to the programs included in this apportionment. School districts, county offices of education, and charter schools may now use the funds formerly restricted to these programs for any educational purpose. The funds are therefore unrestricted and should be accounted for as such. With the exception noted below, program and funding requirements as otherwise provided in statute, regulation, and budget act provisional language associated with the funding are not in effect. EC Section 42605(e) provides an exception with respect to NBPTS funding for teacher awards. This provision requires a school district or county office of education to continue distributing funds to teachers who were in the Incentive Program prior to April 2009 until the teacher has received his or her full award. Funds that are not needed for this purpose are flexible.

Each local educational agency’s (LEA’s) entitlement to 2011-12 funds from each flexible program was calculated based on the same relative proportion of funds that each LEA received in the base year of funding; this amount was then reduced to reflect the funding decrease enacted in Control Section 12.42 of the Budget Act of 2011. Pursuant to the provisions of EC Section 14401.1, payments for the flexed programs are to be made in twelve installments beginning in July and ending in June. Under the new “5-5-9” schedule, five percent of the annual entitlement is to be allocated in each of July and August, and nine percent in each month thereafter through the following June. In order to timely allocate funds, the July and August 2011 payments are equal to 5 percent of each LEA’s 2010-11 entitlement. The September 2011 payment will equal 19 percent of each LEA’s 2011-12 calculated entitlement less the amount advanced for the months of July and August 2011. The subsequent monthly warrants will equal the monthly payment percentage times the LEA’s 2011-12 entitlement.

In order to reduce the number of monthly payments an LEA may receive, the monthly payments for 34 of the flexible categorical programs have been consolidated into one of five groups which have then been combined into a single payment each month to each LEA. The resulting Schedule of the Combined Apportionment for Categorical Consolidations #1 - #5 is posted on the CDE Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/consolidations559.asp and shows the total combined monthly payment to each LEA and the payment breakdown into the five consolidations. The apportionment schedule and letter for this apportionment, Categorical Consolidation #2 – District and Charter School Programs, is posted at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/consolidations559.asp and shows the monthly payment to each LEA by program.

Individual program schedules are posted on the CDE Categorical Programs Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/ under the program name, fiscal year 2011-12. Individual program schedules will not be posted for the July and August 2011 advance payment at this time, but will be posted with the September 2011 apportionment. Each apportionment schedule identifies the amount for direct-funded charter schools separate from the district or county amount. Funding associated with all other charter schools is included in the district or county amount. The individual schedules also show the funding reduction to basic aid districts pursuant to Section 56 of Senate Bill (SB) 70 (Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011).

SB 70 requires that 2011-12 categorical funding allocations to school districts that were basic aid in fiscal year 2010-11 be reduced by the lesser of: (1) the district’s 2010-11 total revenue limit subject to the deficit factor, calculated as of the 2010-11 certified second principal apportionment, multiplied by 8.92 percent, or (2) the amount of the district’s excess taxes. In implementation of SB 70, basic aid districts receive no funding in this advance apportionment. The apportionment reduction for basic aid school districts applies to fiscal year 2011-12 only and their entitlement to funds in subsequent years for these programs will not be affected. To view the list of basic aid districts and the total amount to be reduced from their 2011-12 categorical funding allocations, please go to the CDE Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/documents/basicaidcut2011.xls.

Charter schools that began operation before the 2008-09 fiscal year are eligible to receive funding for the programs included in this apportionment. However, pursuant to EC Section 42606, new charter schools that began operation during or after the 2008-09 fiscal year will receive supplemental categorical block grant funds from the New Charter School Supplemental Categorical Block Grant, with the exception of locally or direct funded charter schools that converted from a preexisting school between the 2008-09 and 2014-15 fiscal years. Instead, beginning in 2011-12, in lieu of the supplemental categorical block grant funds, school districts are required to provide new conversion charter schools that commenced operations within the district during or after the 2008-09 fiscal year, $127 per unit of charter school average daily attendance as determined at the current year second principal apportionment, or a mutually determined rate.

If you have any questions regarding this apportionment, please contact Christina Schlueter, Assistant Fiscal Consultant, Categorical Allocations and Management Assistance Office, by phone at 916-324-9806 or by e-mail at cschlueter@cde.ca.gov [Note: the preceding contact information is no longer valid and has been replaced by the Categorical Allocations & Audit Resolution Office, by phone at 916-323-6191 or by email at CAAR@cde.ca.gov.].

Sincerely,

Jeannie Oropeza, Deputy Superintendent
Finance, Technology, and Administration Branch