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Letter Head: Jack O'Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Phone number 916-319-0800

September 19, 2007

Dear County Superintendents of Schools, Auditors, and Treasurers:

NOTICE OF THE SPECIAL PURPOSE APPORTIONMENT
FOR THE PUPIL TRANSPORTATION AND ECONOMIC IMPACT AID PROGRAMS
FISCAL YEAR 2007-08

This apportionment, in the amount of $1,534,336,377, is made from funds provided by Items 6110-111-0001, 6110-111-0046, 6110-485-0001(14), and 6110-128-0001 of the Budget Act of 2007 (Chapter 171 as amended by Chapter 172, Statutes of 2007). These funds support the Pupil Transportation and the Economic Impact Aid (EIA) programs. This apportionment certifies local educational agencies’ (LEAs) estimated 2007-08 entitlements for Pupil Transportation, and actual 2007-08 entitlements for EIA.  

Payments for the Special Purpose Apportionment are made in ten installments beginning in September 2007 and ending in June 2008. The September warrant for each LEA will equal one-tenth of each LEA’s estimated entitlement to funds provided by the Budget Act of 2007. 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
  1. Notice of the Special Purpose Apportionment for Pupil Transportation and EIA, Fiscal Year 2007-08
  2. 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
  3. Summary of the Special Purpose Apportionment, by County
  4. Monthly Payment Schedule, by County

Pupil Transportation. With this apportionment, estimated Home-to-School Transportation and Special Education Transportation entitlements for 2007-08 are certified and funds are advanced based on actual 2006-07 entitlements which were increased by the 4.53 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) for 2007-08, and adjusted to reflect certain repayments and statutory additions. The estimated 2007-08 entitlements also reflect adjustments for reorganizations that were effective as of July 1, 2007, transfers and terminations of service that were submitted prior to September 1, 2007, and the submission of revised 2005-06 expenditure data after the final certification of 2006-07 entitlements. Because the statewide growth rate is estimated to be less than zero and the Budget Act of 2007 did not provide funding for growth, the estimated 2007-08 entitlements do not reflect an increase for growth.

Please note the following:

  • Deferral of funds. Pursuant to Section 38(a)(4) of Senate Bill 80 (Chapter 174, Statutes of 2007), $52.6 million of transportation funding for the 2007-08 program was deferred from 2007-08 to 2008-09. As a result, school districts and county offices of education will receive less than 100 percent of both the Home-to-School and Special Education Transportation entitlements in the 2007-08 Special Purpose Apportionment. The unpaid portion of the entitlements will be paid in a separate apportionment in July 2008 from the funds provided by Senate Bill 80.
  • Exhibit I identifies the estimated 2007-08 Home-to-School Transportation entitlement for each participating school district and county office of education, and total payments through June 2008. This estimated transportation entitlement is the allowance for non-special education pupils and special education pupils who are not severely disabled or orthopedically impaired (non-SD/OI). When actual Home-to-School Transportation entitlements are certified in April 2008 with data collected on the Form TRAN for fiscal year 2006-07, school districts and county offices of education will be entitled to the lesser of their 2006-07 approved home-to-school expenses or their 2006-07 home-to-school entitlement, plus the 2007-08 COLA on that amount.
  • Exhibit I-S identifies the estimated 2007-08 Special Education Transportation entitlement for each participating school district and county office of education, and total payments through June 2008. This estimated transportation entitlement is the allowance for pupils who are SD/OI. When actual Special Education Transportation entitlements are certified in April 2008 using 2006-07 data collected on the Form TRAN for fiscal year 2006-07, school districts and county offices of education will be entitled to the lesser of their 2006-07 approved SD/OI expenses or their 2006-07 special education entitlement plus the 2007-08 COLA on that amount.
  • School districts and county offices of education that are unable to expend up to their full fiscal year 2006-07 entitlements due to the funding deferral will not have their entitlements reduced for 2007-08. However, school districts and county offices of education must spend all 2006-07 entitlements deferred to 2007-08 as well as their fiscal year 2007-08 entitlements (excluding program funds deferred from 2007-08 to 2008-09) by the end of fiscal year 2007-08 to avoid a reduction in their fiscal year 2008-09 entitlements.

For standardized account code structure 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 and special education transportation. For prior-year adjustments, use Revenue Object Code 8319, Other State Apportionments-Prior Year.

Economic Impact Aid. 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 receives funding based on its prior year EIA per-pupil funding rate that has been increased by the current year COLA (4.53 percent) on district base revenue limits, multiplied by 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).

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 2007-08 EIA apportionment.

There is no restriction on the amount of EIA funds that may be carried over from year to year. For standardized account code structure 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 California Department of Education Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca.

If you have any questions regarding this apportionment, please contact Ross Valentine, Consultant, Categorical Programs Unit, at 916-327-4405 or by e-mail at rvalenti@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Susan Lange, Deputy Superintendent
Finance, Technology, and Administration Branch

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