Newly operational charter schools, FY 2010–11

November 30, 2010

Dear County Superintendents of Schools and County Chief Business Officials:

NOTICE OF 20 DAY ACTUAL SPECIAL APPORTIONMENT FOR NEWLY
OPERATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS, FISCAL YEAR 2010–11

In accordance with Education Code (EC) Section 47652, the California Department of Education (CDE) has made the second of two special apportionments of general purpose and categorical funds to charter schools that are newly operational this fall. This apportionment of $27,899,148 is for the months of December 2010 and January 2011 and equals 18 percent of the charter school's projected total general purpose state aid funding and the categorical block grant funding for the 2010–11 fiscal year. Also included in the special apportionment is funding to school districts to backfill their transfer to charter schools funding in lieu of property taxes, for the months December 2010 and January 2011, which equals 18 percent of the charter school’s projected total in lieu of property taxes funding for the 2010–11 fiscal year. The special apportionment is, in effect, an advance apportionment and is based on the charter school’s first 20 days of actual attendance.

The amount apportioned to each participating charter school and charter school sponsoring Local Education Agency (LEA) is available on the CDE’s Web site under Principal Apportionments, Charter School Special Advance Apportionment, at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/pa1011.asp. The amounts were arrived at using a combination of 20 Day attendance data and the per-pupil charter school general-purpose and categorical block grant amounts described in the October 10, 2010, Calculations to determine the Recertified Advance Apportionment document posted on the same site as indicated above. If a school is listed on the 20 Day apportionment schedule but has no apportionment amount, it is generally because it was overpaid in the September 2010 special advance.

Charter schools that are funded pursuant to the block grant funding model should receive that portion of their funding that is in lieu of property taxes from the charter school's sponsoring local educational agency (LEA). California EC Section 47632 defines the sponsoring LEA as the district that granted the charter, or in the case of a charter that was denied by a district and subsequently approved by a county office, the district that initially denied the charter. For a county office of education approved charter school whose students are referred by parental request pursuant to subdivision (b) of EC Section 1981 or for a county-wide charter whose students reside in a basic aid district, the sponsoring LEA is the district of residence of each pupil in the school. That means some county-approved charter schools will have multiple sponsoring districts if the school has students who reside in different districts. For a charter that was denied by an LEA and subsequently approved by the State Board of Education (SBE), the sponsoring LEA is the LEA that initially denied the charter or the LEA designated by the SBE pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (k) of EC Section 47605.

The warrants should be mailed by the State Controller’s Office to the County Treasurer within three weeks from the date of this letter. The County Treasurer of each county is requested to immediately deposit the amount received into the appropriate fund or account of the participating LEAs or charter schools at the direction of the County Superintendent of Schools.

For charter schools that elect to receive funding directly, EC Section 47651 provides that “the warrant shall be drawn in favor of the superintendent of schools of the county in which the LEA that approved the charter or was designated by the State Board of Education as the oversight agency pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (k) of Section 47605 is located, for deposit to the appropriate funds or accounts of the charter school in the county treasury. The county superintendent of schools is authorized to establish appropriate funds or accounts in the county treasury for each charter school.” For all other charter schools, the funds shall be deposited in the appropriate funds or accounts of the LEA that granted the charter.

For charter schools using the standardized account code structure, use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8590 to account for the Charter School Categorical Block Grant. Use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8015 to account for the General Purpose Block Grant and use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8011 for charter school sponsoring LEAs for the funds in lieu of property taxes transfer.

County superintendents should advise affected districts and charter schools of this apportionment as soon as possible by providing them a copy of this letter. A copy of this letter and the applicable apportionment exhibits are available on the CDE’s Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/chschspcadv1011.asp.

If you have any questions regarding this apportionment or about funding for charter schools, please contact Byron Fong, Fiscal Consultant, Charter Apportionments and District Reorganization Office, by phone at 916-323-0498 or by e-mail at byfong@cde.ca.gov , or Caryn Moore, Administrator, Charter Apportionments and District Reorganization Office, by phone at 916-324-4541or by e-mail at cmoore@cde.ca.gov [Note, the preceding contact is no longer valid please contact the Principal Apportionment and Special Education Office, at 916-324-4541 or by e-mail at PASE@cde.ca.gov].

Sincerely,




Scott Hannan, Director
School Fiscal Services Division