Charter School Funding

Provides essential information about state general purpose and state and federal categorical funding to charter school authorizers and administrators.

For most charter schools, the largest source of revenue is the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which are unrestricted funds received through a process known as the Principal Apportionment, a series of apportionment calculations that adjust the flow of state funds throughout the fiscal year as information becomes known. Charter schools receive Principal Apportionment funds through a combination of in-lieu of property taxes and state funds. New and expanding charter schools may also receive funding through the Charter School Special Advance.

This web page is intended to provide information to charter school administrators and authorizers as it pertains to state general purpose and state and federal categorical funding. For information beyond this scope, please see the Charter Schools web page.

General Information

In order for a charter school to submit data and receive funding, the following items are needed:

Charter School Number

In order to receive funding for state and federal programs administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), each charter school must obtain a charter number from the State Board of Education (SBE). The charter number must be assigned by the SBE before a County-District-School (CDS) code can be issued.

CDS Code

The 14-digit CDS code is the official, unique identification of a school within California. The first two digits identify the county code, the next five digits identify the authorizing local educational agency code, and the last seven digits identify the school code.

In order for a charter school to apply for and obtain LCFF funding, a CDS code must be assigned to the school. More information and the application for a CDS code are available at the County-District-School Administration web page.

Annual Information Update

The Charter Schools Division (CSD) of CDE releases its Charter School Annual Information Update each year in April or May, which is due to CDE in June. The purpose of the survey is to gather current information about charter school contact information, petition renewal and expiration date, type of instruction offered, and funding type. The information is used by School Fiscal Services Division to ensure LCFF funding and payments are correctly calculated. Schools numbered by the SBE in July or after should contact CDE’s CSD at charterdata@cde.ca.gov for guidance on how to report to CDE the necessary information to receive funding.

Following are some general guidelines and requirements charter schools should consider:

Charter Term

CDE strongly recommends that charter petition effective dates align with the funding fiscal year, July 1 through June 30, to avoid any disruption with a mid-year renewal or possible mid-year closure. A mid-year closure may subject the charter school to severe instructional time penalties and adjustments to days of operation, both of which may impact funding.

Instruction Dates

Pursuant to Education Code (EC) Section 47652, instruction must begin by September 30th in order for a new charter school to be eligible for state general purpose and select state and federal categorical program funding in the current year.

Days of Operation

A charter school must provide 175 days of actual instruction in order to receive its full apportionment. If a charter school operates a multitrack school calendar, it must operate 175 days for each track pursuant to EC Section 47612. If the charter school does not provide the required number of days of instruction, it is subject to a proportionate reduction in funding unless the closure is due to an emergency pursuant to EC Section 41422. (See Form J-13A for more information on school closure due to emergencies)

Nonclassroom-based Instruction Determination of Funding

Charter schools that offer nonclassroom-based instruction may need to have a Senate Bill 740 Determination of Funding approved by the SBE in order to receive funding for the nonclassroom-based average daily attendance pursuant to EC Section 47612.5. Charter schools that are solely nonclassroom-based, and schools that offer blended programs (both classroom and nonclassroom-based) must follow the ensuing timelines for applying for funding determinations.

For new charter schools, determinations of funding should be obtained no later than the SBE May meeting during the first year of operation. Continuing charter schools must have an approved funding determination in place before the fiscal year begins. Information on the Funding Determination approval process is located on CDE’s website. If the charter school does not have a Nonclassroom-Based Determination of Funding, but could fall below the 80 percent classroom-based threshold, it should proactively seek a funding determination.

EC Section 47612.7 prohibits the approval of new petitions for nonclassroom-based charter schools, with some exceptions, between January 1, 2020 and January 1, 2025. More information is available on the Temporary Prohibition on New NCB Charter Schools web page.

Apportionments for Charter Schools

Principal Apportionment

The Principal Apportionment is a series of apportionment calculations that adjust the flow of state funds throughout the fiscal year as information becomes known. Charter schools report data using the Principal Apportionment Data Collection Software.

Continuing charter schools will have their funding calculated three times each fiscal year in the Principal Apportionment.

