December 19, 2007
Dear Select 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 $1,536,468,233, 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 recertifies local educational agencies’ (LEAs) estimated 2007-08 entitlements for Pupil Transportation, and actual 2007-08 entitlements for EIA. The Pupil Transportation program entitlements are recertified for one county as a result of the receipt of a J-141-T Report of Transfer of Transportation Services. The EIA entitlements are recertified for twelve counties based on the receipt of free and reduced price meal reports from four districts, revised 2007-08 Consolidated Application, Part I, Page 2, participation elections from twelve previously non-participating districts, and revised district-minimum calculations for six districts.
Payments for the Special Purpose Apportionment are made in ten installments beginning in September 2007 and ending in June 2008. The December warrant for each LEA will equal four-tenths of each LEA’s entitlement to funds provided by the Budget Act of 2007, less funds apportioned in September through November 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
- Notice of the Special Purpose Apportionment for Pupil Transportation and EIA, Fiscal Year 2007-08
- 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 a transfer of transportation services and revised 2006-07 entitlements affecting four LEAs in Riverside County. The transfers were effective July 1, 2005, and notification was provided to the California Department of Education (CDE) after the September 2007 certification.
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. EIA entitlements are recertified for certain districts in the following 12 counties: Fresno, Humboldt, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tulare, and Ventura. Entitlements are recertified due to: a) four districts submitted free and reduced meal reports; b) six districts had the “district minimum” portion of their calculation revised; c) twelve districts submitted revised 2007-08 Consolidated Application, Part I, Page 2, to signify that they are electing to participate in this program.
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 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.
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 CDE Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca.
If you have any questions regarding the Pupil Transportation apportionment, please contact Heather Cota, Fiscal Analyst, Categorical Allocations and Management Assistance Office, at 916-319-0323 or by e-mail at hcota@cde.ca.gov. If you have any questions regarding the EIA apportionment, please contact Ross Valentine, Consultant, Categorical Allocations and Audit Resolution Office, at 916-327-4405 or by e-mail at rvalenti@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
Susan Lange, Deputy Superintendent
Finance, Technology, and Administration Branch
1430 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814