Dear County Superintendents of Schools:

First Apportionment for the
Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant,
Fiscal Year 2026–27

This apportionment, in the amount of $3,772,005,125, is made from the state General Fund pursuant to California Education Code (EC) Section 44475, added by Section 76 of Assembly Bill (AB) 126 (Chapter 65, Statutes of 2026) and amended by Section 17 of Senate Bill 133 (Chapter 250, Statutes of 2026), and Item 6100-485 and Provision 1 of Item 6100-488 of the Budget Act of 2026, AB 109 (Chapter 19, Statutes of 2026), as amended by Section 194 of AB 113 (Chapter 248, Statutes of 2026). Funding is provided to county offices of education, school districts, charter schools, and state special schools for discretionary purposes, including, but not limited to, professional development for teachers on the English Language Arts and English Language Development Framework, Literacy Roadmap, and Mathematics Framework; professional development on developmentally appropriate instruction; teacher recruitment and retention efforts; career pathways and dual enrollment; community school and Promising Neighborhood partnerships; deferred maintenance of school facilities; and to address rising costs.

Local educational agency (LEA) allocations are calculated on a per-unit basis based on each LEA’s reported average daily attendance for transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as of the 2025–26 Second Principal (P-2) Apportionment. The per-unit funding rate is approximately $935.17 ($935.17084806). The amounts paid in this apportionment reflect 75 percent of each LEA’s allocation.

Conditions of Apportionment

Pursuant to EC Section 44475(d), LEAs receiving fiscal year 2026–27 funds must do all the following, as applicable:

• For school districts or charter schools with declining enrollment or projected declining enrollment in the next five years, hold a public hearing, in conjunction with a public hearing on the Local Control and Accountability Plan required by EC sections 47606.5 or 52062, on their plans to address the declining enrollment’s impacts on the LEA, including, but not limited to:
• Attracting and retaining pupils
• Strengthening course offerings
• New program opportunities
• Class size reduction
• Facilities management, including potential school site consolidations and closures; and
• Local revenue options
• Ensure that none of their employees are charged a fee for professional services, including, but not limited to, beginning teacher induction program costs and professional development costs, during the grant period.

Reporting Requirements

LEAs that receive Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant funds are required to report final expenditures to the California Department of Education (CDE) by September 30, 2032, using the expenditure template developed by the CDE. If a charter school ceases to operate before June 30, 2032, a final expenditure report is due to the California Department of Education within 60 days of the effective date of the closure, and the CDE shall collect any unspent amounts.

Additional information regarding the Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant reporting requirements is available on the CDE’s Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/pl/sspdgrant.asp.

Accounting and Payment Information

A warrant will be mailed approximately three weeks from the date of this letter. For standardized account code structure coding, use Resource Code 6021, Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant 2026, and Revenue Object Code 8590, All Other State Revenue.

County Superintendents of Schools were notified of this apportionment by email sent to their CDEfisc email addresses. The CDE requested that the email be forwarded to school districts and charter schools in the county and included the links to this letter and the accompanying apportionment schedule posted on the CDE web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r14/sspdbg26result.asp.

Frequently asked questions regarding the funding calculations, apportionment timing, use of funds, and expenditure reporting are available on the CDE’s Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/pl/sspdbgfaqs.asp.

For questions regarding programmatic requirements, conditions of apportionment, use of funds, and expenditure reporting, please contact the Professional Learning Support Division by email at PLSD@cde.ca.gov. For questions concerning this apportionment, or the Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant allocation amounts, please contact the Categorical Allocations and Audit Resolution Office by email at CAAR@cde.ca.gov.

Tami Pierson, Director
School Fiscal Services Division

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