December 21, 2006
Dear County Superintendents of Schools, Auditors, and Treasurers:
NOTICE OF THE SPECIAL PURPOSE APPORTIONMENT
FOR PUPIL TRANSPORTATION AND ECONOMIC IMPACT AID
FISCAL YEAR 2006-07
This apportionment, in the amount of $1,173,885,487, is made from funds provided by Items 6110-111-0001 and 6110-128-0001 of the Budget Act of 2006 (Chapter 47, Statutes of 2006) as amended by Assembly Bill 1811 (Chapter 48, Statutes of 2006). These funds support the Pupil Transportation and the Economic Impact Aid (EIA) programs.
This apportionment recertifies estimated entitlements for 2006-07 for the Pupil Transportation and EIA programs. The Pupil Transportation program entitlements are recertified for only two counties as a result of transfers of transportation services and corresponding funding between local educational agencies within the counties. The EIA entitlements are recertified based on the calculation of each district’s 2006-07 base EIA entitlement under the new EIA formula, prior to the addition of the per-pupil supplement. In March 2007, final EIA entitlements will be calculated and certified to include each district’s per-pupil supplement, which will be paid for by the $350 million augmentation. In April 2007, final Pupil Transportation entitlements will be calculated and certified after receipt of the final data required for the calculation.
Payments for the Special Purpose Apportionment are made in ten installments that began in September 2006 and will end in June 2007. The December warrant for each local educational agency (LEA) will equal four-tenths of each LEA’s estimated entitlement to funds provided by the Budget Act of 2006 as amended by Assembly Bill 1811, less advance funds apportioned in September through November. The enclosed Summary of the Special Purpose Apportionment and the Monthly Payment Schedule show totals by county for Pupil Transportation and EIA funds. When making scheduled payments, the State Controller will issue one warrant to each county treasurer that will comprise the total payment for all LEAs within the county’s jurisdiction.
Notice, Summary, and Exhibits Enclosed
- Notice of the Special Purpose Apportionment for Pupil Transportation and Economic Impact Aid, Fiscal Year 2006-07
- Schedules of Apportionments-Computer Printout Tabulations
Pupil Transportation
Home-to-School Transportation-Exhibit I
Special Education Transportation-Exhibit I-S
Economic Impact Aid-Exhibit II - Summary of the Special Purpose Apportionment, by County
- Monthly Payment Schedule, by County
Pupil Transportation. This apportionment reflects transfers of transportation services and corresponding funding between LEAs within both Madera and Sutter counties. The transfers were effective July 1, 2006, and notification was provided to the California Department of Education (CDE) after September 1, 2006.
For standardized account code structure (SACS) coding, use Resource Code 7230, Transportation: Home to School, or Resource Code 7240, Transportation: Special Education (SD/OI), and Revenue Object Code 8311, Other State Apportionments–Current Year, for both home-to-school or special education transportation. For prior-year adjustments, use Revenue Object Code 8319, Other State Apportionments-Prior Year.
Economic Impact Aid. Legislation, effective in fiscal year 2006-07, has revised the formula and augmented the funding for the EIA program. The Budget Act of 2006 (Chapter 47, Statutes of 2006) as amended by Assembly Bill 1811 (Chapter 48, Statutes of 2006) augmented the funding for the EIA program by approximately $350 million in addition to providing $36.5 million for a 5.92 percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). Block-grant funded charter schools are to receive a portion of the augmentation, through a transfer of funds to the budget act item for the Charter School Categorical Block Grant, to ensure that the charter school block grant EIA funding rate is equivalent to the average per-pupil funding provided to school districts.
Assembly Bill 1802 (Chapter 79, Statutes of 2006) revised the funding formula for EIA for both school districts and charter schools, and requires the use of different data in the new formula. Senate Bill 1131 (Chapter 371, Statutes of 2006) made further revisions affecting charter schools and small, rural school districts.