Apportionment	Month of Certification	Payment Period
Advance Apportionment*	July	July – January
First Principal (P-1) Apportionment	February	February – May
Second Principal (P-2) Apportionment	June	June

*Does not include newly operational charter schools.

Charter schools receive Principal Apportionment funds through a combination of in-lieu of property taxes and state funds, with state funding composed of funds from the State School Fund and Education Protection Account. See the Principal Apportionment Payment Schedule for more information relating to the payments from the State School Fund.

More information about the Principal Apportionment and apportionment certification documents by fiscal year and period are available at the Principal Apportionment web page.

Charter School Special Advance

To begin the flow of state funding for new charter schools and to provide funding for additional pupils in expanding charter schools, an alternative data collection system, apportionment process, and payment schedule have been established. The alternative advance apportionment, called the Charter School Special Advance, provides new and expanding charter schools with LCFF State Aid for the months covered by the Advance Principal Apportionment (July through January).

Apportionment	Month of Certification	Payment Period
First Charter School Special Advance	September	July – November
Second Charter School Special Advance	December	December – January

See the Special Advance tab on this web page for more information on the data collection process, deadlines, and apportionment certification documents.

Education Protection Account

Additionally, new and continuing charter schools receive an apportionment from the Education Protection Account (EPA). This is a quarterly apportionment of funds, paid at the end of September, December, March, and June of each fiscal year. The EPA web page provides information on local educational agencies’ EPA entitlements, the resulting impact to state funding, and frequently asked questions.

Categorical Programs

Charter schools may also be eligible to receive allocations and apportionments not paid through the Principal Apportionment for various federal and state programs, such as Title I, Mandate Block Grant, and the California Lottery. Additional details can be found on the Categorical Programs web page.

Charter School Special Advance

This page is a primer for newly operational and expanding charter schools seeking state funding. It contains an overview of the eligibility and requirements for advance funding for newly operational and expanding charter schools, an overview of the data collection and apportionment process, and apportionment summaries and payment schedules for the Charter School Special Advance apportionments. The Charter School Special Advance is an alternative advance apportionment to provide new and expanding charter schools with LCFF State Aid for the months covered by the Advance Principal Apportionment (July through January), which is the standard apportionment for continuing charter schools, school districts, and county offices of education.

New and expanding charter schools will report current year attendance data to the California Department of Education (CDE) in January and again in May according to the standard data collection system and schedule described on the Principal Apportionment Data Collection (PADC) web page. In addition, charter schools must certify enrollment and their unduplicated pupil count in California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) based on reporting deadlines established by the CDE. Based on that data, LCFF State Aid will be recalculated and payments for the remaining fiscal year will be adjusted based on the charter school’s new LCFF entitlement through the Principal Apportionment process, which is also the mechanism for funding continuing charter schools.

New Charter Schools

New charter schools are eligible for a Charter School Special Advance of LCFF funding in their first year of operation pursuant to Education Code (EC) Section 47652 provided the school begins instruction by September 30th, has been numbered by the State Board of Education (SBE), and has a County-District-School (CDS) code. This funding is not automatically generated. Charter schools must submit a Pupil Estimates for New and Significantly Expanding Charters (PENSEC) Report and a Charter 20 Day Report in order to receive this funding. The PENSEC Report represents estimated attendance whereas the 20 Day Report represents actual attendance data for the first 20 days of instruction. The Charter School Special Advance includes a portion of the charter school’s estimated LCFF State Aid based upon preliminary attendance and enrollment data. The CDE also calculates the amount of In-lieu of Property Taxes due to the charter school from its sponsoring school district(s). To determine which school district(s) are a charter school’s sponsor(s), see In-lieu of Property Taxes.

A newly numbered charter school that meets the statutory criteria to be regarded as continuing by the CDE pursuant to EC sections 47605(a)(5)(E) , 47605.1(c)(5)(B) , 47605.9(d) , or 47612.7(b)(3) [added by Assembly Bills 1505 and 1507 (Chapters 457 and 458, Statutes of 2019)] cannot apply for Special Advance Funding as a new charter school, but it may apply for funding as an expanding charter school if it is adding at least one additional grade level or if it wishes to request a preliminary allocation of federal categorical programs funding (e.g., Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV).

