Ltr5-10: Consolidated Payment #5

November 10, 2010

Dear County Superintendents of Schools:

NOTICE OF THE FIRST APPORTIONMENT
FOR THE CATEGORICAL CONSOLIDATION #5
TEACHER/ADMINISTRATOR DEVELOPMENT AND ASSISTANCE
FISCAL YEAR 2010-11

This apportionment, in the amount of $381,885,722, is made from funds provided by various Items of the Budget Act of 2010 (Chapter 712, Statutes of 2010), as follows:

• 6110-137-0001 -       Mathematics and Reading Professional Development
• 6110-137-0001(3) -  Mathematics and Reading Professional Development-EL         
• 6110-193-0001(2) -  Peer Assistance and Review (PAR)
• 6110-195-0001 -       National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification (NBPTS)
• 6110-240-0001(1) -  International Baccalaureate (IB)
• 6110-244-0001 -       Teacher Credentialing Block Grant (TCBG)
• 6110-245-0001 -       Professional Development Block Grant (PDBG)
• 6110-267-0001 -       Certificated Staff Mentoring

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.

Beginning in fiscal year 2010-11, letters of apportionment from the California Department of Education’s (CDE) School Fiscal Services Division are no longer being mailed to the county superintendents of schools. Instead, county superintendents will be notified of each apportionment by e-mail. Accordingly, the CDE has sent an e-mail to each county superintendent, addressed to the county’s CDEfisc e-mail address, to inform him or her of this apportionment, provide links to the letter and schedules, and request that the e-mail be forwarded to the school districts and charter schools in the county.

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 2012-13 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 provides an exception with respect to NBPTS funding for teacher awards. This provision requires a school district or county office of education to continue distributing funds to teachers who were in the Incentive Program prior to April 2009 until the teacher has received his or her full award. Funds that are not needed for this purpose are flexible.

Each local educational agency’s (LEA’s) entitlement to 2010-11 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, then reduced to reflect the funding decrease enacted in Control Section 12.42 of the Budget Act of 2010. Pursuant to the provisions of EC Section 14401.1, payments for the flexed programs are to be made in 12 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. Due to the late state budget enactment, the November 2010 warrant for each LEA pays the amount owed from July through November and equals 37 percent of each LEA’s entitlement to funds provided by the Budget Act of 2010. 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 2010-11, and first 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.

In order to reduce the number of monthly payments an LEA may receive, the monthly payments for 32 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 page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/consolidations559.asp and shows the total combined monthly payment to each LEA and the breakdown for each consolidation. The apportionment schedule and letter for this apportionment, Categorical Consolidation #5 – Teacher/Administrator Development and Assistance, is posted at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/consolidations559.asp and shows the monthly payment to each LEA by program.

Charter schools that receive funding through the Charter School Categorical Block Grant (CSCBG) are not eligible to receive separate funding for most of the programs included in this apportionment because in lieu funding for these programs is provided through the CSCBG. The exceptions are NBPTS, TCBG, and Certificated Staff Mentoring. Direct-funded charter schools that were new in 2008-09 and received funds for NBPTS, TCBG, and Certificated Staff Mentoring will not be receiving funds in this apportionment, however, and instead will be receiving a one‑time Supplemental Categorical Block Grant (SCBG) pursuant to EC Section 42606. The SCBG provides in lieu funding for a variety of categorical programs not included in the CSCBG, including NBPTS, TCBG, and Certificated Staff Mentoring. The apportionment reduction for direct-funded charter schools that were new in 2008-09 applies to fiscal year 2010-11 funds only; their entitlement to funds in subsequent years will not be affected.

Section 37 of Assembly Bill 2 of the Fourth Extraordinary Session (ABX4 2) requires that categorical funding allocations to basic aid school districts in fiscal year 2010-11 be reduced by the lesser of: (1) the district’s 2009-10 total revenue limit subject to the deficit factor, calculated as of the 2009-10 certified second principal apportionment, multiplied by 5.81 percent or (2) the amount of the district’s excess taxes. In implementation of ABX4 2, we have reduced the amount paid to basic aid districts in this apportionment. The amounts reduced are shown on the individual schedules of apportionment.

The apportionment reduction for basic aid school districts applies to fiscal year 2010-11 only and their entitlement to funds in subsequent years for these programs will not be affected. To view the list of basic aid districts and the total amount to be reduced from their 2010-11 categorical funding allocations, please go to the CDE Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/documents/basicaidcut2010.xls.

If you have any questions regarding this apportionment, please contact Janice Huarte, Fiscal Analyst, Categorical Allocations and Management Assistance Unit, by phone at 916-322-9128 or by e-mail at jhuarte@cde.ca.gov [Note: the preceding contact information is no longer valid and has been replaced by Julie Klein Briggs, Fiscal Consultant, Categorical Allocations & Management Assistance Unit, by phone at 916-323-6191 or by e-mail at jbriggs@cde.ca.gov.].

Sincerely,

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