Under the new EIA formula, each district will receive funding based on its EIA eligible pupil count. A district’s EIA eligible pupil count is the sum of the following:
- Number of economically disadvantaged (ED) pupils. For most districts, the ED count will be the district’s Title I formula child count used in its current year Title I entitlement calculation less its count of pupils in families whose income is above the federal poverty level. The Title I counts are primarily based on U.S. census poverty data. The ED counts for small, rural districts (districts with less than 600 enrollment and given a small, rural “locale” code by the National Center for Education Statistics) will be the district’s prior year free meal count adjusted to provide an estimate of its Title I formula child count.
- Number of English learners (EL), as reported in the prior year R30-LC Language Census.
- A calculated number for each district that has a combined ED and EL pupil count (or concentration) greater than 50 percent of the district’s total pupil enrollment, as reported in the prior year California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS).
In 2006-07, districts also are to receive a share of the $350 million funding augmentation. The share will be calculated as a per-pupil supplement to each district’s 2006-07 base entitlement per EIA eligible pupil.
In September 2006, the estimated entitlements for 2006-07 were first certified, totaling $586,707,009, based upon what each LEA was entitled to receive in 2005-06. This apportionment, totaling $629,542,505, certifies districts’ 2006-07 base entitlements under the new formula, prior to the addition of the per-pupil supplement. In spring 2007, final entitlements will be calculated and certified to include each district’s per-pupil supplement. The per-pupil supplement is equal to $600 minus the district’s 2006-07 base entitlement divided by its 2006-07 count of EIA eligible pupils. Funding will be prorated if there are insufficient funds to provide all eligible districts with the difference between $600 and their base funding rate. There is no guarantee that a district will receive more EIA funding in 2006-07 than it received in 2005-06.
Base EIA entitlements and final entitlements will be posted on the CDE Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/eia.asp.
Beginning in 2006-07, EIA funding may no longer be transferred out of the EIA program as part of the categorical flexibility permitted by Section 12.40 of the Budget Act. However, the ability to transfer funds to EIA from other approved sources remains, provided that the total funding after the transfers does not exceed 115 percent of the district’s 2006-07 EIA apportionment.
There is no restriction on the amount of EIA funds that may be carried over from year to year. For SACS coding, use Resource Code 7090, Economic Impact Aid (EIA); or Resource Code 7091, Economic Impact Aid (EIA) English Learner or Limited English Proficient; and Revenue Object Code 8311, Other State Apportionments-Current Year.
EIA and Pupil Transportation for Charter Schools. Charter schools, with few exceptions, are funded through the charter school funding model (California Education Code, commencing with Section 47633). This funding model provides categorical block grant funds in lieu of various categorical programs, including EIA. These block grant funds are allocated as part of the Principal Apportionment process. As such, enrollment and EL counts for charter schools participating in the block grant funding model are excluded from district totals when computing entitlements for EIA.
Beginning in 2006-07, the Pupil Transportation program is included on the list of programs for which charter schools may not apply separately due to participation in the Charter School Categorical Block Grant. Essentially, charter schools will receive funding for the Pupil Transportation program through the block grant. LEAs and charter schools may wish to consider this in their discussions about how to provide transportation services to charter school pupils.
Additional Information/Questions. County superintendents should immediately notify LEAs in their county of the information included in this apportionment. In addition, this letter, along with the summary, monthly payment schedule, and exhibits, will be posted on the CDE Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca.
If you have any questions regarding the payment process or the EIA apportionment, please contact Ross Valentine, Consultant, Categorical Programs Unit, at 916-327-4405 or by e-mail at rvalenti@cde.ca.gov. If you have questions regarding the EIA-Limited English Proficient program, please contact Celina Arias-Romero, Consultant, School and District Accountability Division, at 916-319-0272 or by e-mail at cariasromero@cde.ca.gov. If you have questions regarding the EIA-State Compensatory Education program, please contact Richard Graham, Consultant, School and District Accountability Division, at 916-319-0303 or by e-mail at rgraham@cde.ca.gov. If you have any questions regarding the Pupil Transportation program or apportionment, please contact Sue Cervantes, Fiscal Analyst, Categorical Programs Unit, at 916-327-4406 or by e-mail at sucervantes@cde.ca.gov or Cynthia Wong, Staff Services Manager, Categorical Programs Unit, at 916-323-1314 or by e-mail at cwong@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
JACK O’CONNELL
1430 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814