Newly operational charter schools, FY 2011–12

September 2, 2011

Dear County Superintendents of Schools, Chief Business Officials, and Directors of Newly Operational Charter Schools:

NOTICE OF SPECIAL APPORTIONMENT FOR NEWLY OPERATIONAL
CHARTER SCHOOLS, FISCAL YEAR 2011–12

This special apportionment in the amount of $60,499,106 is made in accordance with California Education Code (EC) Section 47652 for fiscal year 2011–12. The purpose of this apportionment is to fund charter schools that are newly operational this fall. This apportionment is, in effect, an advance apportionment.

This apportionment is for the months of July 2011 through November 2011 and equals 37 percent of the charter school’s projected total general purpose block grant, categorical block grant, and in lieu of economic impact aid (EIA) funding for the 2011–12 fiscal year. Also included in the special apportionment is funding to school districts to backfill their transfer to charter schools funding in lieu of property taxes, for the months August 2011 through November 2011, which equals 28 percent of the charter school’s projected total in lieu of property taxes funding for the 2011–12 fiscal year. The special apportionment is based on the charter school’s estimated current year second principal apportionment average daily attendance (ADA) and the number of EIA eligible pupils.

The special apportionment will be adjusted for the months of December 2011 through January 2012 for allocation in December and will be based on the actual first twenty (20) school days of attendance as reported by the charter school. The actual ADA counts must be reported to CDE no later than five business days immediately following the 20th school day in order to be eligible to receive the second special apportionment funding. We will provide notification for this attendance reporting process within the next few weeks.

Charter schools that are funded pursuant to the block grant funding model should receive that portion of their funding that is in lieu of property taxes from the charter school's sponsoring local educational agency (LEA). EC Section 47632 defines the sponsoring LEA as the district that granted the charter, or in the case of a charter that was denied by a district and subsequently approved by a county office, the district that initially denied the charter.

For a county office of education approved charter school whose students are referred by parental request pursuant to subdivision (b) of EC Section 1981 or for a county-wide charter whose students reside in a basic aid district, the sponsoring LEA is the district of residence for those pupils. That means some county-approved charter schools will have multiple sponsoring districts if the school has students who reside in different districts. For a charter that was denied by an LEA and subsequently approved by the State Board of Education, the sponsoring LEA is the LEA that initially denied the charter or the LEA designated by the State Board of Education pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (k) of EC Section 47605.

For charter schools that elect to receive funding directly, EC Section 47651 provides that “the warrant shall be drawn in favor of the superintendent of schools of the county in which the LEA that approved the charter or was designated by the State Board of Education as the oversight agency pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (k) of Section 47605 is located, for deposit to the appropriate funds or accounts of the charter school in the county treasury. The county superintendent of schools is authorized to establish appropriate funds or accounts in the county treasury for each charter school.” For all other charter schools, the funds shall be deposited in the appropriate funds or accounts of the LEA that granted the charter.

For charter schools using the standardized account code structure, use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8590 to account for the Charter School Categorical Block Grant, use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8015 to account for the General Purpose Entitlement, and use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8011 for charter school sponsoring LEAs for the funds in lieu of property taxes transfer.

The amount apportioned to each participating charter school and charter school sponsoring LEA is available on the CDE’s Web site under Principal Apportionments at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/. Additional information about charter schools is available on that same Web site. If you have any questions regarding this apportionment or about funding for charter schools, please contact Byron Fong, Fiscal Consultant, Charter Apportionments and District Reorganization Office, by phone at 916-323-0498 or by e-mail at byfong@cde.ca.gov, or Caryn Moore, Administrator, Charter Apportionments and District Reorganization Office, by phone at 916-324-4541 or by e-mail at cmoore@cde.ca.gov [Note, the preceding contact is no longer valid please contact the Principal Apportionment and Special Education Office by phone, at 916-324-4541 or by e-mail at PASE@cde.ca.gov].

Sincerely,

Scott Hannan, Director
School Fiscal Services Division