New charter schools that receive a charter number and CDS code no later than July 31st may file the PENSEC Report. New charter schools that receive a charter number and CDS code no later than September 30th may file the Charter 20 Day Report, which represents actual attendance data for the first 20 days of instruction. New charter schools that submitted the PENSEC report must also submit the Charter 20 Day Report.

New charter schools will also receive Education Protection Account (EPA) funding based upon the data collected in the PENSEC and Charter 20 Day reports. The EPA entitlement is a portion of an LEA’s state aid, but it is calculated separately and paid on a quarterly basis. For more information on the calculation and payment schedule of EPA entitlements, see the EPA Frequently Asked Questions.

The PENSEC is also used to collect apportionment data to establish a preliminary allocation of federal categorical funding.

In order for a charter school to submit a PENSEC or Charter 20 Day Report and receive funding, the charter school will need to have a charter school number, CDS code and a completed Annual Information Update, which are described in detail on the General Information tab (under which charter schools will find some general guidelines and requirements for consideration).

Expanding Charter Schools

Charter School Special Advance funding is also available in any year that a charter school is adding at least one new grade level. It is provided in addition to the regular Advance Apportionment funding that is based on the prior year’s Second Principal (P-2) apportionment data. This funding is not automatically generated. Charter schools must submit a PENSEC Report and a Charter 20 Day Report in order to receive this funding. Charter School Special Advance funding for charter schools that are adding grade levels includes a portion of the charter school’s estimated LCFF state aid based upon preliminary attendance and enrollment data for the new grade level(s). The PENSEC Report represents estimated attendance for the new grade whereas the 20 Day Report represents actual attendance data for the first 20 days of instruction. Pursuant to EC Section 47652 , the average daily attendance (ADA) for additional advance funding is limited by capping the ADA in the new grade level(s) so as not to exceed the ADA of the highest grade served by the charter school as certified at P-2 in the prior year. Note that the cap is determined by the highest grade level served and not the grade level with the highest count of ADA. For example, if a charter school is adding Grade 11 with 150 ADA in the PENSEC, and it served Grade 9 with 130 ADA and Grade 10 with 120 ADA in the prior year, the new Grade 11 ADA will be capped in the Charter School Special Advance at 120 because Grade 10 was the highest grade served.

A newly numbered charter school that meets the statutory criteria to be regarded as continuing by the CDE pursuant to EC sections 47605(a)(5)(E) , 47605.1(c)(5)(B) , 47605.9(d) , or 47612.7(b)(3) [added by Assembly Bills 1505 and 1507 (Chapters 457 and 458, Statutes of 2019)] may apply for funding as an expanding charter school if it is adding at least one additional grade level or if it wishes to request a preliminary allocation of federal categorical programs funding (e.g., Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV).

Expanding charter schools that filed the PENSEC Report and received funding in the Charter School Special Advance must file the Charter 20 Day Report. An eligible charter school may submit a Charter 20 Day Report even if it did not submit a PENSEC Report.

The PENSEC is also used to collect apportionment data to establish a preliminary allocation of federal categorical funding for expanding charter schools.

Overview of the Charter School Special Advance Data Collection and Apportionment Process

The following is a brief summary of the current data collection and payment schedule for the Charter School Special Advance:

First Special Advance Apportionment for New and Expanding Charter Schools

PENSEC software is released in early July.
Data is due to the CDE by the end of July. See instructions for the current version of the Data Collection Software (below) for the exact due date.
Data is used to calculate LCFF State Aid, EPA entitlements for newly operational charter schools only, and certain federal categorical programs, which are paid separately.
The first Charter School Special Advance apportionment equals 37 percent of the annualized entitlement of LCFF State Aid and covers the months of July through November.
- Payment is typically made in late September.
- Payment is issued electronically by State Controller's Office (SCO) to county treasurers who then pay the charter school according to whether it has elected to be direct or locally funded.
The first Charter School Special Advance also includes an apportionment of LCFF State Aid for sponsoring school districts that are not basic aid. The apportionment is equal to 28 percent of the annualized In-lieu of Property Taxes due to the charter school from its sponsoring school district(s).
For expanding charter schools and sponsoring school districts, Charter School Special Advance Funding is provided in addition to funding apportioned in the regular Advance Apportionment.
If the charter school applies for funding in the first Charter School Special Advance, it must complete the Charter 20 Day Report.

