New Grade Level Expansion Letter, FY 2014–15

December 16, 2014

Dear County Superintendents of Schools, Chief Business Officials, and Directors of New Grade Level Expansion Charter Schools:

NOTICE OF 20 DAY SPECIAL APPORTIONMENT FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS
NEW GRADE LEVEL EXPANSION, FISCAL YEAR 2014–15

This special apportionment of $9,422,563 is made in accordance with the California Education Code (EC) Section 47652(b). The purpose of this advance apportionment (Advance) is to fund charter schools that are adding at least one new grade level this fall.

This Advance is for the months of December 2014 through January 2015, and equals 18 percent of the charter school’s estimated increase in funding attributable to the new grade level for the 2014–15 fiscal year.  This Advance is calculated pursuant to EC sections 42238.02 and 42238.03, as well as Chapter 6 of Part 26.8 of the EC.

Entitlement Calculations

The entitlement calculations for charter schools that are adding at least one new grade level are based on the actual average daily attendance (ADA) reported in Charter School 20 Day Attendance Report (Charter 20 Day) data collection. 

The methodology used to estimate the 2014–15 Target and 2014–15 Gap funding is consistent with the methodology used to calculate the regular 2014–15 Advance Principal Apportionment. For more information on the 2014–15 Advance Principal Apportionment calculations, refer to the 2014–15 Advance Principal Apportionment letter at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/advappt1415ltr.asp. For more information on the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), refer to the Local Control Funding Formula Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/.

Funding In-Lieu of Property Taxes

Also included in the special apportionment is funding to sponsoring school districts to backfill their transfer to charter schools of funding in-lieu of property taxes, for the months December 2014 through January 2015, which equals 18 percent of the charter school’s projected total in-lieu of property taxes funding for the 2014–15 fiscal year. For most charter schools, EC Section 47632 defines the sponsoring local educational agency (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 do not meet the criteria in EC Section 2574(c)(4), or for a countywide charter whose students reside in a district that was basic aid in the prior year, the sponsoring LEA is the district of residence for those pupils. That means some county-approved charter schools may 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.

Method for Receiving State Aid

Pursuant to EC Section 47651, for charter schools that elect to receive funding directly, the warrant will be drawn in favor of the superintendent of schools of the county in which the LEA that approved the charter is located, for deposit to the appropriate funds or accounts of the charter school in the county treasury. For all other charter schools, the funds shall be deposited in the appropriate funds or accounts of the LEA that granted the charter.

What’s Next

For charter schools using the standardized account code structure, use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8011 to account for both the LCFF Entitlement and 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 Special Apportionments for Charter Schools at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/pa1415.asp. Additional information about charter schools is available on that same Web page.

All communication related to the Principal Apportionment and LCFF funding will be available on the CDE’s Web site, and funding specific information will also be sent electronically via the CDE’s PASE listserv. The listserv provides LEAs and other interested parties important information, such as notifications regarding LCFF updates, software releases, key deadlines, reminders of due dates for submission of data, and any other pertinent topics related to the Office of Principal Apportionment and Special Education (PASE) and the Office of Charter Apportionments and District Reorganization. If you do not already belong to the PASE listserv and would like to subscribe, send a "blank" message to: join-pase-contacts@mlist.cde.ca.gov.

If you have any questions regarding this apportionment or about funding for charter schools, please contact the Office of Charter Apportionments and District Reorganization by phone at 916-324-4541 or by e-mail at PASE@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,



Jeannie Oropeza, Deputy Superintendent
Services for Administration, Finance, Technology, and Infrastructure Branch

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Enclosure