Newly operational charter schools, FY 2012–13

November 30, 2012

Dear County Superintendents of Schools, Chief Business Officials, and Directors of Newly Operational Charter Schools:

NOTICE OF 20 DAY ACTUAL SPECIAL APPORTIONMENT FOR NEWLY
OPERATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS, FISCAL YEAR 2012–13

In accordance with California Education Code (EC) Section 47652, the California Department of Education (CDE) has made the second of two special apportionments of general purpose entitlement and categorical block grant funds to charter schools that are newly operational this fall. This apportionment of $61,719,929, is for the months of December 2012 and January 2013 and equals 18 percent of the charter school's projected total general purpose entitlement, categorical block grant funding, and in lieu of economic impact aid (EIA) funding for the 2012–13 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 2012 and January 2013, which equals 18 percent of the charter school’s projected total in-lieu of property taxes funding for the 2012–13 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.

California (EC) Section 14041, as amended by Section 25 of Senate Bill 1016 (Chapter 38, Statutes of 2012), requires the California Department of Education to reduce advance apportionment funding for school district revenue limits and charter school general purpose entitlements, by a total of $6.9 billion. This equates to a 21.2004 percent reduction in this advance apportionment.

The amount apportioned to each participating charter school and charter school sponsoring local educational agency (LEA) is available on the CDE’s Web site under Principal Apportionments, Charter School Special Advance Apportionment, FY 2012–13 at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/pa1213.asp. The amounts were arrived at using a combination of 20 day attendance data and the per-pupil charter school general-purpose entitlement and categorical block grant amounts described in the July 19, 2012, Calculations to determine the 2012–13 Advance Apportionment document available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/calc1213adv.asp. If a school is listed on the 20 day apportionment schedule but has no apportionment amount, generally it is because it was overpaid in the September 2012 special advance.

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.

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 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 either a county office or the State Board of Education, the sponsor is the district that initially denied the charter.

In the case of countywide charter schools approved pursuant to EC Section 47605.6, where the district of residence is a basic aid district, and in the case of county program charter schools with pupils eligible to attend solely as a result of parental request pursuant to EC Section 1981(b), the district of residence is still responsible for transferring in-lieu of taxes to the charter school. That means some county-approved charter schools will have multiple sponsoring districts if the school has students who reside in different districts. A new excel file called In-Lieu of Property Taxes by District of Residence is now available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/chschspcadv1213.asp.

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 Entitlement 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/chschspcadv1213.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,



Jeannie Oropeza, Deputy Superintendent
Services for Administration, Finance, Technology, and Infrastructure Branch

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