Second Special Advance Apportionment for New and Expanding Charter Schools

Charter 20 Day software is released in early September.
Data is due to the CDE by the end of October. See instructions for the current version of the Data Collection Software (below) for the exact due date.
Data is used to calculate LCFF State Aid and EPA entitlements for newly operational and significantly expanding (state) charter schools only. This data is not used for federal categorical programs.
- The second Charter School Special Advance equals 55 percent of the annualized entitlement of LCFF State Aid recalculated using data collected in the Charter 20 Day Report less amounts received in the first Charter School Special Advance apportionment.
- Payments are typically made in late December.
A charter school may apply for funding in the second Charter School Special Advance even it did not submit a PENSEC Report for funding in the first Charter School Special Advance. If the charter school received an apportionment in the first Charter School Special Advance, it must complete the Charter 20 Day Report pursuant to EC Section 47652 .

Data Collection Software

There are two web-based reporting software releases, the PENSEC and Charter 20 Day reports, for the purpose of qualifying charter schools to report data and receive Charter Special Advance funding prior to reporting current year attendance data to CDE through the PADC Web Application in January.

Pupil Estimates for New or Significantly Expanding Charters

The PENSEC Report includes estimated ADA and other pupil counts for charter schools that will be newly operational or for charter schools that will be significantly expanding in the current fiscal year.

The PENSEC Report collects data for two purposes:

For state funding, to provide an advance of state aid for newly operational charter schools and charter schools adding one or more new grade levels.
For federal categorical programs (e.g., Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV), to establish preliminary estimated allocations for newly operational and significantly expanding direct-funded charter schools based on current year enrollment and pupil demographic estimates. To qualify as new or significantly expanding for federal programs, the charter school must report in PENSEC, have a funding model of “direct”, and meet federal program eligibility requirements. For payment schedule and contact information on state and federal categorical programs, see Categorical Programs.

For fiscal year 2022–23, PENSEC data is due to the CDE no later than August 1, 2022.

PENSEC Instructions¹

PENSEC Logon²

In addition to submitting the data online to the CDE, reports that include ADA data also require a certification be signed with wet signatures by all parties and be received by the CDE electronically as a PDF file by the due date listed in the PENSEC Instructions. Upon obtaining all required wet signatures, save as a PDF file and email the data certification to the CDE Charter School Special Advance email at csspecialadvance@cde.ca.gov.

Be sure to allow time for all levels (e.g., charter school, school district, county office of education) to review the data, sign, and submit the certification to the CDE by the deadline. Data or certifications received by the CDE after the due date may cause the charter school to wait until a later apportionment to receive state funding, or to be not eligible for some federal funding in the current year.

Charter School 20 Day Attendance

Charter School 20 Day Attendance Report (Charter 20 Day) includes actual ADA and other pupil counts for charter schools that are newly operational or expanding to add one or more grade levels in the current fiscal year.

Unlike the PENSEC Report, data collected through the 20 Day Report is not used for purposes of federal funding programs.

For fiscal year 2022–23, Charter 20 Day data is due to the CDE no later than October 31, 2022.

Charter 20 Day Instructions¹

Charter 20 Day Logon²

In addition to submitting the data online to the CDE, a certification must be signed with wet signatures by all parties and be received electronically as a PDF file by the due date listed in the Charter 20 Day Instructions. Upon obtaining all required wet signatures, save as a PDF file and email the data certification to the CDE Charter School Special Advance email at csspecialadvance@cde.ca.gov.

¹Instructions for reporting ADA and pupils counts, including information on the criteria that must be met to be considered a new or significantly expanding charter school for funding purposes.

²The six-digit personal identification number (PIN) necessary for logon to the PENSEC and Charter 20 Day reports is the same PIN provided by the California Department of Education for the Charter School Annual Information Survey (see PENSEC or Charter 20 Day Instructions¹for further information).

