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General Information
A charter school may be either directly funded or locally funded. The decision on whether to be funded directly or locally generally impacts the method of allocating funds as well as the receipt of those funds. The selection also affects how a charter school applies for funding, including but not limited to, other state funds, federal funds, grants, and consolidated applications.
A charter school reports its funding type to the California Department of Education (CDE) prior to the start of a new fiscal year via the Charter School Certification of Information. Due to the impact that funding type selection has on many programs, the funding type selected may not be changed during the fiscal year; however, this designation may be reconsidered on an annual basis. Given its various implications, the CDE encourages a charter school wanting to change its funding type to first discuss the change with its chartering authority.
Directly Funded
A charter school may elect to receive its funding directly in lieu of having it disbursed to the local educational agency (LEA) that granted its charter (i.e., chartering authority). Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) apportionment funds for a directly funded charter school flow directly to the county treasurer and then to the charter school. An election to receive funding directly shall apply to all funding that the charter school is to receive.
On or before June 1 of each year, a charter school electing funding in this manner shall notify the county superintendent of schools of the county in which the chartering authority is located or, in the case of charter schools for which the California State Board of Education has designated the chartering authority pursuant to California Education Code Section 47605(k)(2)(E), the county superintendent of schools of the county in which the designated chartering authority is located.
Locally Funded
LCFF apportionment funds are calculated separately for a locally funded charter school. Funds flow through its chartering authority rather than being disbursed from the county treasurer directly to the charter school.
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