Ltr3-11: Consolidated Payment #3

September 6, 2011

Dear County Superintendents of Schools:

NOTICE OF THE THIRD APPORTIONMENT
FOR THE CATEGORICAL CONSOLIDATION #3
REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND COUNTY OFFICE PROGRAMS
FISCAL YEAR 2011-12

This apportionment, in the amount of $24,357,485, is made from funds provided by various Items of the Budget Act of 2011 (Chapter 33, Statutes of 2011), as follows:

• 6110-181-0001 -       Education Technology - California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP)
• 6110-181-0001 -       Education Technology - Statewide Education Technology Services (SETS)
• 6110-193-0001(1) - Bilingual Teacher Training
• 6110-244-0001 -       Teacher Credentialing Block Grant - Infrastructure          
• 6110-248-0001 -       School Safety Competitive Grant - Regional
• 6110-266-0001 -       County Oversight - Williams Case Settlement
• 6110-266-0001 -       County Oversight - Valenzuela Case Settlement
• 6110-268-0001 -       Child Oral Health Assessment – County Office

Warrants will be mailed to each county treasurer approximately three weeks from the date of this Notice. For standardized account code structure coding, use Resource Code 0000, Unrestricted, and Revenue Object Code 8590, All Other State Revenue.

The county superintendents of schools were notified of this apportionment by e-mail which was sent to their CDEfisc e-mail addresses. The California Department of Education (CDE) requested that the e-mail be forwarded to all school districts and charter schools in the county, and included the links to this letter and the apportionment schedules which are posted on the CDE Web pages at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/consolidations559.asp.

California Education Code (EC) Section 42605 authorizes complete flexibility by a school district, county office of education, and charter school in the use of funds appropriated in the state budget for fiscal years 2008-09 through 2014-15 for numerous budget items, including the funds formerly restricted to the programs included in this apportionment. School districts, county offices of education, and charter schools may now use the funds formerly restricted to these programs for any educational purpose. The funds are therefore unrestricted and should be accounted for as such. With the exception noted below, program and funding requirements as otherwise provided in statute, regulation, and budget act provisional language associated with the funding are not in effect. EC Section 42605(e) provides an exception with respect to county oversight. A county office of education shall conduct at least one site visit to each of the required schoolsites pursuant to Section 1240 and shall fulfill all of the duties set forth in Sections 1240 and 44258.9.

Each local educational agency’s (LEA’s) entitlement to 2011-12 funds from each flexible program was calculated based on the same relative proportion of funds that each LEA received in the base year of funding; this amount was then reduced to reflect the funding decrease enacted in Control Section 12.42 of the Budget Act of 2011. Pursuant to the provisions of EC Section 14401.1, payments for the flexed programs are to be made in twelve installments beginning in July and ending in June. Under the new “5-5-9” schedule, five percent of the annual entitlement is to be allocated in each of July and August and nine percent in each month thereafter through the following June.

In order to timely allocate funds the CDE issued advance payments in each of July and August equal to five percent of each LEA’s 2010-11 entitlement. The September apportionment is equal to 19 percent of each LEA’s 2011-12 calculated entitlement less the amount previously advanced. LEAs will receive a payment equal to nine percent of their annual entitlement in each month from October 2011 through June 2012. However, pursuant to the provisions of Senate Bill (SB) 82 (Chapter 12, Statutes of 2011), payments for the month of October are deferred to January 2012 and payments for the month of March are deferred to April 2012.

SB 82 requires that $2.4 billion in K-12 payments be deferred from October 2011 to January 2012 and $1.4 billion in K-12 payments be deferred from March 2012 to April 2012. This is in addition to the $1.3 billion required to be deferred from March 2012 to August 2012 by EC Section 14041.6. Because the required deferral amounts in October and March exceed the October principal apportionment payment of $2.2 billion and the estimated March principal apportionment payment of $2.1 billion, the remainder is deferred from categorical payments including this apportionment. For further information on fiscal year 2011-12 deferrals, please see the 2011-12 Deferral Chart at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fi/ir/julaugoctmardef112.asp [Note: the preceding Web link is no longer valid.].

In order to reduce the number of monthly payments an LEA may receive, the monthly payments for 34 of the flexible categorical programs have been consolidated into one of five groups which have then been combined into a single payment each month to each LEA. The resulting Schedule of the Combined Apportionment for Categorical Consolidations #1 - #5 is posted on the CDE Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/consolidations559.asp and shows the total combined monthly payment to each LEA and the payment breakdown into the five consolidations. The apportionment schedule and letter for this apportionment, Categorical Consolidation #3 – Regional Infrastructure and County Office Programs, is posted at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/consolidations559.asp and shows the monthly payment to each LEA by program.

Individual program schedules are posted on the CDE Categorical Programs Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/ under the program name, fiscal year 2011-12, and third apportionment. Each apportionment schedule identifies the amount for direct‑funded charter schools separate from the district or county amount. Funding associated with all other charter schools is included in the district or county amount. 

If you have any questions regarding this apportionment, please contact Shannon Reel, Fiscal Analyst, Categorical Allocations and Management Assistance Office, by phone at 916-319-0323 or by e-mail at sreel@cde.ca.gov [Note: the preceding contact information is no longer valid and has been replaced by Julie Klein Briggs, Fiscal Consultant, Categorical Allocations and Management Assistance Office, by phone at 916-323-6191 or by e-mail at JBriggs@cde.ca.gov.].

Sincerely,

Jeannie Oropeza, Deputy Superintendent
Finance, Technology, and Administration Branch