Apportionment	First Charter School Special Advance²	Second Charter School Special Advance²
Data Collection Method	Pupil Estimates for New and Significantly Expanding Charters (PENSEC) Report	Charter 20 Day Report
Data Submission Deadline	7/31, or the next business day	10/31 or the next business day
Apportionment of Estimated LCFF State Aid	37% of annualized amount	55% of annualized amount less funds paid in First Special Advance
Percentage of In-lieu of Property Taxes Due (& LCFF State Aid to non-basic aid school districts transferring in-lieu of property taxes)	28% of annualized amount	46% annualized amount less funds paid in the First Special Advance
Approximate Payment Date¹	End of September	End of December

¹Payments are issued electronically by the SCO to county treasurers. A charter school will receive funds directly or via its authorizer depending upon whether it has elected to be direct or locally funded as indicated in its most recent Charter School Annual Information Update.

²A charter school may apply for funding in the second Charter School Special Advance even if it did not submit a PENSEC Report for funding in the first Charter School Special Advance. If a charter school received an apportionment in the first Charter School Special Advance, it must submit a 20 Day Report.

Next Steps

In order to retain LCFF funding, charter schools must report updated attendance, physical location, and other relevant funding data through the PADC Web Application in accordance with the Principal Apportionment reporting deadlines for the First Principal Apportionment, Second Principal Apportionment and Annual Apportionment attendance periods. In addition to reporting attendance, charter schools must be sure to certify current year enrollment and unduplicated pupil count data in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) based on reporting deadlines established by the CDE. Attendance data is used to determine a charter school’s LCFF base grant. CALPADS data is used in conjunction with physical location data and the LCFF base grant to calculate supplemental and concentration grant funding under the LCFF formula.

Based on the most current data, LCFF State Aid will be recalculated by the CDE and payments for the remaining fiscal year will be adjusted based on the charter school’s new LCFF entitlement through the Principal Apportionment process.

All communication related to the Principal Apportionment and LCFF funding are available on the CDE’s website and funding specific information is sent electronically via the CDE’s PASE listserv.

Charter Special Advance Apportionments by Fiscal Year.

Fiscal Year 2021–22
Entitlements and apportionments certified in fiscal year 2021–22.
Fiscal Year 2020–21
Entitlements and apportionments certified in fiscal year 2020–21.
Fiscal Year 2019–20 and Prior
Entitlements and apportionments certified in fiscal years 2006–07 to 2019–20.

In-lieu of Property Taxes

In-lieu of property taxes are the portion of taxes collected by the local school district that must be transferred to the charter school serving that geographic location or the students that reside in that geographic location. Pursuant to Education Code (EC) Section 47632(i) , the entity responsible for transfer of in-lieu of property taxes to a charter school depends upon three factors: charter type, charter authorizer, and student population served by the charter school and are outlined in the first table below. In-lieu of property taxes are calculated according to EC Section 47635(a) . Payment of in-lieu of property taxes from the sponsoring local educational agency to the charter school is made according to EC Section 47635(b) , in the amounts outlined in the second table below.

Sponsoring Local Educational Agency Chart

Legend: EC = Education Code; COE = County Office of Education; SBE = State Board of Education; SPI = Superintendent of Public Instruction; ADA = Average Daily Attendance

Charter Type	Charter Authorizer	Program/Population Served by Charter	Charter Sponsor (entity responsible for In-lieu of taxes)
Regular Charter School (EC 47605 )	District	Regular program serving K-12 ADA	The district that authorized the charter school.
Regular Charter School (EC 47605 )	COE	Regular program serving K-12 ADA	The district that denied the charter school.
Regular Charter School* (EC 47605 )	SBE	Regular program serving K-12 ADA	District of residence, if basic aid in prior year.
Countywide Charter (EC 47605.6 )	COE	Regular K-12 program that may operate at one or more sites within the county; provides services not generally provided by a COE (not a county-type program)	District of residence, if basic aid in prior year.
County Program Charter (EC 47605.5 )	COE	K-12 program serving pupils the COE would otherwise serve (primarily special education, county community school, and juvenile court school)	District of Residence, except for pupils who meet criteria in EC 47631(b) .
Statewide Benefit Charter (EC 47605.8)	SBE	Regular K-12 program that provides services of statewide benefit	Not applicable.

*Includes charters approved by SBE with oversight responsibilities delegated to a district or COE

In-lieu of Property Taxes Payment Schedule

Month	Based on In-lieu of Property Taxes from...¹	Payment Amount
August	Prior fiscal year Second Principal Apportionment (P-2)	6%
September	Prior fiscal year P-2	12%
October	Prior fiscal year P-2	8%
November	Prior fiscal year P-2	8%
December	Prior fiscal year P-2	8%
January	Prior fiscal year P-2	8%
February	Prior fiscal year P-2	8%
March	Current Year First Principal Apportionment (P-1) less paid to date	2/6^th Balance Due
April	Current Year P-1 less paid to date	1/6^th Balance Due
May	Current Year P-1 less paid to date	1/6^th Balance Due
June	Current Year P-1 less paid to date	1/6^th Balance Due
July	Current Year P-2 less paid to date	Remaining Balance as of P-2²

¹The payment schedule shown here is for continuing charter schools. The in-lieu of property taxes payment schedule is different for newly operational charter schools and for the in-lieu of property taxes associated with the expanding charter schools that received funding through the Charter School Special Advance apportionments. Please refer to Charter School Special Advance apportionment certification documents for more information.

²Pursuant to EC Section 47635(b)(4) , in-lieu of property taxes are final as of the third annual recertification of the fiscal year’s LCFF data. Charter schools and school districts should continue to monitor for changes to in-lieu of property taxes at each certification until that point.

In-lieu of Property Taxes Payment Calculator

In-lieu of Property Taxes Payment Calculator (XLSX)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Expand All | Collapse All

Assembly Bill 1505 and 1507

What guidance has the California Department of Education (CDE) issued with regard to the implementation of Assembly Bill (AB) 1505 and AB 1507?

Guidance related AB 1505 and AB 1507 that is issued by CDE is posted on the Legislation Impacting Charters web page. This page will continue to be updated as the department has more information available about how it will implement the statutory requirements created or amended by these bills.

Are there exemptions to the temporary ban on the approval of new nonclassroom-based charter schools?

Information regarding the temporary prohibition on the approval of petitions to operate new nonclassroom-based charter schools between January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2025, is available at Temporary Prohibition on New Nonclassroom-Based Charter Schools. The criteria for exemption from the ban are described on that page. Additional questions should be directed to Charter Schools Division staff at charters@cde.ca.gov.

Physical Location

What is the definition of physical location?

The LCFF legislation does not provide a definition of physical location. Specifically, Education Code (EC) Section 42238.02(f)(2) addresses capping the LCFF unduplicated pupil percentage used in the charter school concentration grant at the highest percentage of the district(s) where the school is physically located or has a school facility. This is usually straight-forward for classroom-based charter schools but may not be obvious for others, such as nonclassroom-based charters or charters with locations outside their main location.

Learning/resource centers, meeting spaces or other satellite facilities operated consistent with the provisions of EC sections 47605.1 and 51747.3 may be considered in regards to physical locations for charter schools. While these EC sections do not pertain to LCFF directly, they mention alternative settings that may be helpful when identifying physical location(s) for LCFF.

A charter school’s main office/headquarters may also be considered when determining physical location(s).

What if I have one location but it falls within the boundaries of multiple districts? I don’t want it to look like we have multiple sites when there actually is only one.

A charter school should report every district in which they are physically located or have a school facility. For example, a classroom-based charter school with one location that falls within the boundaries of both an elementary and high school district should report both districts in their physical location data.

If I have multiple locations in multiple districts can I pick the district I think best to report?

Charter schools with multiple locations should report all their physical locations to the CDE. Pursuant to EC Section 42238.02(f)(2) , the school district with the highest unduplicated pupil percentage from among the physical locations reported will be automatically used as the determinative district for the concentration cap.

I’m a nonclassroom-based (or independent study or virtual) charter. What district(s) should I include in my physical location(s)?

A charter school should report every district in which they are physically located or have a school facility, including the school’s main office/headquarters. It is possible that learning/resource centers, meeting spaces or other satellite facilities operated consistent with the provisions of EC sections 47605.1 and 51747.3 may be physical locations for charter schools that are nonclassroom-based.

What if the grade level served by the charter school differs from that of the district?

Grade level served is not a consideration when determining LCFF physical location(s). The charter school should report every district in which they are physically located or have a school facility, even if the charter school serves grades outside those served by the district(s).

What if my charter school does not submit physical location data?

Pursuant to EC Section 42238.02(f)(2)(B) , when calculating the charter school’s LCFF State Aid the CDE will automatically include in its list of physical locations the charter school’s authorizing district, or the district that initially denied the charter school’s petition if the school was approved on appeal by either the county or state. Therefore, if the authorizing school district or school district that initially denied the charter school's petition is the only district the school is located in, it is not necessary to report physical location data.

A charter school that is a county program charter, countywide charter, or a statewide benefit charter pursuant to EC sections 47605.5 , 47605.6 , 47605.8, respectively, should report physical location data because they do not have an authorizing or denying district.

What if my charter’s physical location is not within the boundaries of (differs from) my authorizer?

The physical location information is to reflect the district(s) where the charter is physically located which may differ from, or be in addition to, the local educational agency that authorized the charter. The charter school should report the school district in which it is physically located regardless if that district is its authorizer.

Should the charter school report the physical location data directly to the CDE? What about the certification process?

Certification and submission of the physical location data should follow the same process as other attendance-related files. Data is certified by the charter school and its oversight entities before being transferred to CDE.

Districts and COEs certify physical location data with the same level of oversight responsibility as other apportionment-related data. If needed, certification notes can be included with the data.

Where do I go to get district boundary information?

COEs maintain information on school district boundaries.

Resources

Temporary Prohibition on New Nonclassroom-based Charter Schools
Charter School Legislation Updates
Letter for Charter Schools Affected by Anderson Union High School District v. Shasta Secondary Home School (Dated 30-Mar-2018)
Information for the charter schools and charter school authorizers affected by the Shasta decision.
December 2004 Nonclassroom-based Independent Study ADA Letter
Information about supporting documentation required for attendance accounting audit trail for schools' nonclassroom-based independent study average daily attendance (ADA).

PASE Listserv

The purpose of the California Department of Education PASE contacts listserv is to provide local educational agencies and other interested parties important information, such as notifications regarding software releases, key deadlines, reminders of due dates for submission of data, and any other pertinent topics related to the Principal Apportionment.

To Subscribe:

If you would like to subscribe to the PASE listserv, send a blank message to
join-pase-contacts@mlist.cde.ca.gov.

To Unsubscribe:

If you would like to unsubscribe from the PASE listserv, send a blank message to
unsubscribe-pase-contacts@mlist.cde.ca.gov.

Resources for New and Closing Charter Schools by CDE Program

Subject	CDE Contact
Charter School Numbering	Charters@cde.ca.gov
County-District-School (CDS) Information for Charter Schools	cdsadmin@cde.ca.gov
Annual Informational Update	charterdata@cde.ca.gov
Charter School Closure Process	charterdata@cde.ca.gov
SB 740 Funding Determinations	Charter-sb740@cde.ca.gov
LCFF and EPA Funding for Charter Schools	PASE@cde.ca.gov
New Charter School Funding Data Collection	csspecialadvance@cde.ca.gov
State and Federal Categorical Programs	CAAR@cde.ca.gov

Questions: Principal Apportionment Section | pase@cde.ca.gov | 916-324-4541

Last Reviewed: Friday, September 9, 2022

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Detailed information for charter school's (CS) new charter advance apportionment for fiscal year (FY) 2022–23.
Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant (added 22-Sep-2022)
Funding for county offices of education, school districts, and charter schools for learning recovery initiatives that, at a minimum, support academic learning recovery, and staff and pupil social and emotional well-being.
2021–22 Instructional Time Resources (added 16-Sep-2022)
Instructional Time and Attendance Accounting resources for the 2021–22 school year only.
Charter 20 Day Instructions, FY 2022–23 (added 09-Sep-2022)
Charter School 20 Day Attendance Report (Charter 20 Day) instructions for fiscal year (FY) 2022–23.